Page 90 - The Business Idea Factory: A World-Class System for Creating Successful Business Ideas

Idea evolution

Imagine that you were an inventor in the 14th century, went to the palace of the king and said,
“Hurray, I invented a computer. Your Majesty, my new invention will allow you to browse the
inter net, r ead bo o ks, check emails and even watch mo vies.” T he king mig ht say, “Ar e yo u nuts? We
don’t have electricity yet. Even though you are really smart, this invention is useless.”

Motorola created the first handheld mobile phone. Apple created a mobile phone with a touch screen
and millions of supported applications. Skype created an application that allows free video
co nver satio ns thr o ug h the inter net. Mo to r o la, Apple, Skype and tho usands o f o ther co mpanies made
enormous amounts of money just on the idea of the phone. Each idea evolves with time and to build a
profitable business you need to make not more than one step in the evolution.

Don’t try to create something unseen before and jump over many steps of evolution right away. Do
sequential improvements. If you invented an electronic book reader device in the 14th century, your
invention would be useless and ahead of its time. However, if you invented a printing press like
Gutenberg, you would make a mark in history and make the world a better place.