You can’t sort it out and do it as a multiple-choice question.
01
In Hangzhou cafes in 2025, the strongest taste is not coffee, but the taste of talking about various projects and entrepreneurship.
In the past few years, there have been a lot of people talking about projects, and at that time there was a stronger sense of confidence and relaxation, but this year there was a little apprehension and a tentative tone.
I saw a netizen post saying: I feel that this year’s entrepreneurial environment is particularly good.
As a half-person who has come over, I can only say that the Internet migrant workers who are curly and can toss are indeed idle in the gap period this year.
For current Internet jobs, the job search cycle is generally 2 to 3 months.
The verification cycle of a product can be as short as 3 months or as long as 6 months, whether it can be and whether it is worth continuing to invest, the company’s decision-making has always been done with a knife, and there is no half of the mud.
A friend has been hit by this situation three times from March last year to May this year.
Therefore, players in this industry want to flutter something when they are idle, find a few similar volumes, and quickly verify the idea of a product, which is a popular way to play during the gap period.
There is a lot of room for imagination, there is no loss if it is not done, and you can accumulate some experience horizontally and vertically.
02
In March and April this year, I was unemployed with a few friends, and several migrant workers from the Internet for ten years tacitly discussed the idea of making products in the group.
There are products and R&D, administration and sales, and it feels strange.
The first topic to talk about is: what product to make and whose idea to adopt?
This situation of starting with zero frames is consistent with the common voice on the Internet: I really want to start a business, but I don’t have a clear direction and good ideas?
My understanding of this problem is: the logic of first and second hand.
Be creative and proactive, and naturally face more uncertainties and risks; If you copy the model verified by others, you will have to pay more to catch up with the competition.
In my personal opinion, it is enough to do what I am good at.
At present, the popularity of the Internet and the speed of information dissemination, whether it is an innovative or mature model, you can find a lot of reference cases, take a moment to review the product and yourself, you can know it in your heart.
Entrepreneurship is a saying with room for imagination, and the best situation can be expected, but the slightly worse result cannot be ignored.
In less than a full moon, the group output a complete plan for a product.
It involves the core function prototype of the product, the approximate cycle of R&D realization, the formulation of an iteration plan from the perspective of project management, the qualifications to be applied for for product release, whether to take the domestic or overseas route, and how to promote and market.
Product research and development and project management, this kind of Internet people-based operation will not be said much, let’s focus on the release and marketing process.
Assuming that an AI application product is released on mainstream channels in China, it needs to have relevant qualifications, such as IOS, Android and HarmonyOS, as well as mini programs with strict review, you can consult professionals who understand enterprise registration.
A friend who runs a small workshop said: The process is not as complicated as you think.
Then there is the matter of marketing and promotion, squatting in the Internet industry, more or less have self-media accounts and blogs, it doesn’t matter how many netizens you follow, it is enough to verify whether a product is right or not.
So there is no obvious problem in this dimension.
Since the process analysis is feasible, can we hit it off and form a team in embarrassment, and embark on the road of innovation and flight? This obviously can’t.
03
So far, the longest job is in a venture capital company, and if you count overtime, it will take about 4 years.
I have seen, heard and participated in the analysis: many entrepreneurial projects.
Most investors have mentioned a saying in their lectures: for startups, whether it is financing, management process, organizational structure, product research and development, marketing, construction, these have standards to refer to.
The biggest risk and competitiveness lies in the cognition and decision-making of the founder and the core team.
Think about these basic theories: Can 2-3 people make a product?
The answer is yes: it is possible to make a product, but there is great uncertainty about whether 2-3 people can get together and whether they can discuss and make decisions together.
Those who have practiced this idea should realize that there are many friends who are on the same line of so-called ability and cognition, but it is difficult to coordinate in specific implementation because there is no employment relationship between them.
So in teaming: you can meet but not ask.
Coupled with many practical factors, such as several people happening to have time, chatting together, and happening to have the conditions to start a business, and they happen to be able to discuss and make decisions.
These so-called are just right: sought-after but unattainable.
In recent years, there has been a saying that the world is a huge grass platform, and many things do not need to be very professional to solve.
That’s right, but if you think about it the other way around, if a few unprofessional people get together and can still do things, then the comprehensive ability of these people has gone beyond the scope of professionalism.
Personally, I think there is another more important dimension, which is to communicate your thoughts with the people around you.
It doesn’t matter whether you support it or not, whether you can understand it or not.
The subconscious reaction of other people when they hear their thoughts can largely reflect your compatibility with things, and listening to other people’s ideas and suggestions can expand your comprehensive understanding of yourself and things, thereby increasing the probability of success.
Quietly trying to amaze everyone, this idea personally feels a bit abstract.
If you are easily persuaded to withdraw in the early stage, it is definitely a good thing, it is better than giving up halfway, saying that failure is the mother of success, and only in the end can failure be considered one of the factors of success.
Compare it to a workplace phenomenon: when discussing complex business, the bosses present like to listen to the thoughts of their employees one by one.
From the perspective of employees’ thinking, it is difficult to have insights beyond the boss’s cognition, which does not prevent the boss from expanding his comprehensive understanding and evaluation of the business from communication, and it is obviously impossible to be professional.
However, from multiple professional dimensions, this ability to understand things systematically is very scarce.
There is often a debate in the Internet industry: which is more important, business or product? Which is more important, product or technology? Even which programming language is the best?
You can’t sort it out and do it as a multiple-choice question.
04
After chatting about people and teams, you naturally have to talk about products.
People and teams are still in themselves, but what products to do to solve the needs of users, the key to whether it works or not is the user has the final say, at least to respect objective common sense: easy to use is easy to use, and bad reviews are bad reviews.
What products do you make? Personally, I feel that artificial intelligence must be wiped out.
Since joining the social work for ten years, almost all bosses have said a sentence: entrepreneurship should follow the trend.
AI is undoubtedly the biggest trend at present and in the future, and there are at least three ideas for choosing the direction: you can focus on the underlying model, or focus on shell applications, or choose a relatively balanced model + application.
The pig standing on the tuyere can fly uncertainly, but it must be faster to run downwind.
What function does it do? Personally, I feel that I have practiced and need to use it.
After the direction of the product is determined, it is necessary to think about what functions should be done, to solve the needs of the target user accordingly, do not take it for granted that some functions are designed, and then spend effort on marketing but there is no effect, but feel that the user does not understand the product.
You can observe several super applications in the mobile phone, which type of product in the core business follows the principle of simplicity, users have this demand, and the product provides the simplest mode to realize the demand, so that there is the possibility of word-of-mouth fermentation.
There’s also a critical dimension: how to optimize your visuals.
This should be considered based on the positioning attributes of the product: if it is a tool type, try to improve the visual texture within the scope of ability; If it is a scene type, it is more likely to find a professional designer to do it, because the overall style coordination should be considered.
05
If you are lucky enough to successfully form a team and complete the initial research and development of the product, it will be time for the user verification stage.
The more popular way at present, based on social media channels for cold start, through natural flow or slight flow method, to verify whether the product is recognized by the target user.
With the degree of involution in the Internet industry, everyone has more or less operated self-media channels, so the initial promotion traffic is sufficient.
If there is user feedback in the early stage, this is a very valuable opinion, to sort out important and urgent needs, quickly carry out iterative updates, if a positive cycle is formed at this stage, then this product is already considered a small achievement.
Don’t ask what if Dacheng does? This logic cannot be planned, it is said that taking one step at a time is equivalent to stepping to the end.
Back to the phenomenon that netizens said at the beginning: this year’s entrepreneurial environment is particularly good.
In the past two years, with the continuous iteration and development of artificial intelligence and the objective phenomenon of the employment environment, the topic of independent developers has become a hot topic in social media.
With the help of their own professionalism and AI blessing, individuals can quickly realize the prototype of the product, and then use the topic traffic of the algorithm to push themselves and the product to the market at the same time, and quickly iterate or abandon the product based on user feedback.
Validation of various products and ideas is completed with very low trial and error costs.
This year, I began to carefully observe social media, and saw a lot of amazing marketing methods, some of which are long-term and some are surprisingly successful, and this strategy is really worth appreciating.
You know: it is difficult to do things, and it is easy not to do things. (To be continued)
