The big question is: How did their creators come up with these ideas? Did they sit around waiting for an inspirational flash or a mystic spell of luck?
最大的問(wèn)題就是：他們的創(chuàng)始人是如何處理這些想法的？難道他們是坐在一起，等著靈光一現(xiàn)或者是神奇的幸運(yùn)魔法？
The answer is: Spontaneity and luck had little to do with it.
答案是：自發(fā)性和好運(yùn)氣都與其無(wú)關(guān)。
In this article, we’ll take a brief look at 20 tried and true techniques that some of the brightest and most successful entrepreneurs have used to generate million dollar ideas.
在本文中，我們將簡(jiǎn)要地看看20種如何獲得百萬(wàn)美元想法的真實(shí)技巧，它們都是一些最成功的聰明的企業(yè)家親身經(jīng)歷中得來(lái)。
You don’t need to have a 100-person company
你不需要擁有一家擁有上百位員工的企業(yè)
to develop and execute a good idea.
來(lái)制定和執(zhí)行一個(gè)好想法。
- Larry Page (Google)
——拉里·帕吉（谷歌）
一，萌生各種想法。你的想法越多，你越有可能想到一個(gè)能賺到百萬(wàn)美鈔的辦法。
Fail a lot. – All of the ideas that don’t work are simply stepping stones on your way to the one idea that does. Sometimes you have to fail a thousand times to succeed. No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.
二，經(jīng)歷多次失敗。所有沒(méi)有靈驗(yàn)的辦法都是通向百萬(wàn)美鈔想法路上的絆腳石。有時(shí)候，你必須經(jīng)歷上千次的失敗才會(huì)成功。不論你犯過(guò)多少次錯(cuò)誤，或者你的進(jìn)步是多么緩慢，你始終都走在那些從不嘗試的人前面。
Consume information consciously. – Some of my friends think it’s wasteful that I spend so much time reading books and blogs. It’s not. It’s what gives me an edge. I feel engulfed with new ideas and information. And I’ve actually used what I’ve learned to launch a few successful websites. When you read things and interact with people, take off your consumer cap and put on your creator cap. There are million dollar ideas (or at least some really good ideas) all around you waiting for discovery.
三，下意識(shí)地消費(fèi)信息。我的一些朋友認(rèn)為我在看書和瀏覽博客上花費(fèi)那么時(shí)間是浪費(fèi)。但它不是。它為我提供各種前沿信息。我感覺(jué)我的大腦中充滿了新想法和新信息。事實(shí)上，我還運(yùn)用我所學(xué)到的知識(shí)創(chuàng)辦了幾個(gè)成功的網(wǎng)站。閱讀和與他人互動(dòng)交流時(shí)，要開(kāi)始創(chuàng)造而不是消費(fèi)。在你周圍都有成為百萬(wàn)富翁的方法（或者說(shuō)，最起碼其中一些確實(shí)很棒）等待你去發(fā)掘。
Focus on topics and ideas with large markets. – A million dollars is not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly is if you’re trying to earn it in a small market with limited opportunities. Even if you put Steve Jobs in the role of CEO for a new venture with a maximum market size of 100 people he wouldn’t make more than a few cents. ‘Big bucks’ result from high demand in a substantial market.
四，緊盯大市場(chǎng)的主題和想法。賺到百萬(wàn)美元并不是一個(gè)宏偉的計(jì)劃，但它肯定是你在一個(gè)小市場(chǎng)里用有限的機(jī)會(huì)去努力爭(zhēng)取才能得來(lái)的。即使你讓史蒂夫·喬布斯去擔(dān)當(dāng)一個(gè)新企業(yè)的執(zhí)行總裁，而這個(gè)市場(chǎng)僅有100個(gè)人，那么他也不可能賺到幾塊錢。“大錢”是在很高的市場(chǎng)需求中賺到的。
Make sure there’s money in your market. – Bank robbers rob banks because that’s where the money is. Before you become emotionally attached to an idea, do a little market research. Make sure the idea you’re pursuing is where the money is. Who are the clients and consumers? How much disposable income do they have? Etc.
五，確定在你所在的市場(chǎng)里有錢可賺。銀行劫匪搶劫銀行是因?yàn)槔锩嬗绣X可搶。如果你在思想上為一個(gè)想法激動(dòng)不已時(shí)，那就去做點(diǎn)市場(chǎng)調(diào)查。確保你想積極展開(kāi)的這個(gè)想法能讓你賺到錢。誰(shuí)是顧客和消費(fèi)者？他們有多少可支配收入？等等。
Keep your eyes, ears and mind wide open. – Oftentimes one idea’s failure will open a door to a new idea. Don’t get so hung up on one failed attempt that you miss the opening for many more.
六，讓自己眼觀六路，耳聽(tīng)八方，并且思維開(kāi)放。通常，失敗也能打開(kāi)成功之門。別太在意于一次失敗的嘗試，而失去了獲得其它更好辦法的機(jī)會(huì)。
Test variations of the same idea. – Think about the iPhone and the iPad for a second. One is just a variation of the other. Both are multi-million dollar ideas.
七，嘗試同一想法的不同變化。想想iPhone和iPad。一個(gè)產(chǎn)品只是由另一個(gè)產(chǎn)品變形而來(lái)。這兩個(gè)都是能賺取千萬(wàn)美元的想法。
Figure out what works well in one market and tailor it to another. – Find an idea that’s already proven and think about how it could be applied in a different context. Take a formula that works in one niche and apply it to a new niche. Or take the best aspects of one product and combine it with another product.
八，找出在一個(gè)市場(chǎng)里運(yùn)作良好的方法，然后將它稍作改變拿到另一個(gè)市場(chǎng)實(shí)施。找到一個(gè)已經(jīng)得以驗(yàn)證的想法，想想它如何能在別的情況下適用。將在一個(gè)市場(chǎng)適用的公式用于另一個(gè)市場(chǎng)?；蛘?，拿出一個(gè)產(chǎn)品最優(yōu)勢(shì)的幾個(gè)方面，與另一個(gè)產(chǎn)品強(qiáng)強(qiáng)聯(lián)合。
Put the pieces together. – YouTube’s creators didn’t invent Flash. They didn’t invent modern digital cameras that can record computer-ready mpeg video. And they didn’t invent broadband Internet connections, cheap web hosting, embedded website content, or one-click website uploading technologies either. What they invented is a technology that takes all of these existing pieces and combines them into an online video sharing portal.
九，把各個(gè)部分組合在一起。YouTube的創(chuàng)辦者并沒(méi)有發(fā)明Flash。他們沒(méi)有發(fā)明現(xiàn)代數(shù)碼照相機(jī)來(lái)拍攝可以直接用于電腦的MPEG格式的視頻。他們沒(méi)有發(fā)明英特網(wǎng)寬帶連接、廉價(jià)的網(wǎng)絡(luò)服務(wù)器、嵌入式網(wǎng)站內(nèi)容、也沒(méi)有發(fā)明一鍵上傳技術(shù)。他們發(fā)明的是集合現(xiàn)有資源，并將其組成一個(gè)在線視頻分享門戶網(wǎng)站的技術(shù)。
Spin a new twist on a previous breakthrough. – A new twist on an old idea can still be a million dollar idea. Take Facebook for instance, it wasn’t the first big social networking site, but Mark Zuckerberg and company added twists and features the others did not grasp. How can you take an existing million dollar idea, or even a common idea, and give it a new twist, a new direction and journey?
十，根據(jù)以前的突破，找些新花樣。由一個(gè)舊想法衍生出的新花樣也依然可能是百萬(wàn)美元想法。拿Facebook來(lái)說(shuō)，它并不是第一個(gè)大型社交網(wǎng)站，但是馬克·祖克伯格和他的公司在其中加入了別人都沒(méi)有想到的新花樣和新特征。你如何在一個(gè)已有的百萬(wàn)美元想法、或者甚至是一個(gè)普通的點(diǎn)子中加入新花樣、新方向或者新旅程？
Systematize a popular service into a reproducible product. – A service is productized when its ownership can be exchanged. Think about Alienware and Dell back in their infancy. Both companies simply systematized the service of building IBM compatible PCs and then sold them as a packaged product. If you can convert a high demand service into a scalable, systematized, efficient process and sell it as a packaged deal, the million appears.
十一，將一個(gè)受歡迎的服務(wù)系統(tǒng)化，做成一件可再生的產(chǎn)品。一種服務(wù)的所有權(quán)能改變的話，那它就是產(chǎn)品化的。想想Alienware和戴爾公司在它們剛起步時(shí)候的情況。兩家公司都是簡(jiǎn)單地將IBM公司制造兼容電腦的服務(wù)系統(tǒng)化，然后將它們以包裝產(chǎn)品形式進(jìn)行售賣。如果你能將一個(gè)有著高需求的服務(wù)轉(zhuǎn)換成一個(gè)可擴(kuò)展的、系統(tǒng)化的、有效的程序，并能以打包形式售賣，那百萬(wàn)美金唾手可得。
Play with opposites. – When something becomes extremely popular, the opposite often also becomes popular as people turn away from the mainstream. When Wordpress, Blogger and Movable Type exploded in popularity by giving anyone with an Internet connection the ability to share long, detailed blog posts with the world, Twitter and Tumblr came along and started the micro-blogging revolution – for people grasping to share extremely short content snippets. There are hundreds of other examples. Just remember, the opposite of a million dollar idea can paradoxically give birth to another million dollar idea.
十二，換到對(duì)立面進(jìn)行思考。有些產(chǎn)品非常流行時(shí)，它的對(duì)立面在人們離開(kāi)主流消費(fèi)后通常也是非常流行的。Wordpress、Blogger和Movable Type這些公司通過(guò)網(wǎng)絡(luò)給網(wǎng)民提供世界范圍內(nèi)分享長(zhǎng)篇、精細(xì)的博客而開(kāi)始大規(guī)模流行時(shí)，Twitter和Tumblr也隨之流行起來(lái)，開(kāi)始了微博革命——讓人們毫不猶豫地分享內(nèi)容極短的片段。還有成百上千的類似例子。只記住，百萬(wàn)美金想法的對(duì)立面同時(shí)也能誕生另一個(gè)百萬(wàn)美金想法。
Look for problems and solve them. – There are many real problems in this world. Like a business owner wondering why his profits are sinking. Like a golfer worrying about his slice. Like a young man who is growing bald at 26. Like a mom whose child is suffering with allergies. Like a new dog owner who’s unsure what to do about her puppy barking all night. Solving problems like these can make millions.
十三，尋找問(wèn)題，解決問(wèn)題。世界上確實(shí)有很多問(wèn)題真實(shí)存在。就像公司老板想為什么他的利潤(rùn)在減少。高爾夫球手擔(dān)心他的獎(jiǎng)金。年輕人在26歲時(shí)就禿頂。一個(gè)母親的孩子備受過(guò)敏癥的困擾。新主人因?yàn)楣饭氛菇袀€(gè)不停而束手無(wú)策。解決類似問(wèn)題也能成為百萬(wàn)富翁。
Design new products that support other successful products. – How much money do you think iPod, iPhone and iPad case manufacturers are making? Millions? Billions? What about companies that jumped into the market of manufacturing LCD and Plasma TV mounting brackets eight years ago? You get the idea.
十四，設(shè)計(jì)支持其它成功產(chǎn)品的新產(chǎn)品。你認(rèn)為iPod、iPhone和iPad盒子制造商能賺多少錢？上百萬(wàn)？上十億？那么在八年前進(jìn)入LCD和等離子電視機(jī)安裝支架生產(chǎn)行業(yè)的公司能賺多少錢？你心里很明白。
Keep it simple. – Don’t over complicate a good idea. Business marketing studies have shown that the more product choices offered, the less products consumers typically buy. After all, narrowing down the best product from a pool of three choices is certainly easier than narrowing down the best product from a pool of three hundred choices. If the purchasing decision is tough to make, most people will just give up. So if you’re designing a product line, keep it simple.
十五，保持簡(jiǎn)約風(fēng)格。別將一個(gè)好主意過(guò)度復(fù)雜化。企業(yè)市場(chǎng)研究顯示，提供越多的產(chǎn)品選擇，消費(fèi)者通常就越少進(jìn)行消費(fèi)。畢竟，在三個(gè)選擇中挑出一個(gè)最好的產(chǎn)品肯定比從三百件產(chǎn)品中挑出一個(gè)最好的容易得多。如果購(gòu)買選擇的決定太難，大部分人都會(huì)干脆放棄。所以說(shuō)，如果你想設(shè)計(jì)一個(gè)產(chǎn)品線，讓它簡(jiǎn)單化。
Exploit the resources and skills you already have. – It’s not as much about having the right resources as it is about exploiting your resources right now. Stevie Wonder couldn’t see, so he exploited his sense of hearing into a passion for music, and he now has 25 Grammy Awards to prove it. If you pursue a new venture that involves leveraging your resources and skills, you’re ahead of the game.
十六，發(fā)掘自己現(xiàn)有的資源和技能。與擁有正確的資源相比，現(xiàn)在就開(kāi)始發(fā)掘自身資源更重要。史蒂夫·旺德以前沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)這點(diǎn)，所以他發(fā)掘自己聽(tīng)力從而熱愛(ài)上了音樂(lè)，于是，他現(xiàn)在榮獲了25個(gè)格萊美大獎(jiǎng)。如果你在進(jìn)行一項(xiàng)新的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資，而它需要用到你的資源和技能，那你就掌握了主動(dòng)權(quán)。
Surround yourself with other thinkers. – You are the sum of the people you spend the most time with. If you hang with the wrong people, they will affect you negatively. But if you hang with the right people, you will be more capable and powerful than you ever could have been alone. Find your tribe and collaborate to make a difference in all your lives. Bounce ideas off each other, etc.
十七，與思考者為伍。你要將大部分的時(shí)間都花在與這類人在為伍。如果你錯(cuò)誤的人交往，那么他們會(huì)從負(fù)面影響你。但是如果你和正確的人在一起，你會(huì)比以前一個(gè)人獨(dú)處的任何時(shí)候都有能力和力量。給自己找一個(gè)群體，互相協(xié)作，使自己的整個(gè)生活都有所改變。在你們之間碰撞出智慧的火花。
Be enthusiastic about what you’re doing. – Enthusiasm is the lifeblood of creativity. Big ideas blossom when you’re passionate and enthusiastic about what you’re doing. It’s nearly impossible to pioneer ground breaking solutions in a domain where there is not passionate intensity. But when your mind is stimulated by a fundamental curiosity and interest in the subject matter, your creativity will run rampant and your motivation will skyrocket.
十八，對(duì)自己所做的事情充滿熱情。熱情是創(chuàng)造力的源泉。偉大的想法總是在你對(duì)所做事情充滿激情和熱情時(shí)產(chǎn)生。幾乎不可能在毫無(wú)激情時(shí)在某個(gè)領(lǐng)域發(fā)現(xiàn)突破性的解決方案。但是，某個(gè)特定事物激發(fā)了你無(wú)窮的好奇心和樂(lè)趣時(shí)，你的創(chuàng)造力將井噴，你的動(dòng)力將源源而至。
Accept constructive criticism, but ignore naysayers. – When someone spews negativity about your idea or product, remember, it doesn’t matter how many people don’t get it, it matters how many do. No matter how much progress you make there will always be the people who insist that whatever you’re trying to do is impossible. Or they may jealously suggest that the idea or concept as a whole is utterly ridiculous because nobody really cares. When you come across these people, don’t try to reason with them. Instead, forget that they exist. They will only waste your time and energy.
十九，接受建設(shè)性的批評(píng)，但是忽略那些老唱反調(diào)的人。某些人老是對(duì)你的想法或者產(chǎn)品表示否定時(shí)，記住，有多少人無(wú)法接受或者無(wú)法理解你的想法或者產(chǎn)品，或者有多少人能接受，這些都無(wú)關(guān)緊要。無(wú)論你取得了多大的成績(jī)，始終都會(huì)有人堅(jiān)持認(rèn)為你所做的一切都是不可能的。或者，他們可能懷有嫉妒心地向你建議，你的想法或者概念整體來(lái)說(shuō)是完全荒唐的，因?yàn)闆](méi)人真正地在乎它。遇到這種人時(shí)，不要試圖和他們講道理。而是，當(dāng)他們不存在。他們只會(huì)浪費(fèi)你的時(shí)間和精力。
Actually do something with your ideas! – A million dollar idea is simply a good idea given the chance to grow. On paper, Google and Facebook sprung from fairly ordinary ideas: ‘a search engine that’s accurate’ and ‘a website where friends connect with each other.’ Remember, neither of these companies were the first ones in their market. Their ideas weren’t groundbreaking at the time. Many people had the same ideas even before Google and Facebook existed. But Google’s and Facebook’s creators did something with their ideas. They worked hard and one-upped the competition. Their initial success was in their execution. Remember, it’s not the ideas themselves that count, it’s what you do with them. With the right execution, a simple idea can evolve into a million dollar idea.
二十，說(shuō)實(shí)在的，根據(jù)你的想法去做些事情！百萬(wàn)美元想法僅僅是個(gè)讓機(jī)會(huì)產(chǎn)生的好想法。從紙面上來(lái)說(shuō)，谷歌和Facebook都是從相當(dāng)普通的想法中產(chǎn)生的：“一個(gè)準(zhǔn)確的搜索引擎”和“一個(gè)能讓朋友取得聯(lián)系的網(wǎng)站”。記住，這兩家公司都不是所在行業(yè)的先驅(qū)。他們的想法當(dāng)時(shí)并不具有突破性。甚至在谷歌和Facebook出現(xiàn)之前，許多人就有著同樣的想法。但是谷歌和Facebook的創(chuàng)始人卻根據(jù)他們的想法做了些事情。他們努力工作，并在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)中勝出。他們最初的成功是他們自己的決策執(zhí)行力。記住，成功并不是想法本身，而是怎么利用這些想法做些事情。通過(guò)準(zhǔn)確地政策執(zhí)行，一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單地想法就能衍生為百萬(wàn)美元想法。
