Let me start off  by saying I’m jealous of  IWYS (iwearyourshirt.com).  I wish I had thought of this idea. Not that I haven’t had good ideas of my own, but I do envy some of the stuff people like Jason and Evan come up with these days.

Everyone has ideas.  Some are great, and some really suck.  It’s easy to envy ideas that others have.

It’s also easy to tell people that their ideas are cool or “appealing”.

Many cultures make it almost impossible to react honestly to even obviously bad ideas.  The urge to be polite often overcomes our true feelings even when we are dealing with complete strangers.  Go to any networking event and people you have never met will listen to your ideas and give you feedback. Often they will try to “help” out by telling you that your idea is really fantastic.  Maybe they are hoping you’ll buy all of your idea admirers a drink but sometimes, well, you can’t take everything at face value.

It’s not that they are trying to be dishonest; it’s that we don’t always ask the right questions. It’s easy to get comments, retweets and generic feedback on new ideas and concepts. What’s harder is getting feedback that goes beyond asking others if they “like it” to begin the process of validating the market potential of an idea.   Validating market potential can mean the difference between an idea that’s “cool” and an idea that could make you the next Bill Gates or Mark Cuban (or Jason Sadler).

As you read this post, you’ve probably already thought up a least one new idea. What’s it worth? Does it have true market potential? Want to find out?

To celebrate Aperio’s day on IWYS, comment on this blog post and one lucky person (chosen at random) will win the following:

An all-expenses paid, full scale market validation study crafted just for your idea.  You bring the concept, and Aperio Insights will:

• Craft an expertly written survey designed to validate market potential
• Launch the survey among a national panel of U.S. consumers
• Analyze the data and run some fancy statistics
• Create high-level charts/graphs
• Discuss the results with you (Skype/WebEx or you are welcome to come to Dallas)

We’ve also created a white paper called Validating Market Potential. You can find it on our site here

As I mentioned earlier, I’m a bit jealous of Jason and Evan. Not because I really want to wear your shirt but because I’ll bet that IWYS allows them to have the kind of experiences that generate LOTS of new ideas worth exploring. I’m willing to bet they have an idea or two that could use some research.

Jason and Evan – come up with an idea and we’ll run it through the Aperio Insights gauntlet to see if flies or flops.  The only catch for you guys — agree to share the results with your IWYS readers regardless of the outcome.

We recently attended the Goldman Sachs 2010 Technology and Internet conference in San Francisco.

It was a great event that included speakers and sessions from the likes of Google, Yelp, Netflix, SalesForce.com, Cisco and many others.

Many CFO’s and CEO’s were on hand to defend their strategy and paint glowing pictures of what the future held for their likely growth and profit over the next year.

Contrasting Keynotes

The back to back lunch keynotes on the first day were a great study in contrast and culture.

The first was an EVP from an internet search company I’ll just call “Yippie”.  Her tone was proud but she had few facts to back up her confident demeanor.  Her company has been declining in many measures for quite some time yet she still gloated over relatively minor accomplishments.   Her focus was clearly on the numbers, not on what they were doing for the customer. The more I listened the more I wanted someone to hurry her off the stage.

The 2^nd was the COO from Apple, Tim Cook.  He spoke of their continued efforts to be excellent at the things they did and while he mentioned some VERY impressive numbers he managed to do it almost as a side-note. No gloating, no sense of superiority.  In a word, he came across as LIKEABLE.

There we were eating a very forgettable boxed lunch listening to the person from a dying company gloat and act superior while the executive from the company that is printing money acted humble and very human.

And then Tim Cook from Apple said something that stopped the crowd.

We turn away great ideas every day.

“Our goal isn’t to grow for the sake of being larger or more profitable. Apple’s goal is to be excellent at the things we commit to doing.”

My opinion of Apple really soared after hearing this guy speak.  In the midst of so much focus on growth and profits it was refreshing to hear a company say that what really mattered was taking the steps to make customers happy.  Provide them with an excellent experience and the numbers will take care of themselves.

It’s often tempting to justify opportunistic business decisions that focus more on short term potential than long term value.  I’ve not always been a fan of everything that Apple has done but listening to Tim’s talk reminded me of the benefit of keeping a focus on providing customers with experiences they value.

Christmas snow –

It snowed on Christmas eve in Dallas, TX for the first time in like 80 years.  While this former upstate New Yorker loved seeing the big flakes drift down I’m sure not everyone across the south was as happy about this unprecedented winter weather.

I grew up in a large family (8 kids) in a small and relatively poor working class town.  Personal spending money was limited to the money we made on our own, doing small jobs for neighbors up and down the street.  As a kid, falling snow meant a chance to shovel sidewalks and driveways and rake in a nice pocket of cold (wet) cash.  If we were lucky enough to get a LOT of snow we not only could charge a bit more per job but also had a good chance of having school canceled for a day or two.  Decreased visibility actually meant an increase in earning potential.

The comments and stories I’d hear from my friends after a snow storm would often surprise me.  Some of my classmates would return from a day or two of canceled school and a foot or two of snow with complaints about not having had much to do after an initial burst of assorted snow throwing activities that inevitably would leave them cold and wet and stuck inside watching daytime TV.

No way to get to the mall and no money to spend if they managed to get a ride there anyway was the common complaint.

I’d quietly pat the wad of bills in my pocket as I wondered why they hadn’t taken full advantage of the opportunity the weather disruption had so conveniently dropped right in front of my shovel.

I think about our current business economy in much the same way.  In place of a snowstorm we have an economic storm of epic proportions. It has slowed many businesses to a trickle and threatened to cut off even the large and well known companies from their traditional revenue streams.   Economic crisis often starts out just like a snow storm – a few flurries and bursts of wind leads to a “hunker down and wait for it to blow over” mentality – in other words both tend to prompt more inaction than action.

Disruption creates opportunity. The need for innovation increases with every slashed budget and renewed attempt to squeeze more productivity out of limited labor.  Business needs new ideas and innovations that will help them weather the storm.  As marketers, marketing researchers and above all Entrepreneurs, we have all the opportunity our shovels can handle right in front of us.  Time to suit up and start knocking on doors – there are businesses out there that need help digging out from this unprecedented event.  Bundle up; head out and with any luck there will be so much opportunity that you’ll hardly be able to see 10 ft in front of you…….

Whether you’re a startup or a Fortune 500 company, taking an idea from concept to commercialization requires navigating the same market challenges regardless of the size of the organization behind it.

Growing a business depends on a constant stream of ideas and innovation ─ ideas that can open new markets or grow existing ones.

Ideas Need to be Nurtured

Innovation not only takes time, money and resources – it requires experience and a plan. Successful innovation requires the right research, planning and go-to-market strategy. Success today means achieving faster time to revenue while mitigating risk.

We Evaluate, Weed out and Bring the Best Ones to Market

Aperio Insights leverages a proven model to Explore, Plan and Monetize Innovation and New Ideas: