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February 13, 2006
Dream the possible dream
I lived in Philadelphia during college, and regularly used the ATM outside a nearby bank. It was a quiet location late at night, and I was always a bit wary when using the ATM. When word spread of a student being held up at that machine and forced to enter their PIN, I decided to get my cash elsewhere.
I also started thinking about ways to improve security. I came up with the idea of letting users enter their PIN number backwards. Without stopping the transaction, the ATM could silently summon police, mark the surveillance footage for review, etc.
I liked my little idea, and, being of an entrepreneurial bent, I gave some thought to what I could do with it. My conclusion: nothing.
- The idea was too simple to have value. Saying it aloud communicated it completely, and I had nothing to add beyond that.
- Implementation would require changes in infrastructure that I could not mandate, and an education of the public that I could not accomplish.
- The benefit was too small. Not enough people are held up at ATM’s.
(In response to proposed legislation, the State of Illinois came up with lots of other reasons this is a weak idea.)
The problem with the entrepreneurial credo "Never give up on your dream!" is that everybody has stupid dreams. Entrepreneurial success is not about never giving up on any idea. Entrepreneurial success is about identifying a great idea that you are able to implement and then sticking with the hard work of execution.
Fortune Small Business has the story of Joseph Zingher, who came up with the PIN-number-backwards idea in 1994, patented it, and tried to turn it into a business. What did it get him? He is 47, broke, living with his brother, and ranting about the "brain-dead zombie" bankers he wishes were his customers. He has lowered the price for the first state to $0, and still has no takers. (Forbes has more on Zingher's quest.)
State legislatures may yet come to his rescue, but I still hurt (as a fellow-imaginer of the same idea) for Zingher and his wasted years. His idea is not a bad idea; it is just not a great idea. And more importantly, it is an idea the success of which can never be in his control: Zingher doesn't run a bank or manufacture ATM's.
Never give up on your dream. But dream something you can do, not something others would have to do for you. And dream something big enough to be worth the effort.
Posted by Bob Pritchett at February 13, 2006 4:00 AM
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