What is your Idea Score?
How to pick the best idea?

If you are thinking of starting a micro-ISV (a software shop run by 1-2 people) then you already have some idea on what solution/product to develop. This could be game related or business related solution/product.

In my opinion, you should not start working on your ISV with having just one idea. Of course you can work only on one idea at a time but before starting out, create a list of ideas that interests you and then pick the best one. Also, once you have decided on an idea let it sit in the background for a while (e.g 2 weeks) and then revisit the idea later and see if it has the same appeal as you had it 2 weeks before.

To simplify the process of picking up the best idea, I have created this simple excel spreadsheet. For each of your idea, assign score to the various factors defined in this sheet. Also, this is not my invention or a new concept. All these factors are already mentioned in so many books, mentioned-re-iterated-emphasized by ISV veterans like Eric Sink, Joelonsoftware, Steve Pavlina, ASP members, and so many others (the list is practically endless as the same thing gets re-iterated and emphasized in one form or another...well, I just did it again, it got re-iterated in this post too ;-)


The numbers here do not carry any significance. So why this exercise? Let me explain the problem in detail.

I have this problem, even after I have focused on a particular idea, my brain still keeps working on new ideas which is either related to the same idea or a totally different one. So even if I have tons of ideas, it doesn't mean every idea is worth pursuing and also each idea needs its own time and resources from generating the basic seed in your brain, nurturing and creating enough passion(to see the product delivered), and finally the long term commitment after delivery to support and market the product. This process is very analogous to the birth of a human baby but on a different level :))


I will call this exercise as basic Due Diligence. By the time you have tried to answer each of the questions above( i mean an individual really needs to spend time in finding the answers above) it can safely be said that the person has done the basic research for a potential idea.

This is just basic idea analysis. Sometimes you know all the answers to the above but haven't formally put any effort in sequencing them in order to come up with a confirmed "yes" or "no".

If you generate idea score for each of your potential ideas, most of the time the final score will reveal which idea is the best in your basket and sometimes you will discoverer something totally new during the whole idea analysis. Even if the final score doesn't tell you anything, you will "KNOW" more about your idea. So I think the exercise is worth the effort.

You can download the Idea Evaluator for free at this location http://www.infocaptor.com/files/idea_evaluator.xls

So what is your Idea Score? Please send feedback with suggestions on how to improve the scoring and if something is missing or redundant.
- 3:02 PM