Anyone that knows me for any substantial amount of time knows that I have a billion ideas. Some good, some bad, mostly terrible.

Ever since I got my first job in Toronto, in a small little web-dev agency, I found the thrill of building web applications, and how even the smallest application that I shipped brought so much joy.

Since then I’ve built dozens of my own ideas - from building a Groupon clone for college students in 2010 to a services business that brought in over 13 clients over the span of 2 years. Not to mention a little chrome extension that was used by over 12,000 users. Each idea was unique - some were well thought out business plans, and some where just hacks put together in some spare time between classes. By the time I graduted University, I knew that building something was what I wanted to do. The only challenge is what that something is.

Even though, none of my ideas have made me super-rich (directly), they all have made me understand different aspects of running a business. Each idea brings forth new challenges, from the target customer, to marketing, how to find market-fit, get traction, and eventually building it. And with each idea, I learned how hard it was to take an idea and transform it to something that people wanted.

Here are some things that I’ve learned along the way:

1. Build products for people
2. Don’t be scared to be second or even third at a product. Execution > Idea.
3. Focus on the problem, not the solution.
4. Your tech stack doesn’t matter.
5. Move fast, let your customers steer your ship.
6. Write down ideas on a notepad or text file. Give yourself time to think about your idea, and how flawed it is. Do this for every idea that you have.
7. Market research trumps ideas. Make people buy into what you’re building before you build it. This is incredibly hard, and daunting, but it will pay off.
8. None of your ideas will pan out as you plan. Be adaptable.
9. Once you start, focus on one idea at a time. There are a lot of distractions, but focusing on one idea to execute at any given time will help you get the most out of it.
10. Do not marry your ideas. Be open minded, listen to others and get co-founder that specialize in other aspects that can help you look at things from a different view.

I have yet to find the idea that will impact the world, but I hope if I keep going - it’s just a matter of time.