I read your adapted article on BusinessWeek, and that prompted a question. I am currently working with a friend on a project, that we hope might become a good business. Actually, we have just started putting together a business plan and already ran into some problems. Essentially, while both of us have lots to say, we don’t have a lot of experience. Neither of us can say “well, i know this area so I’ll take care of it”.

Therefore, what it leads to, is us throwing ideas at each other, commenting on them, and then throwing more ideas. But, non of them are really marked in stone. We can’t start expanding on the plan because we don’t know which way’s best.

Based on your comment about building an airplane in mid air, I feel like we should just pick something, whenever we can’t choose, and run with it, further evaluating it down the road. Would you say it’s a good play?

Did you have a similar issue while starting your project?

For the past few years, I have been doing software develop ……

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As a writer, I loved “Leap off the cliff and start building the airplane on the way down and you might be surprised with what you can pull off.”

The fact is that many of the best bootstrapped startups start while you still have a day job because you just can’t help it. (mine was absolutely this way.) Great ideas are fun to work on have that personally compelling angle. What’s your hobby? I work on my startup. (boy am I a blast at cocktail parties.)

So under those conditions, my thoughts are on the exact timing to burn the boat (or bridge, as it were.) Too quick and you can have personal cash troubles. Too slow and the company’s ramp may become too long - you miss your window.

My cofounder and I had different day-0 criteria. Mine was simply to recognize that we had a commercially viable product. He needed actual revenue and recognizable growth trends. This was slower than we would have liked, but it worked for us, because he’s a maniac that could handle a long time juggling both.

Also, I think it is worth noting that doing it part time isn’t just an option if you have no other choice - it has some definite advantages of its own:

If it doesn’t work out, you will still have the resources to try another idea.

Low stress - Some people need pressure to get stuff done, others will be more productive when relaxed.

May be able to avoid looking for funding - that can easily take as much time as actual development.

Limited time forces you to work more efficiently

May make more sense depending on what your existing job is - if you’re a student or in an entry level job getting some funding and going full time is a no brainer. If you’re in a senior role, it could be better to take just a 20% pay cut by hiring someone else to do the more time consuming work. This has the added advantage of keeping you out of the lower level development so that when you are ready to go full time you are more ready to run a business rather than just a development team.

Targeted Audience: EntrepreneursBackground: Whenever I stumble upon any compelling article related to Startup or Entrepreneurship topics, I link those resources in my blog. Tony Wright, a founder of RescueTime mentions great advice about how to start a…