Think big or think small?
It's generally accepted that thinking big is a lot sexier than thinking small. Steve Jobs is sexy, Gates is sexy, platforms like Netflix are sexy. But for those of us with our own product ideas to add to the world (on a bootstrap and often with only a few hours a day on the side of our full time jobs), our constraints often mean that we should be focussing on small problems but executing the solutions really, really well.
I realised this while developing http://isoflow.io (which is a tool for creating network diagrams but also showing stats about your network on top of it). After talking to people on IH, I realised what a crazy niche I was trying to go after, and I decided to scale down my idea. Just developing a diagramming tool was a massive undertaking let alone the real-time stats feature, so I decided to just focus on that first, release quickly and see where it goes.
Do you agree? Are big ideas worth the risk and reward? Or am I just being pessimistic?
I like to work by always keeping the macro vision in mind, but focusing on the micro actions each day that will help me to get there. The macro vision is like my north star metric that keeps me both motivated and on track with what I am doing.
It's then a matter of reverse engineering the process of what actions I need to begin taking today in order to move the needle towards the macro vision. Its certainly not an easy feat, and a lot of the time, the actions you are taking on a daily basis can seem like they would have nothing to do with the overall vision... but you have to start somewhere, and always know that the compounding effects in the long run pay off.
Ah yep, compounding effects. A very underrated concept, one which I just learned about recently from Atomic Habits by James Clear. Thanks for the perspective!
Think small first.
Get that hurdle over and done with.
Then think big.
Never too late to think bigger.
Anyone can think big, but so few can get over the initial hurdle, whatever that may be: the first customer, the first $1,000 in MRR, etc.
Agree, take care of the small wins and the big wins will take care of themselves. Thanks for the reply.
I plan to take small steps daily that will become big steps over many years =D
This is similar to how I finished college BTW. If I was too focused on the graduation itself that would have been very overwhelming. Instead I focused on the individual homework assignments, tasks I needed to do each day, and at the end achieved the bigger goal. I know the structure of that environment is not exactly great for indiehacking and business in general, but the mechanics of executing in that environment have some parallels at least in my mind.
At practical level I cannot (will not) build indie products that take several months to build because I look at that as high risk. The core value should be achievable in less time, and if it is not I change course.
O man, I wish I had your state of mind when I was in college. I didn't do well at all because I left everything last minute and didn't focus on taking small, consistent steps through the year. This is great advice. Thanks!
I think on a macro level you should think huge while on a micro level think, well, micro 😛.
Your end goal should be a huge massive idea that’s “sexy” as you say and can compete with the big players. To get there, you’re going to need so many little wins it’s hard to think about, but you have to. Figure out how many small wins you need to accomplish your overall goal and start winning! Then, without even realizing it, you’ll have achieved your big, huge, seemingly unachievable goal.
Good advice. Reminds me of Elon Musk saying that his plan was to first build an electric sports car (small market, high margins) to raise the capital to be able to make affordable electric cars at scale (large market, smaller margins). Big ideas need strategy.
Think big, take small consistent steps. :)
I find the big vision can be overwhelming, yet a focus on practical, focused and consistent steps can help you achieve that bigger goal.
Yep agree, they're not mutually exclusive, both the vision but small practical steps are two sides of the same coin. Great perspective. Thanks
The size of an idea can change, and bootstrapping a small idea at first is easier. Even all your examples started with ideas that grew much much bigger.
I created a single design tool, learned lessons that informed my trajectory. Now I’m tackling a more ambitious project of creating a suite of design tools. But, overall each tool tackles a small problem slightly differently then other products out there. They all revolve around my audience, so if one tool gets eyes, my other tools benefit. I also will see which tools sell best and invest more time developing those out.
I agree you should get something out to collect feedback, doesn’t need to be a huge undertaking.
Great example. What is your suite of design tools called? Would love to check them out. I think in addition to nocode tools, easy-to-use design tools are also a huge movement now.
All the tools will be under the brand Visiwig(.com). Only tool up is an icon set you can copy and paste into websites and Adobe Illustrator. Next in line is a pattern generator and then a color palette maker. My first tool ever was SVGBackgrounds.com.
Nice. Really slick web experience.
Thanks!