Jack Dorsey is the founder of Twitter, the social network and microblogging platform that enjoys worldwide success.
A passionate entrepreneur, Jack Dorsey has always been interested in innovation. He was able to put in place fruitful strategies to develop his projects and turn his ideas into huge successes, highlights Julien Foussard.
In this quote, Jack Dorsey encourages the development and execution ideas.
Julien Foussard explains how to execute an idea and how to know when it is the right time to do so
Every entrepreneur begins their career in the same way: with an idea. To succeed, however, that idea needs to be executed and made into a viable and durable project.
During a Ted Talk, Jack Dorsey explained how he built his career and succeeded in turning Twitter into the major social network it is today.
Three essential steps allowed Jack Dorsey to execute his idea, analyses Julien Foussard.
The first one: writing the idea down, which is the key step towards its execution. The idea to develop a social network came to the founder of Twitter when he was working for a taxi company. He was constantly hearing his clients asking their friends and family what they up to, where they were heading etc. So, he jotted down the idea in his notebook. By taking the idea out of his head and materialising it on a scrap of paper, he was able to take a step back, keeping the idea in mind to be mulled over and better contemplated.
During the thought process associated to your idea, do not hesitate to discuss it with the people around you. According to Julien Foussard, by sharing your ideas you open yourself up to receiving constructive criticism regarding them. Other peoples’ thoughts and remarks, being from an outside perspective, are important for the development and execution of your project.
The second essential step put forward by Jack Dorsey is to find the right time to fulfill your dream. Entrepreneurship requires patience and the instinct to know when the right time is to get started.
In Jack Dorsey’s case, the idea for Twitter came to him around the year 2000, yet the social media site was only launched in 2006.
During this time, evolving technologies and ideas emerged allowing the co-founders to perfect the concept in order to guarantee its success.
Julien Foussard adds also that a project is never perfect at the beginning. It is important to know how to analyse the reasons for its success or failure, to learn from this and to start again in order for it to never cease to improve.
Knowing how to analyse and learn from a failure: an important step for Julien Foussard
Launching a project and executing an idea are rarely successful first-time round. Quite often, things do not go as planned – it is therefore important to be flexible and able to adapt to the situation.
More important still, according to Julien Foussard, is ensuring you are able to do better. For this, it is important to ask for peoples’ opinion on your project and to take into consideration their remarks.
In the case of Twitter, for example, today’s popular tools such as the retweet button, being able to mention other users and even the hashtag were suggested by the social network’s users themselves. The platform evolved with these new ways of using social media and with new technologies, and as such no longer resembles the original idea.
Julien Foussard thus encourages entrepreneurs to put in place an iterative process to improve their project. Users, given their daily use and outside perspective, are best placed to know which services are most suited to them.
During this thought process, do not forget to put down in writing these remarks. This way, when you come around to considering the proposals, you will be in a better position to take a step back and clearly identify the constructive remarks.
Also, adds Julien Foussard, remember that the road is long and arduous. Patience, dedicated work, but also strong will and determination are necessary criteria. When faced with obstacles and difficulties, it is important to know how to persevere, how to not give up and instead bounce right back.
Hence, an innovative idea is not guaranteed to succeed: it is important to think it over, to improve it, and to know when the time is right, concludes Julien Foussard.