Engineering Is Not Product Development

Every once in a great while I read something so well stated that I put down my book/ipad/kindle and just reflect.

So when I recently read a post from Mike Sellers on Quora, I had to share it with you. Mike was responding to the question “As first time entrepreneurs, what part of the process are people often completely blind to?”

Mike wrote beautifully about software companies (read his original post here).

I’d tweak his words slightly for medical devices. Here’s my modified version of Mike’s post:

An idea is not a proof-of-concept
A proof-of-concept is not a prototype
A prototype is not a product
A product is not an approval
An approval is not a business
A business is not profits
Profits are not an exit
And an exit is not happiness.

In his post, Mike continued:

“There are new skills and new lessons at each of those turns, dealing with team creation, product management, etc. Each of those needs to be done well, and the skills that make you good at one leave you vulnerable in the other areas.

The real wisdom of entrepreneurship is to know what you do well and to value rather than disdain what others do that you don’t.”

Well said. Thanks Mike.

For more of Mike’s writing, check out his blog here.