There are lots of schools of thought about what stage in your personal and professional career to start a venture but I think that the two most important things are:
- Market Opportunity - You need to have spent some time with your target market and understand where significant gaps lie. Finding a solution for these gaps is the next step, but it's likely that your original idea will evolve significantly as your try and address these gaps. The balance of having a strong vision for your product yet knowing when you need to change direction is a key skill for successful entrepreneurs.
- Being Ready - You have got to feel like you are ready to start your own company and have faith in your skills and and abilities. And whatever you lack, you need to have the faith that you'll be able to figure it out or surround yourself with people you trust that can figure it out for you..
I have really not felt ready yet, and it's a function of not finding the right market opportunity but also not having enough faith in myself yet. I feel that I need to build a successful product under the guidance of someone who has proven themselves before I do it on my own.
In the end everyone has their own threshold for risk and when to start a company is a very personal call, but I hope to build some awesome products at my current company (Pocket Gems) which are profitable businesses too. I really hope it works out, but regardless, I'm super excited about the journey.
