So, you have an idea for a start up?

Over the past year, I've met with a wide range of entrepreneurs in my geographic area who have great ideas for start ups...but...and there's always a caveat in the way, where do they start? Half of these folk-with-the great-ideas talk to me about Kickstarter as a means to (kickstarting) their dreams into reality and then they wait for my response. I wish that the ideas themselves were enough to turn dreams into realities but that's not true and Kickstarter isn't a magical planet where you put in a picture of your best idea and out comes a check for 10 grand. A lot of hours of planning, thinking, rethinking, researching, talking, losing some sleep and making mistakes are a part of the pre-Kickstarter leg work that must be done. To back up my theory, I'd like to refer to the experience of writers Sean Platt and Johnny Truant, smart, driven creators of Write.Publish.Repeat. Their idea for a live and exposed process of writing a novel was the idea they wanted to make happen - but only if they raised the funds. Fiction Unboxed was fully funded but not without creating a laundry list of 'what not to do' that was learned only from having made it through the experience.  Platt and Truant sought to expose the tedious (dark and sinister? but fun!) world of writing a novel and make it public but their lessons about the process are crucial tidbits of advice when considering your own start up idea and whether its ready for public consumption - or for Kickstarter.