Execution is Everything
(Toye’s take on this moneyweb article)
I can tell you that this is every poorly funded entrepreneur’s greatest fear – having your innovation taken by a well-funded company that you cannot afford to fight in court.
Most entrepreneurs can’t afford the legal fees to patent their ideas before trying to go to market so even that protection is out of reach. At the Innovation Hub, we often joke that the law is for those who can afford it.
Here’s what’s interesting, entrepreneurs who’ve become successful actually do the same to other entrepreneurs who’re starting out. It’s just a function of the game and part of the risk. Once you put an idea out there you have signed the indemnity for the risk. You’re going into competition with every company playing in a similar space all over the world and every young bright-eyed genius sitting in a university somewhere trying to come up with a billion-dollar idea/innovation.
Too many entrepreneurs don’t realize that the phrase “there is nothing new under the sun” couldn’t be more true in the space of innovation and they mistake their idea/concept as inventions. In this case, Nedbank has simply realized that such technology already exists in other countries and it may even be better developed. I can’t help but wonder if a Google search would have helped them rethink the valuation of their product.
My advice to poorly funded entrepreneurs is that ideas aren’t worth anything and your product doesn’t matter… execution is everything. How you build your customer base is what matters. From the day you have the idea, start thinking about how you’ll take it to market and find customers. Embrace the risks including the high likelihood that someone will either “steal” it or will use it to improve a similar product or find another provider of the same product. Sometimes entrepreneurs should even just park the product because it’s too good not to be stolen!
Another thing, many entrepreneurs also want to build products for big corporates because it’s a big-ticket sale upfront – LOL. Me, I’ve tried, continuously bugging even many of my Facebook contacts who I perceive to be well placed in corporates. FYI – you may be next 🤪
Many entrepreneurs just don’t understand the inner workings of corporates and fail to realize that what seems like an obvious product will destabilize the delicate political balance within most corporates. I’m not saying entrepreneurs shouldn’t build products for big corporates, I’m saying the chances of major success are less than 1 in 100 by my count. And then there’s always the obvious truth that in that customer relationship, the balance of power will never sit with the entrepreneur…unless your hook up was the CEO, and he’s your Dad’s best friend, and your godfather, and you and his kids played 1st team at Hilton…I digress 😅
About these two Gugs entrepreneurs, the public sentiment and the fact that Nedbank actually engaged them before will likely see them get a settlement from Nedbank. It better be enough money to set them up well because no other corporate will touch them again. It’s just how it is.
