Learning from Failure – An Idea Should be Explainable in 1 Sentence

If your startup idea cannot be explained in 1 sentence, it lacks focus. A few words for the business model and a few for the market targeted. If either of these are not certain, we tend to go into explanation mode which tends to make the idea statement longer and lacking focus.

Amiloom was one of those ideas which lacked focus. In an article by the founder, he acknowledges the same – “We believe that Amiloom is an extremely innovative product better than anything currently available for helping you meet the people most likely to become a part of your life. Amiloom is a connected device that forms a network of people with common friends, shared tastes, and who only need to go as far as the device was handed to meet up with each other.

The problem is that no one knows this. When you see a picture of Amiloom you have no idea what it is. In 2 lines of text there is no way to explain both why and how it works. We have built it and are telling the world, but no one can hear us, few people understand us, and the masses are not coming to us.”

Advice – Stop and write your idea statement. If it does not fit into 1 sentence, you need to think and focus further.