Once upon a time, I had an idea for a startup. Then, I presented it to an Executive. I never talked about it again.
The idea was for a text messaging app that paid you to text, featuring simple advertisements inside the text threads. I was in the media business and understood how eyeballs and advertising dollars worked.
I started building momentum — meeting with smart people, opening doors, talking to tech folks who could build it. I was having fun in the process.
Then I got a meeting with an executive who had several multi-million dollar exits. He shot down the idea in about five minutes. I walked out at the twelve-minute mark.
I never opened the slide deck again. The product I'd called 'blurb' was never to be discussed again.
By the way, there is a greater than 95% chance that the idea sucked and had no legs. But I went from thinking I could start a tech company to nearly deleting a PowerPoint deck in twelve minutes.
Looking back, it was probably the wrong move to just give up. But it changed how I think about giving people feedback on their big dreams.
When someone calls me about their idea now, my response is: 'I will be honest if the idea is awful, but I am not here to shoot down your dreams if you think there is something you're excited about.'
Supporting someone's dream doesn't mean you have to agree with everything they say. It means you meet them where they are, listen to what they're trying to build, and help them think through the next step instead of shutting it down.
Everyone has an early version of an idea that sounds half-baked. Most people just never get the chance to refine it because someone bigger, louder, or more experienced told them it wasn't worth it.
The world already has enough critics. What we need are more people who can see potential before it's obvious, who can remind others that most great things start as bad slideshows and half-written plans.