Three Gates Every Venture Idea Must Pass

Ideas are cheap and seductive, especially the ones that arrive at 2 a.m. The discipline is not generating them — successful people generate plenty — it is examining them before they consume a year. Three gates do most of the work.

Gate one: money. Can this idea, realistically, reach the income you need within your runway? A beautiful idea that can only ever earn pocket money is a hobby — welcome, but label it honestly. Gate two: meaning. Will you still want to do the daily reality of this in year three — not the idea of it, the Tuesday afternoon of it? Talk to someone who runs one; the daily reality is always different from the brochure. Gate three: doability. With your actual energy, skills and network — not a fantasy version of you — can you run this? What would you have to learn, hire or buy?

Score each gate one to ten, in writing. Anything below seven on any gate needs redesign, not optimism. Optimism at the gates becomes despair in the build.

The goal isn't to kill ideas. It's to make sure the one you feed can actually grow.