We humans love to complicate things.  The more crap we hang off of a product, the better we think it is.  The more engineering that goes into it, the more we can sell, right?

Wrong.

Simplicity wins.  Every time. (iPod, anyone?)

As an entrepreneur, I get to hang out with other entrepreneurs (and we act all clubby and hip and cool like it’s some secret club – but it really is).  In those circles I get to see and hear a gajillion awesome ideas and pitches.

Oftentimes, many of the idea pitches suck (and if you want to know why they suck, here’s a straightforward post that explains all the contributors to suckitude).  For the ones that don’t suck, the difference between a winning or losing product invariably comes down to simplicity and elegance.

For example, you’ve probably heard the urban legend that during the late 1960’s, NASA spent tons of money on pens that would write in the zero gravity of outer space.  Huge amounts of R&D by private firms went into creating the highly-specified, super cool, usable-in-any-environment writing devices.  I mean, who wouldn’t want a space age pen that could write anywhere?

Now you’ll remember, the dirty nasty red menace commie bastards of the USSR were also locked in the space race with us (chillax – I’m saying that tongue in cheek for those of you who are new readers and aren’t familiar with my style or lack thereof).  They didn’t have as much cash and they were super-lazy too.  They just said “Here komrade kosmonaut! Is pencil!  Is good, da?”  (They actually totally said that too.  I’ve heard the recording).

A pencil.  A freakin’ pencil.  Simplicity of design wins.  Lower cost.  Easier to use.  Arguably more effective.  Frees up resources to work on higher value stuff or to market the simpler product and outspend your competitors on advertising.

Here are a couple of examples of how I’ve seen the space pen dynamic show up in entrepreneurial ventures and, more importantly, what you can do to prevent spending hoards of cash on useless products that no one ultimately wants:

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Most new ventures fail.  Accept it.

Sometimes those failures are market-driven.  A great new competitor beats you to the punch.  The economy tanks and you run out of cash.  Meteors take out your corporate headquarters.

However, many failures are self-inflicted.  I’ve been lucky enough to be an entrepreneur for a while and I’ve also hung out with a ton of great (and not great) entrepreneurs.  I’ve seen businesses thrive and I’ve seen others fail.

I’ve noticed a few things along the way that can cause entrepreneurs to fail.  I’ve tried to neatly bundle them up into what I affectionately refer to as the seven deadly sins of entrepreneurship.  If you want to succeed in building your new venture, I strongly suggest you avoid these sins at all cost.

Lust

Sex sells.  But sometimes trying to make your product so sexy can lead to your downfall.  Excessive thoughts of sexy UI’s, features, bells, and whistles can distract you from building something a little frumpier but more durable.  When you spend all your time thinking about how to make a sexy javascript HTML Boolean double-quad Flash SDK widget app, you’re likely not focusing on the core functionality you need to create to solve the one or two major problems your customers actually want you to solve.  Throw a non-sexy muumuu and a bathrobe on your product and build the basics.

Gluttony

Over-consumption can kill you.  Just because you have the funding you need (now) it doesn’t mean you need to go buy all sorts of crap so your offices can be hip and cool.  It also means you shouldn’t go out and buy up a ton of people (via hiring) unless you’re equally prepared to fire a similar number of people when your cash can’t keep up with your appetite.  Know your burn rate and keep it to a minimum.  Buying stuff just because you have cash will burn your business down to the ground.

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