> I managed to cobble together a functional prototype of some analytics software we needed. It was fine until
The key point is that you had something complete, it wasn't a vague idea.
In some sense, your prototype was "a product". It wasn't adequate in many ways.
I mention product because the "suits" are offering "I need someone to improve my product" terms while expecting "I need someone to build a product from my idea".
There's a huge gap between "a decent social site" and the minimal facebook, and market research and bizdev don't address that gap.
The key point is that you had something complete, it wasn't a vague idea.
In some sense, your prototype was "a product". It wasn't adequate in many ways.
I mention product because the "suits" are offering "I need someone to improve my product" terms while expecting "I need someone to build a product from my idea".
There's a huge gap between "a decent social site" and the minimal facebook, and market research and bizdev don't address that gap.