1. Do what you love: move with the rhythm of your passion, make mistakes and learn along the way. Don’t attach to outcomes. Ideas grow in the present – always have, always will.
2. Make an impact: test your idea, get feedback from customers, course-correct as needed; the goal is to make a positive difference. Things like website traffic and revenue are secondary outcomes. Focus on making something cool for your customers. Steve Jobs has repeatedly stated, from his earliest to his final interviews, “We focus on making GREAT products.”
3. Get great at it: master your craft, challenge yourself, don’t compromise great ideas for merely ‘good enough.’ Stay focused on what you can be great at, leave the rest for others to handle. Do not waist resources on things you cannot do exceptionally well. Management guru, Peter Drucker, has said that a key to building a successful enterprise is to constantly ask “what business are we in?” So, what business are you in? What is your unique strength?
4. Make money: making money is an important ability for funding future innovation but do not make the mistake of emphasizing the thought of revenue too early. Be keen on creating a tasteful experience for your customers. Money follows passion (see step one).