Vetting Business Ideas with a Checklist

[first_up]

Hi all. I posted an introduction earlier today. Glad to be a part of the community.

I have a request. I want you to recommend books that will help me create a business-idea-vetting checklist.

I solve problems best by creating a checklist of criteria and then vetting possible solutions against the checklist I've created. That is how I tackle any problem of significance in all areas of my life. Note that I never work from a pre-made checklist because half of the value in a checklist is the knowledge I get from distilling books and articles into a checklist. The other half of the value is that a well-constructed checklist helps me weigh options rigorously.

I'm here because I want to build a checklist for vetting my ideas for new businesses, and I'd like your recommendations on books and articles I could use to help me create that checklist. My goal is to take a dozen ideas that (I suspect) pass the laugh test and use a checklist to think about those ideas deeply and systematically. If it turns out any of the ideas withstand scrutiny, the checklist would help me zero-in on the one that's the best opportunity for me to pursue at this time.

What books or articles do you recommend for this purpose? What reading includes the questions I should be asking myself at this very preliminary, idea-vetting stage? Clearly for this purpose I will be reading Unscripted and re-reading The Millionaire Fast Lane. What do you recommend? Equally important to your recommendation itself, please let me know why specifically you think the book will help me vet ideas.

Many thanks.

 

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[Eleven]

Welcome! The closest thing that came to mind for me was the 7-Day Startup. I really liked the focus on vetting ideas. In one of the chapters the author goes over different criteria for evaluating ideas. He even has a spreadsheet grid where you can assign number ratings and then tally them up. Not a perfect science by any means, but it can definitely help.

I also think this book would help you get started quickly. While I appreciate your approach, be careful about spending too much time planning and reading and deliberating ideas. No single idea is perfect. You just have to get started and learn along the way.