What do you do with an idea

On my way back from Dallas, enjoying the fantasy luxuries of a back-of-the-bus seat, I got into a conversation with an electrical engineering professor from an East Coast university who was attending an IEEE conference in Silicon Valley. We went through the usual 'what do you do?' bit (though on a flight you can cleverly introduce it as 'are you traveling on business or pleasure?') and when he heard about my entrepreneurial bent, he asked 'So you have an idea, what do you do with it? How do you start a company?'.

I was a little surprised - nobody's ever asked me that before. Maybe it's because most of the people I meet who talk about starting companies already know a lot about this. Maybe it's because most of them are from the Silicon Valley and know that angels are not mythical and VC is nothing like AC or DC. So I actually had to think before I answered.

The first thing to do, I said, is to make sure your idea is viable. It has to be something that you can build a profitable business on, something the market needs and wants. So go figure out if that's the case. And if you're an engineer with little or no business experience, find someone who'll help you in doing just that - and build a small piece of your proposed offering to show your potential customers. If the idea looks like it could fly, then go get familiar with business plans, funding strategies etc. There are zillions of books, sites, workshops, seminars, not to mention helpful mentors, who can get you oriented and equipped in navigating the world of the startup.

I filled him in on the cycle from seed to success - and maybe planted an entrepreneurial seed too. I'm really glad I was asked this question though, apart from the passing of time in a cramped delayed flight. Right now I am juggling a lot of things, and it helped to remind myself of how I got here with my idea and what is most important. Fill a need. Prove it.