类似于苹果这样的大公司，Facebook这样的超级成功的网站，《四小时工作周》这样的畅销书，他们都有一个共同点：他们起始于一个百万美元想法。
The big question is: How did their creators come up with these ideas? Did they sit around waiting for an inspirational flash or a mystic spell of luck?
最大的问题就是：他们的创始人是如何处理这些想法的？难道他们是坐在一起，等着灵光一现或者是神奇的幸运魔法？
The answer is: Spontaneity and luck had little to do with it.
答案是：自发性和好运气都与其无关。
In this article, we’ll take a brief look at 20 tried and true techniques that some of the brightest and most successful entrepreneurs have used to generate million dollar ideas.
在本文中，我们将简要地看看20种如何获得百万美元想法的真实技巧，它们都是一些最成功的聪明的企业家亲身经历中得来。
You don’t need to have a 100-person company
你不需要拥有一家拥有上百位员工的企业
to develop and execute a good idea.
来制定和执行一个好想法。
- Larry Page (Google)
——拉里·帕吉（谷歌）
一，萌生各种想法。你的想法越多，你越有可能想到一个能赚到百万美钞的办法。
Fail a lot. – All of the ideas that don’t work are simply stepping stones on your way to the one idea that does. Sometimes you have to fail a thousand times to succeed. No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.
二，经历多次失败。所有没有灵验的办法都是通向百万美钞想法路上的绊脚石。有时候，你必须经历上千次的失败才会成功。不论你犯过多少次错误，或者你的进步是多么缓慢，你始终都走在那些从不尝试的人前面。
Consume information consciously. – Some of my friends think it’s wasteful that I spend so much time reading books and blogs. It’s not. It’s what gives me an edge. I feel engulfed with new ideas and information. And I’ve actually used what I’ve learned to launch a few successful websites. When you read things and interact with people, take off your consumer cap and put on your creator cap. There are million dollar ideas (or at least some really good ideas) all around you waiting for discovery.
三，下意识地消费信息。我的一些朋友认为我在看书和浏览博客上花费那么时间是浪费。但它不是。它为我提供各种前沿信息。我感觉我的大脑中充满了新想法和新信息。事实上，我还运用我所学到的知识创办了几个成功的网站。阅读和与他人互动交流时，要开始创造而不是消费。在你周围都有成为百万富翁的方法（或者说，最起码其中一些确实很棒）等待你去发掘。
Focus on topics and ideas with large markets. – A million dollars is not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly is if you’re trying to earn it in a small market with limited opportunities. Even if you put Steve Jobs in the role of CEO for a new venture with a maximum market size of 100 people he wouldn’t make more than a few cents. ‘Big bucks’ result from high demand in a substantial market.
四，紧盯大市场的主题和想法。赚到百万美元并不是一个宏伟的计划，但它肯定是你在一个小市场里用有限的机会去努力争取才能得来的。即使你让史蒂夫·乔布斯去担当一个新企业的执行总裁，而这个市场仅有100个人，那么他也不可能赚到几块钱。“大钱”是在很高的市场需求中赚到的。 Make sure there’s money in your market. – Bank robbers rob banks because that’s where the money is. Before you become emotionally attached to an idea, do a little market research. Make sure the idea you’re pursuing is where the money is. Who are the clients and consumers? How much disposable income do they have? Etc.
五，确定在你所在的市场里有钱可赚。银行劫匪抢劫银行是因为里面有钱可抢。如果你在思想上为一个想法激动不已时，那就去做点市场调查。确保你想积极展开的这个想法能让你赚到钱。谁是顾客和消费者？他们有多少可支配收入？等等。
Keep your eyes, ears and mind wide open. – Oftentimes one idea’s failure will open a door to a new idea. Don’t get so hung up on one failed attempt that you miss the opening for many more.
六，让自己眼观六路，耳听八方，并且思维开放。通常，失败也能打开成功之门。别太在意于一次失败的尝试，而失去了获得其它更好办法的机会。
Test variations of the same idea. – Think about the iPhone and the iPad for a second. One is just a variation of the other. Both are multi-million dollar ideas.
七，尝试同一想法的不同变化。想想iPhone和iPad。一个产品只是由另一个产品变形而来。这两个都是能赚取千万美元的想法。
Figure out what works well in one market and tailor it to another. – Find an idea that’s already proven and think about how it could be applied in a different context. Take a formula that works in one niche and apply it to a new niche. Or take the best aspects of one product and combine it with another product.
八，找出在一个市场里运作良好的方法，然后将它稍作改变拿到另一个市场实施。找到一个已经得以验证的想法，想想它如何能在别的情况下适用。将在一个市场适用的公式用于另一个市场。或者，拿出一个产品最优势的几个方面，与另一个产品强强联合。
Put the pieces together. – YouTube’s creators didn’t invent Flash. They didn’t invent modern digital cameras that can record computer-ready mpeg video. And they didn’t invent broadband Internet connections, cheap web hosting, embedded website content, or one-click website uploading technologies either. What they invented is a technology that takes all of these existing pieces and combines them into an online video sharing portal.
九，把各个部分组合在一起。YouTube的创办者并没有发明Flash。他们没有发明现代数码照相机来拍摄可以直接用于电脑的MPEG格式的视频。他们没有发明英特网宽带连接、廉价的网络服务器、嵌入式网站内容、也没有发明一键上传技术。他们发明的是集合现有资源，并将其组成一个在线视频分享门户网站的技术。
Spin a new twist on a previous breakthrough. – A new twist on an old idea can still be a million dollar idea. Take Facebook for instance, it wasn’t the first big social networking site, but Mark Zuckerberg and company added twists and features the others did not grasp. How can you take an existing million dollar idea, or even a common idea, and give it a new twist, a new direction and journey?
十，根据以前的突破，找些新花样。由一个旧想法衍生出的新花样也依然可能是百万美元想法。拿Facebook来说，它并不是第一个大型社交网站，但是马克·祖克伯格和他的公司在其中加入了别人都没有想到的新花样和新特征。你如何在一个已有的百万美元想法、或者甚至是一个普通的点子中加入新花样、新方向或者新旅程？
Systematize a popular service into a reproducible product. – A service is productized when its ownership can be exchanged. Think about Alienware and Dell back in their infancy. Both companies simply systematized the service of building IBM compatible PCs and then sold them as a packaged product. If you can convert a high demand service into a scalable, systematized, efficient process and sell it as a packaged deal, the million appears.
十一，将一个受欢迎的服务系统化，做成一件可再生的产品。一种服务的所有权能改变的话，那它就是产品化的。想想Alienware和戴尔公司在它们刚起步时候的情况。两家公司都是简单地将IBM公司制造兼容电脑的服务系统化，然后将它们以包装产品形式进行售卖。如果你能将一个有着高需求的服务转换成一个可扩展的、系统化的、有效的程序，并能以打包形式售卖，那百万美金唾手可得。
Play with opposites. – When something becomes extremely popular, the opposite often also becomes popular as people turn away from the mainstream. When Wordpress, Blogger and Movable Type exploded in popularity by giving anyone with an Internet connection the ability to share long, detailed blog posts with the world, Twitter and Tumblr came along and started the micro-blogging revolution – for people grasping to share extremely short content snippets. There are hundreds of other examples. Just remember, the opposite of a million dollar idea can paradoxically give birth to another million dollar idea.
十二，换到对立面进行思考。有些产品非常流行时，它的对立面在人们离开主流消费后通常也是非常流行的。Wordpress、Blogger和Movable Type这些公司通过网络给网民提供世界范围内分享长篇、精细的博客而开始大规模流行时，Twitter和Tumblr也随之流行起来，开始了微博革命——让人们毫不犹豫地分享内容极短的片段。还有成百上千的类似例子。只记住，百万美金想法的对立面同时也能诞生另一个百万美金想法。
Look for problems and solve them. – There are many real problems in this world. Like a business owner wondering why his profits are sinking. Like a golfer worrying about his slice. Like a young man who is growing bald at 26. Like a mom whose child is suffering with allergies. Like a new dog owner who’s unsure what to do about her puppy barking all night. Solving problems like these can make millions.
十三，寻找问题，解决问题。世界上确实有很多问题真实存在。就像公司老板想为什么他的利润在减少。高尔夫球手担心他的奖金。年轻人在26岁时就秃顶。一个母亲的孩子备受过敏症的困扰。新主人因为狗狗整夜叫个不停而束手无策。解决类似问题也能成为百万富翁。
Design new products that support other successful products. – How much money do you think iPod, iPhone and iPad case manufacturers are making? Millions? Billions? What about companies that jumped into the market of manufacturing LCD and Plasma TV mounting brackets eight years ago? You get the idea.
十四，设计支持其它成功产品的新产品。你认为iPod、iPhone和iPad盒子制造商能赚多少钱？上百万？上十亿？那么在八年前进入LCD和等离子电视机安装支架生产行业的公司能赚多少钱？你心里很明白。
Keep it simple. – Don’t over complicate a good idea. Business marketing studies have shown that the more product choices offered, the less products consumers typically buy. After all, narrowing down the best product from a pool of three choices is certainly easier than narrowing down the best product from a pool of three hundred choices. If the purchasing decision is tough to make, most people will just give up. So if you’re designing a product line, keep it simple.
十五，保持简约风格。别将一个好主意过度复杂化。企业市场研究显示，提供越多的产品选择，消费者通常就越少进行消费。毕竟，在三个选择中挑出一个最好的产品肯定比从三百件产品中挑出一个最好的容易得多。如果购买选择的决定太难，大部分人都会干脆放弃。所以说，如果你想设计一个产品线，让它简单化。
Exploit the resources and skills you already have. – It’s not as much about having the right resources as it is about exploiting your resources right now. Stevie Wonder couldn’t see, so he exploited his sense of hearing into a passion for music, and he now has 25 Grammy Awards to prove it. If you pursue a new venture that involves leveraging your resources and skills, you’re ahead of the game.
十六，发掘自己现有的资源和技能。与拥有正确的资源相比，现在就开始发掘自身资源更重要。史蒂夫·旺德以前没有发现这点，所以他发掘自己听力从而热爱上了音乐，于是，他现在荣获了25个格莱美大奖。如果你在进行一项新的风险投资，而它需要用到你的资源和技能，那你就掌握了主动权。
Surround yourself with other thinkers. – You are the sum of the people you spend the most time with. If you hang with the wrong people, they will affect you negatively. But if you hang with the right people, you will be more capable and powerful than you ever could have been alone. Find your tribe and collaborate to make a difference in all your lives. Bounce ideas off each other, etc.
十七，与思考者为伍。你要将大部分的时间都花在与这类人在为伍。如果你错误的人交往，那么他们会从负面影响你。但是如果你和正确的人在一起，你会比以前一个人独处的任何时候都有能力和力量。给自己找一个群体，互相协作，使自己的整个生活都有所改变。在你们之间碰撞出智慧的火花。
Be enthusiastic about what you’re doing. – Enthusiasm is the lifeblood of creativity. Big ideas blossom when you’re passionate and enthusiastic about what you’re doing. It’s nearly impossible to pioneer ground breaking solutions in a domain where there is not passionate intensity. But when your mind is stimulated by a fundamental curiosity and interest in the subject matter, your creativity will run rampant and your motivation will skyrocket.
十八，对自己所做的事情充满热情。热情是创造力的源泉。伟大的想法总是在你对所做事情充满激情和热情时产生。几乎不可能在毫无激情时在某个领域发现突破性的解决方案。但是，某个特定事物激发了你无穷的好奇心和乐趣时，你的创造力将井喷，你的动力将源源而至。
Accept constructive criticism, but ignore naysayers. – When someone spews negativity about your idea or product, remember, it doesn’t matter how many people don’t get it, it matters how many do. No matter how much progress you make there will always be the people who insist that whatever you’re trying to do is impossible. Or they may jealously suggest that the idea or concept as a whole is utterly ridiculous because nobody really cares. When you come across these people, don’t try to reason with them. Instead, forget that they exist. They will only waste your time and energy.
十九，接受建设性的批评，但是忽略那些老唱反调的人。某些人老是对你的想法或者产品表示否定时，记住，有多少人无法接受或者无法理解你的想法或者产品，或者有多少人能接受，这些都无关紧要。无论你取得了多大的成绩，始终都会有人坚持认为你所做的一切都是不可能的。或者，他们可能怀有嫉妒心地向你建议，你的想法或者概念整体来说是完全荒唐的，因为没人真正地在乎它。遇到这种人时，不要试图和他们讲道理。而是，当他们不存在。他们只会浪费你的时间和精力。
Actually do something with your ideas! – A million dollar idea is simply a good idea given the chance to grow. On paper, Google and Facebook sprung from fairly ordinary ideas: ‘a search engine that’s accurate’ and ‘a website where friends connect with each other.’ Remember, neither of these companies were the first ones in their market. Their ideas weren’t groundbreaking at the time. Many people had the same ideas even before Google and Facebook existed. But Google’s and Facebook’s creators did something with their ideas. They worked hard and one-upped the competition. Their initial success was in their execution. Remember, it’s not the ideas themselves that count, it’s what you do with them. With the right execution, a simple idea can evolve into a million dollar idea.
二十，说实在的，根据你的想法去做些事情！百万美元想法仅仅是个让机会产生的好想法。从纸面上来说，谷歌和Facebook都是从相当普通的想法中产生的：“一个准确的搜索引擎”和“一个能让朋友取得联系的网站”。记住，这两家公司都不是所在行业的先驱。他们的想法当时并不具有突破性。甚至在谷歌和Facebook出现之前，许多人就有着同样的想法。但是谷歌和Facebook的创始人却根据他们的想法做了些事情。他们努力工作，并在竞争中胜出。他们最初的成功是他们自己的决策执行力。记住，成功并不是想法本身，而是怎么利用这些想法做些事情。通过准确地政策执行，一个简单地想法就能衍生为百万美元想法。
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