Make Your Ideas Stick Or Kill Them Fast

For my birthday a couple months ago, my mom bought me the book Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. I’m proud of my mom for buying a book that I actually read.

Made To Stick is worth the read, especially if you are an entrepreneur or small business with a tight and minimal marketing budget. All businesses want people to know about their products and services. We all want to make it big in the marketplace. But usually, we fall into traps when conveying our messages.

I highlighted a paragraph that I’d like to share:

“A movie pitch, on the other hand, is destined to change. When a screenwriter is hired, the story will change. When a director is hired, the artistic feel of the movie will change. when stars are hired to play the parts, their personalities will change how we perceive the characters in the story. When produceers are hired, the storytelling will become subject to financial and logistical constraints. And when the move completed, months or years later, the marketing team will need to find a way to explain the plot to the public in about thirty seconds–without giving away too much.

Imagine investing millions on an idea that will change as it is filtered through the consciousness of a succession of individuals with giant egos: directors, stars, producers, marketers. That idea had better be good.”

To me, this passage describes entrepreneurship, innovation, start-ups, and product development. If you are an entrepreneur with a new product idea and are seeking funding, the idea better be good. And you better figure out how to convince others.