Looking for your next ventures idea(s) is a bit like having a second child. When one idea falls asleep, another one starts screaming. When you think that you have sorted out a particular exercise, a new variation comes around. You have to make sure not to burn out while still giving enough attention to each idea.
Bottom line: Patrice may be a bit tired, but we still have selected a few ideas on which Prototypers will focus, and decided on an editorial pivot.
Prototypers Project
Prototypers, SAS with a capital of 2000 euros
The company officially exists. Patrice Bonfy, President, and Christophe Cholot, General Manager, each own half of its capital. We used online tools for every aspect of the paperwork:
- Qonto allowed us to deposit blocked funds and is now the bank account of the company. It is a pleasure to use and very well done for managing expense receipts. Our accountant will be happier than Sociabliz's one (at the beginning).
- Infogreffe.fr does its intended job and does it quickly. Ergonomy and ease of use are far from Qonto's level, but customer service is almost as responsive and efficient, though only through phone calls.
Appraisal of the "ideas" editorial line
Publishing articles describing each of our ideas had two objectives:
- Start a conversation to grow the idea and meet potential partners
- Document ideas evolution to cultivate curiosity before launching a project
The first objective is only partially fulfilled. Publishing and sending articles have indeed facilitated fascinating meetings. But the main effort for getting to meet interesting people is still to identify them, contact them, convince them that we should talk. Articles are too little help because they are not discovered by enough people.
Why? Reading about a new idea requires more effort than it provides service. And a new idea is by definition not a trending topic. I do not need to learn more today. I do not search it on Google. It makes it hard for them to emerge.
The second objective falls short too. Ideas have a quantum quality. Like Schrödinger's cat, they have many simultaneous states. Trying to fix them in an article does not stop their vibration, and the published article is an incomplete already obsolete representation of them. In the end, the ideas we selected for further exploration were not even really published in articles.
New "platforms" editorial line
Are we not going to published ideas anymore? No. We are Prototypers after all, and you need ideas to build prototypes. We will only modify our entry point. It will now be the platform.
What technical and creative opportunities do major platforms - Instagram, Ethereum, and Facebook Camera - offer? What are their adoption trends? What tools - Chatfuel for Messenger bots, Halolabs for VR - are available to experiment with little to no code? What applications for this or this vertical?
Nominated Ideas
Without further suspense, let's discover which projects that were paused and which ones are active.
Paused
- LiveHumanVR is a special project for us. But one "little" technical issue remains a problem. It may be solved by future computer vision platforms provided by Facebook, Google or Apple. Until then, pause.
- The Social Bot could be an enjoyable project, but we are not bullish enough on Messenger bots adoption to put all our eggs in this basket.
- PopCorner needs artists partners, and/or a powerful and easily remixed creative concept. Pause.
- Autonomous Cruises on Land will not be explored yet. Too expensive they said.
- Workplace will not be the subject of a product yet, but we will cover its platform with articles and through the consulting service we are launching.
- Kidsfriendliz is a sub-set of our most important active project
Active
- "What application of [platform X or Y] in [your vertical] ?": Short, creative and operational consulting missions to help your company quickly experiment with promising platforms such as Messenger bots, Workplace, VR, and AR, etc. Contact us!
- Digital objects property with blockchain technology: We have a list of product ideas that will allow us to experiment real and unforgeable property of unique digital artifacts - not objects, just "files" - and see what the public perception of this idea is.
- Platform for putting good products in good places: People in charge of nice places and people who produce nice products share a common obsession for user's wellness. We believe that both can benefit from a reliable connection platform.
The website will soon be updated to be a better representation of the "new" Prototypers. We are still waiting for your comments and ideas. On Facebook, Twitter, or around a coffee!
