Easy Peezy

We used to have a running joke within my group which surfaced every time more demands were placed on us.  “It’s the Internet,” we’d say, “how hard can it be?”  As companies have found out with increasing frequency of late, it can be quite hard indeed. In a weird way, as the technology has been getting easier, the business has become much harder.   The enthusiasm of the early adopter in each emerging piece of tech eventually dies down, growth rates slow, and any flaws in your underlying business model become very apparent.

Given where the economy is today, that trend is multiplied several times over.  Over the years when everyone’s business was good, I’d take meetings with any number of companies that were doing pretty well but had no idea how or why.  Unfortunately, those whose ships got lifted by rising tides often had no idea how to pilot them.  One would have thought that the Web 1.0 boom.bust would have taught them a few things but…

Ask potential partners to explain their business.  Not their technology- their business.  Ask for their elevator pitch, not their 45 minute VC speech.  If they can’t explain it to you in simple, cogent terms, you don’t want them as partners.  If they can but you don’t believe their business model is sustainable  given the economic circumstances we’re facing, it’s another “no go.”

But if they’re solving a big enough problem (cure for cancer, running cars on water), they have either a unique solution or a huge first-mover advantage, and they have a realistic business plan to make it all happen, they’re your guys.

Sounds simple, right?  Well, like we used to say, it’s the Internet (or social media or ad networks or fill in the blank) – how hard can it be?