How to test ideas #1: Write them down!

"Ideas are a dime a dozen. It's execution that counts"

Hands-up if you've ever heard the above line whilst sitting through Entrepreneurship 101 - be it in a lecture theatre, on an accelerator cohort or someplace else. We all have. It's so blindingly self-evident that it doesn't merit further comment, right?

Well, given this post doesn't end right here you might not be surprised to learn I take a more nuanced view.

The typical assumption is that execution is all about getting out of the building, doing stuff, talking to humans, and jumping off the proverbial cliff whilst figuring out how to build your parachute on the way down. It isn't.

Execution starts with writing.

Specifically, execution starts with writing your idea down.

If you can't write your idea down, precisely and clearly you can't test it. Similarly, if you can't write it down in a way that's easy to understand you can't communicate it. And, if you can't test or communicate your idea you ain't successfully executing anything anytime soon.

The act of writing your idea down, of bringing it out of what Alberto Savoia terms "thought land" and into reality, is the key first step in any successful entrepreneurial journey and the starting point of being able to work out if it's any good.

The act of writing matters because...

Ideas are like Scott Lang

They spend most of their time in the quantum realm where, as any MCU aficionado (and actual quantum physicist) will tell you, things get a bit fuzzy.

In their natural state ideas are quantum, which is to say they are hard to pin down and constantly shifting. The act of writing an idea down collapses the wave function and turns a shifting smudge of possibilities into something defined, bounded, and measurable. In effect...

Writing clarifies thinking

Podcaster and writer David Perell sums it up perfectly

"Our favourite writers don't walk around with perfect ideas in their heads. Their minds are messy as yours. But by writing, they separate good ideas from bad ones and clarify the best ones."

Successful entrepreneurs are just the same. They are able to reach into the fuzzy vagaries of thought land and, through writing, give shape and form to their ideas in a way that brings them into sharper focus. This is the starting point for testing, refinement and iteration. Words are the first prototypes for your ideas.

Good writing is like good porridge.

There's just one problem. If 15+ years of working with early stage ideas and founders has taught me one thing it's this: most people are crap at writing their ideas down. Like super crap!

We either go too broad and high level (exhibit A) or get immediately sucked into the weeds with excessive amounts of extraneous detail (exhibit B). It's like we're pre-programmed to avoid the goldilocks zone (exhibit C), the realm of clear, simple, specific language (in addition to thermally optimised porridge, at all costs!

7 writing rules for founders

With this is in mind, and leaning heavily on two fantastic intros to writing effective English; one by literary titan George Orwell the other by advertising guru (and OG mad man) David Ogilvy, augmented by more sage-like wisdom from a recent LinkedIn post by Alberto Savoia., I've put together 7 basic writing rules for founders.

They are...

1/ Never use a long word where a short one will do. Keep it simple.

2/ Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs. If in doubt, think tweet.

3/ If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4/ Never use scientific or jargon words (e.g. reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally etc.) if you can think of an everyday equivalent.

5/ Write the way you talk. Naturally.

6/ Be specific. Don’t deal in unknown quantities (some, many, lots etc.) always state defined, specific, concrete values.

7/ Replace adjectives with data. I cannot stress how important this final point is if you want to be able to run practical experiments and test your idea!

Most users will do X > At least 60% of users will do X
Significantly faster > 5 times faster
Much cheaper > ￡1.99 instead of ￡8.99
We can do it quickly > We will do it by 6th Feb 2023        

Simplicity ain't simple

“I didn't have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one.”

Simple means easy, right? Not so fast, as this classic Mark Twain quote points out: simple ain't easy, it takes hard work and effort.

Anyone can write vague, generic, lazy English. Don't believe me? Try reviewing the idea statements we receive in the Enterprise Lab week-in, week-out and tell me I'm wrong.

Simplicity is hard but it's worth the effort - think of it as a whetstone to sharpen and polish your thinking.

By applying these 7 simple rules, your aim should be to write clear, simple, and specific statements that communicate your idea and provide the basis for real-world testing.

There's just one more thing you need to do.

Think inside the box!

Specifically, use a simple framework like Business Model Canvas, or Lean Canvas or our very own Imperial Enterprise Lab Idea Canvas to help organise and communicate your idea.

By design, canvases provide a necessary constraint on writing (you literally don't have the space to write an essay) and bring all of the above writing principles into play.

They look simple but are fiendishly difficult to do well - most people either write super glib one or two word answers (remember exhibit A), or write super small to try and fit as many words in as possible (remember exhibit B). Either way, the end result is the same; meaningless words.

If you don’t feel like you’ve had a serious mental workout after completing a canvas, or sweated over exactly which words to use, then you haven't done it properly.

Stop thinking, start writing.

"Doing, not learning to do, is the essence of Entrepreneurship"

The next part is down to you. if you want to get better at testing your ideas you need to get better at writing them down and the only way to do that is to roll your sleeves up and put the above words into practice!

If you’re an Imperial student, academic or alum you can email me an Idea Canvas anytime and I’m happy to provide an editorial eye.

For everyone else, watch out for my next post How to Test Ideas #2: Map your assumptions which should be landing in early 2023… once I've done the mental gymnastics and written it! ????

Thanks for reading and have a fantastic Christmas! ??