Many times people get excited and say that they have seen a gap in the market. The important question to ask is “Is there a market in the gap?” Sometimes there is a gap because there is no market.

When I was leader of the music association at university, many upcoming singers and rappers would tell my leadership team and me about what they had been working on and would make us listen to it. Most of the work was below standard but the owners believed they were perfect. Some would take feedback and work on it, while others acted with an attitude that said, “If you don’t like what I’ve got, then there’s something wrong with you.” It is like the case of Enron’s CEO, Jeff Skilling, who thought if anybody disagreed with him then he wasn’t smart enough to understand him.

Many entrepreneurs, especially technical people and artists, fall in the same trap of falling so much in love with an idea that they think that it will take off immediately and buy them their dream life. They get so obsessed with the idea that they can’t see anything outside it and cannot take advice or feedback from others. Don’t fall into this trap. Of course this doesn’t mean that you have to get 100% approval to go ahead with your idea. Do some research and get a feel of reality. If nobody is getting your idea, make sure you have a lot of money for educating the market.