The three questions every idea must answer

Ideas are the easiest part of building a company. We have more than we could ever ship, and so does everyone else. What separates a product that matters from one that merely exists is the discipline applied before a single line of code is written.

At OlwenTech, every idea faces the same three questions. They are short. They are not easy.

1. Does it genuinely benefit people?

Not "will people use it". People use plenty of things that leave them worse off. The question is whether the person on the other side of the screen is better off after using it than before. If the honest answer depends on how we measure engagement, the answer is no.

2. Is it original?

The world does not need another clone with a new colour scheme. An idea earns its place when it does something that is missing, or does something familiar in a way that changes the outcome. If we cannot explain what is different in one sentence, we stop.

3. Can we stand behind it, and finish it properly?

Every product carries our name. It has to match the standard we hold ourselves to: reliable, respectful and finished. A half-built product that works most of the time does more damage than no product at all.

What we choose not to build says more about us than what we ship.

Most ideas fail at least one of these questions, and that is the point. The questions protect the people who will use our products, and they protect our focus. The ideas that survive are the ones worth our full attention.