Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm

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☝️ This painting sits on the wall in my house.

You may recognise it. A scene from the 1994 film Dumb and Dumber.

The story follows two idiot best friends embarking on a massive road trip across the US. From the Atlantic coast to the Rockies. Providence to Aspen.

They are close to penniless, clueless about their end destination, and fuelled by an intoxicating blend of optimism and naivety.

On the other end awaits everything they dreamed about. They think. So they map out a rough plan to get there, and head on their way.

Halfway through the epic journey their plans come to a sudden halt. They realise they took a wrong turn.

The money that underpinned their plan was burnt up, driving down a dead end.

They’re stranded. Their conviction is tested. The two of them start to go their separate ways.

For Harry and Lloyd, it’s a moment of true despair.

Harry walks off in a fit of rage, and Lloyd is left leaning against the ridiculous dog-styled van that got them to this point.

The shot perfectly captures the moment 👇

His body language says it all. Defeated. Introspective. Wondering how it all went wrong.

He rests despondently against the hood of the van in the middle of nowhere. The thing that got them moving wasn’t strong enough to keep them going. What once felt exciting now just feels… foolish.

The weight of the journey is pressing down on his shoulders. It evokes feelings of self-doubt. Exposure. Loneliness.

But there’s also something deeply optimistic about this picture.

The van, and Lloyd, are still facing forward. What lies before him is an open, unfilled expanse. Blue sky.

Freedom to choose a new path, unshackled from old burdens. A kind of opportunity that only exists because of the mistake.

A new chapter yet to be written.

And that’s exactly what happens.

Lloyd figures out a new plan. He trades the expensively customised van for a cheap old bike. Radically lean. Enough gas money to get to Aspen.

Was it the right choice?

The parallels between this story and startup building are visceral. They had an idea. The plan didn’t work out, so they changed it.

But, did Lloyd make the right choice?

This is a dilemma practically every founder faces.

The other options were:

1. Go home (give up)

2. Make the van work (adapt your product)

3. Change the destination (new idea)

For Harry and Lloyd, their dream never worked out.

Once they finally get to Aspen, they find millions of dollars in a suitcase and squander it pursuing an idea that falls flat on its face.

An idea that was never attainable in the first place.

The woman Lloyd’s infatuated with tells him there’s a one-in-a-million chance of them being an item. Harry gets shot (but lives).

The most painful lesson?

At the very end of the movie, the chance of a lifetime is staring them right in the face. Practically begging them to pursue it.

This opportunity represents the fruits of their efforts and toil. Right place, right time. What they’ve earned and what they deserve.

But they miss it.

They don’t see the opportunity with themselves in it. So they wave it good bye, literally.

There are two dilemmas here:

1. Making a choice when you are aware of the choices

2. Making a choice when you are unaware there are choices

Are you pursuing the right idea?

This is the ultimate question.

Personally, I’ve always had this nagging feeling that there’s some other version of me in a parallel universe kicking my ass.

What idea is that version of Martin working on?

That thought kind of hovers. Always present. Like some 'idea devil' whispering from the shoulder. "Loooooook…."

When times are tough, you wonder if another idea will finally give you the traction you're looking for. When times are good, you wonder if there's something else entirely that could eclipse what you're already building.

Stick or hit?

The answer to there being another strong idea is always ‘yes’. Theoretically, at least. It’s statistically unlikely that from the millions of ideas available to you, you happened to pick the optimum.

But I don’t agree with that perspective. I’m not sure we really have that much of a choice. There's a reason you picked what you picked. It felt right at the time. In many ways, it was the only option available to the version of you that existed then.

The presence of choice looks clearer in hindsight than it ever does in the moment.

So what can you do to improve the odds that the idea you're pursuing leads somewhere worth going? The most rewarding destination.

Even companies with real momentum (PMF) get lured in by this.

Many try to expand the idea that’s working. I covered this in Dig. It's a trap. The power is in the original focus.

But, what about the other scenarios? Companies that…

1. Have yet to find PMF

2. Had PMF and then hit a ceiling

3. Have PMF, but see a new 10X idea

I don’t have a prescription, but I do have some principles.

Companies that have yet to find PMF

First, pursue an idea you are interested in. The underlying problem it solves and the ecosystem around it, not solely because there might be a business opportunity there.

Contemporary startup theory has conditioned us to "fail fast" and give up quickly. Pivot, PMF, or pull-the-plug... punctually. Wishy washy.

There’s a tacit belief buried within it that teaches founders not to really build interest in an idea until it’s validated and taken off. Which, becomes paradoxical if a high-level of interest before the fact is a significant contributing factor to achieving success. That can be the difference between quitting too early.

There's something to be said for being a high-conviction stubborn-ass. There’s something to be said for having a clear vision of the idea you are building in the mind of the market, and meticulously plugging away at it.

James Dyson made more than 5,000 prototypes for a cyclonic vacuum cleaner before coming up with a design that worked perfectly.

• 7 years from start to landing a decent sales contract

• 14 years from start to founding Dyson Limited

If he wasn’t deeply fascinated by his idea, he would have quit a few months in.

Survivorship bias? Yes. There’s plenty more examples where people struggled on for years and got absolutely nowhere.

That’s where we come to the second point: positioning.

An idea only works if it fits into an open position in the mind. No gap? No traction. No traction? No company.

This is where you can build conviction whether or not to continue over the longer term.

There was no position in the woman’s mind for Lloyd as a partner. Once he realised that, he moved on.

And if you lose interest along the way, pursuing your idea? That’s a signal to pivot. Adjacently, through an insight you’ve gained from the experience. Or into something completely different.

Companies that had PMF and hit a ceiling

The first thing I look at is how the idea is showing up in people's minds. It's a common culprit.

Companies drift. Focus gets diluted. The category shifts. Competitors crowd in. What was once a sharp, distinctive position quietly blurs into the background.

The idea doesn't disappear, it just gets diluted.

Go back to the positioning. Is it as sharp as it was? Is it still pointing at an open space in the mind? Has it started to sound like everyone else? Is it “meh”? Is it getting flanked by something new?

Fix how you are showing up in people's minds before you change the idea.

Consider Hoover, when Dyson came out. That’s the time to double-down on articulating the idea both through comms and the product itself.

Reposition Hoover as the opposite of Dyson in a leadership capacity, where opposite means a set of benefits you can’t get with a cyclonic vacuum.

For example, vacuum bags hide your dirt. Who wants their crap on display? Yuck. And emptying it is mess free. You don’t have to go poking around in dust and hair clogs.

Highlight this, and wrap it up in a theme.

Hoover is “civilised”.

This would force a choice between the two, instead of fading into obscurity.

The other culprit causing companies to hit a ceiling is the category. Some ideas are planted in soil that was never going to grow a big tree.

If the positioning is sharp and the category itself is the constraint, it's worth asking whether the category can be repositioned to create more room to grow. Or, changing the category you are playing in all together.

And if the outlook after looking at all of this doesn't look good? It could be time to try a new idea entirely.

Companies with PMF but see a new 10x idea

This one’s just vibes.

Walking away from something that’s working to pursue the chance of something bigger is a high-roller decision. Double or nothing.

But if you genuinely can't stop thinking about it — if the idea devil has stopped whispering and started shouting — maybe it's the right call. Just don't confuse FOMO with vision.

And make sure it has somewhere to land. An open position in the mind.

Idea hunting is a founder’s enduring plight. The real danger isn’t driving in the wrong direction (either you notice it’s not right, or you lose interest).

It’s missing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity right in front of you.

Because you couldn’t see yourself in it.

Back in your inbox soon. 🤘

Martin

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