In The End It’s About Getting to the Truth
Guest post by John Incantalupo, Co-founder CollegeRise, 2-time Lean Newark attendee.
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“In the end, it’s about getting to the truth about ideas.”
That’s what Steven Royster said to me after this past LeanNewark weekend...and he couldn’t be more right!
I came to the weekend to join a team this time around.
Last March I had pitched a concept called CollegeRise, and formed a team around the idea. But THIS time I thought it would be more important to learn from a different perspective. Here’s what I learned…
Joining a team with a fully developed product/idea was a mistake in judgement on my part. I should have known better. Why? Because coming to a learning weekend with a developed mindset is exactly what I did last March at the first LeanNewark event held at NJIT. So this was almost like an instant replay, only 6 months later...
Everyone has ideas, concepts, prototypes, wireframes, a website, facebook fans, twitter followers, and the rest (maybe even a deal waiting in the wings). We’re all entrepreneurially active - that’s what attracts us to a weekend event like the Lean Startup Machine weekend.
In order to be successful (and by that, I do NOT mean win!) I have learned you really must leave all that “stuff” behind - just for the weekend. It is truly stifling, and will impede your progress toward the truth.
So that’s the second time I’ve mentioned “the truth” isn’t it?
The “truth” - as I refer to it here - is what you’re left with when you’ve discovered your customers pain.
The truth about your idea may be that your product/idea/concept/prototype NEVER addressed your customers pain - and therefore you’ll need to pivot. Or maybe you don’t even know who your customer is? Again, pivot. Or maybe the pain you’ve discovered isn’t painful enough for the customer to take action - PIVOT!
A pivot - or change of concept/idea - doesn’t mean you were ever wrong. It simply means you didn’t have the ability to get at the truth.
THAT is what I’ve learned this past weekend, and that is what you’ll learn when you participate in a LeanNewark weekend - the ability to get at the truth...and that will bring you, as it did me, one step closer to launching your own startup.
LeanNewark, the Lean Startup Machine and lean methodology in general will get you there - and in the end, you’ll be happy with the truth.