Dream in Four Scenes, Courtesy of Nyquil

I've been doped up on Nyquil the past two or three nights, in a vain attempt to shake a head cold that has plagued me for over a week now.  This medicine stuff, which I'm not used to taking, sure can leave me groggy in the morning.  And it has made my already weird dreams weirder.  This morning, my dream took place over four scenes, and I'm documenting it because maybe there's a business idea buried in here somewhere.

 

Scene 1 – my old bedroom in California

Bored out of my mind, I remember that I know an ugly guy who once interviewed Cincinnati Reds great Joe Morgan.  I decide to call him to see if he would be willing to come over and act like a guest on a talk show, and talk baseball cards with me and my friends.  He says yes, I send an email out to my friends, and four minutes after I come up with the original idea, my bedroom is full of people as I lob questions at the ugly guy and he answers them.  Then, like a good talk show host, I ask my friends to write down questions for the ugly guy, and I read them out to him.

 

Scene 2 – my old living room in California

After our impromptu talk show, I'm chatting with a couple of my friends about how fun that was, and how quickly and fluidly the gathering came together.  Excitedly, I begin to tell them how this might be a good business idea: make it easy for people to call forums, invite guests, and bat questions and issues back and forth.  The more I share, the more excited my friends get.  "We could sell this thing to Google!" 

 

Scene 3 – an outdoor deck somewhere in the Bay Area

A huge gathering of Google employees bops to music on a sunny day in California.  A few step to the microphone for some freestyle rhyming.  I gather that this is how new ideas are vetted – you have to be quick and clever enough to share them with the group through rapping.  Someone nudges me to the mic, and I deliver a couple of rhymes.  Apparently, they are witty enough that I am allowed to keep going.  I share my idea for forums, which is met with groans, as if this idea is just so passé.  Then, I kick in my business side and talk about the commercial potentials: selling ads targeted to the forum's topics, posting the transcript of forum discussions, businesses hosting forums as if they were focus groups.  A few people give me affirmative noises, and I am whisked inside for follow-up.

 

Scene 4 – an empty office at Google headquarters

Apparently, my idea has made the first cut.  I'm given a bag of Google paraphernalia and they sit me down in front of a computer.  They tell me I have an hour to write up a skeletal business plan for my idea, and that they'll vet that and call me if they're interested.  As I sit in front of a blank screen, I begin to realize I am dreaming, but before I wake up, I make mental note to write down this idea and think about whether or not to follow up on it in real life.

 

Upon waking up from my Nyquil-induced state, I thought about the idea for about five seconds and decided it pretty much already existed, although certainly the different players online could do better with what they make available to users.  So I don't think I'm going anywhere with this idea.  Still, it was kind of a fun dream.  Who knew I could come up with business ideas and rap them in my sleep?