Guest Column

What does this mean for aspiring entrepreneurs? For starters, it means leveraging existing resources to validate, refine and secure buy-in for what seems like a promising idea. Local techies have easy access to tools like Google Forms for quick surveys to tap into their target market and app mock-up platforms to showcase designs. There is every opportunity at an early stage to either prime one’s start-up for success or make mistakes with spare time to adjust course. A quick picture of success for a tech entrepreneur may look something like this: Validate an idea and its target market by using free survey tools in lieu of drawn-out legwork. Test popularity and inspire investor confidence by securing pre-release beta sign-ups via platforms like Facebook. These actions must be embedded in a willingness to ‘fail’ at an initial idea that does not prove as popular as expected or a target market that has already encountered a competing product— provided this exercise places entrepreneurs on the path to further improvement and differentiation.

The idea of leveraging existing tools is linked to being resourceful with time and money. ‘Fail fast, fail cheap’ necessitates that start-ups increasingly push towards the Pareto Principle or the 80/20 rule in their thinking and actions. As the rule goes, 80 per cent of our results stem from only 20 per cent of our efforts. What entrepreneurs need to do is hone in on that 20 per cent. If companies want to fail fast and reorient in a rapidly evolving space like tech, indi-