The 30% Rule: Why You Need Skills Before Starting

Published on February 19, 2026

A few days ago, I was on the phone with someone in my circle who was asking for advice on launching a mobile app in the social media space. She had an idea she thought was innovative for a new social network, but had absolutely no clue how to go about starting the development.

She was completely lost.

After hanging up, I took time to reflect on her situation and realized why her project made no sense — not the idea itself, as it's hard to predict what will work or not, but the fact of diving into a completely unknown domain.

Let me summarize her situation: she wanted to develop a mobile app for a social network, but didn't know how to code. She wanted to create a social network, but didn't know anyone to get users to join once the app was created. She also didn't know how to promote this app to attract people.

This isn't a criticism of her personal skills, I'm simply trying to understand: how can you expect to develop a project when you know absolutely nothing about it?

The Construction Analogy

To illustrate my point, let's take the example of building a house. Is it a good idea to build a house yourself if you've never held a hammer and never assembled an Ikea piece of furniture in your life? I don't think so.

On the other hand, if you're a mason, is it a good idea to build your own house? Will the mason know how to do the whole house? Electricity, plumbing, carpentry? Probably not everything, but he'll have solid knowledge in his field. He'll already know how to do a good part of the work thanks to his profession. He'll be able to use his existing skills to understand and learn the rest. And most importantly, for what he really doesn't know how to do, he'll certainly have contacts in the construction industry.

Me, I'm a developer. I've certainly assembled Ikea furniture and done some DIY, but I don't know how to do much besides flooring and drywall. If I had to build a house, it would be quite complicated. And unlike the mason who works in the industry, I don't know anyone in the trade who could help me.

My Experience with Lounio

I compared my entrepreneurial experience with that of the person I had on the phone. For my part, I created Lounio , a site to find concerts in Toulouse.

How did this idea come to me? I regularly go out to see concerts and often leave it to the last minute. "What are we doing this weekend? What if there were interesting concerts?"

That's where I encountered the problem: there was no platform to reference all concerts. Existing sites only listed the biggest known venues. You had to go to each venue's website to check the programming and see what might interest you. And for bars with concerts, it was even different and more complicated.

It happened to me several times to be disappointed to see an Instagram story from someone sharing a concert. If I had known it was happening, I would have gone too!

That's how the idea came to me. I love concerts, I know the music industry a bit thanks to my previous experiences as a musician, I know how to code and I live in Toulouse. I didn't launch a platform for another city or on a national scale. Because the way to search for a concert in Toulouse is surely different from Paris, a city where there are dozens of times more events and where travel times come into play. I focused on what I knew.

The 30% Rule

Were my skills sufficient for Lounio? Of course not. Like the mason, I didn't know everything. I didn't master web server administration, DNS management, SEO. On the venue side, I only knew a tiny part of Toulouse venues because I only went out occasionally. I didn't know how to promote my platform or how to approach advertisers to generate revenue.

Despite being a developer by trade, I'm not sure I knew even 50% of the skills needed to run this business. Just like the mason doesn't have 100% of the skills to build a house.

I estimate that you need to have at least 30% of the necessary skills to launch a project.

This rule may seem arbitrary, but it's based on simple logic: it's precisely what makes launching so enriching — you're going to learn enormously. Even in case of failure, you'll have acquired tons of new skills that can serve in a future project.

It's a flaw I see a lot on X. I see many developers launching projects in industries they don't know at all. If you launch an app for lawyers knowing just how to code but without knowing anything about the legal industry, it's not enough, it won't lead anywhere. You might only master 20% of the necessary skills. You need more.

We see them on X: they don't really understand what they're doing or what it's for — not that lawyers don't need new software, but you need to understand their real needs.

You need to launch in a field you know at least a little. For example, a developer could be in a relationship with a lawyer. His partner would complain every night about problems at work. He could analyze these difficulties and create an app that would correspond to her needs. Not only could she give feedback to explain what's useful or not, but he could also potentially find his first client through her!

Being Your Own User

An extremely important point is being able to benefit from what you create. My Lounio platform, I use it for myself. I am my own client. This is doubly important: first for motivation — you're super happy to create something that will make your life easier — but also, and this is the most crucial point, because you'll be able to give constructive feedback.

By using what you create, you realize what works well and what's wrong. What's missing, what's not as important as that. If you need your product, it's because other people surely need it too. You understand the need better and can iterate faster. No need to do user surveys to know what they think — you live it daily.

The Baker Example

Let's take another concrete example: opening a bakery if you've never made bread doesn't make sense. On the other hand, for a young baker who has already worked in several bakeries, it's an excellent idea. He knows how to make the products, he knows good quality machines — those to buy and those to avoid. He knows suppliers, cash register software, etc.

Is that enough? No, he doesn't know how to manage a business, do accounting, manage staff, find a location to open his bakery. But he knows about 50% of the business. That's enough to get started.

And if his bakery goes bankrupt, he'll have learned lots of new skills. He could for example use his business management skills to launch another business that has nothing to do with bread — say a bowling alley. Something that would have been impossible before because he wouldn't have had the 30% of skills needed to open this bowling alley. There, he would have at least the required 30% (business management, neighborhood knowledge to evaluate the market, etc.) even if he doesn't know the bowling industry itself.

Expanding Your Skills

That's why it's important to be curious and seek to expand your skills. The more varied skills you have in different fields, the higher percentage of necessary knowledge you have to start new projects. More possibilities open up to us.

How to concretely expand your skills? Several approaches:

Diversified professional experience : changing sectors, types of companies (startup, large company, freelance), roles. Each experience brings a new perspective.

Personal projects : even small ones, they allow learning. Creating a blog, organizing an event, selling something online — so many opportunities to acquire skills in marketing, communication, management.

Active curiosity : being interested in the jobs of those around you, asking questions, understanding the challenges of other industries. Your restaurateur friend surely has things to teach you about inventory management and customer relations.

Continuous learning : not necessarily degrees, but online courses, books, podcasts in various fields — finance, psychology, history, marketing.

The broader your skill palette, the more opportunities you'll have to detect problems you could solve with your existing capabilities.

Practical Considerations

While discussing with my acquaintance on the phone, I realized another crucial point. Entrepreneurship is very risky and failure rates are high. Half of the companies created go bankrupt after a few years. The person in question didn't have much money and had children to support. I don't think it's reasonable to launch a business in these conditions — particularly in her case where she knew nothing about the field.

I think to be an "entrepreneur," there are mainly two favorable cases: being young to have the dynamism and being ready to live with little means (ideally at your parents' to not have rent to pay), or being in a comfortable financial situation.

It's sad, but if you don't have much money, a family to support and rent or a loan to repay, it might not be the best idea to take this risk — especially without basic skills.

I don't like being pessimistic, but I think you sometimes have to be reasonable. A life can quickly spiral out of control. You need to be aware of the risks and make sure you have a safety net. Sometimes, the metro-work-sleep routine has its merits.

This doesn't mean you should give up on your projects, but rather prepare them intelligently. Acquire necessary skills gradually, test your idea on a small scale, build a network, save a safety cushion. Entrepreneurship can wait for the right moment.

Conclusion

The 30% rule isn't a magic formula, but a guide to evaluate if you're ready to launch. Before diving headfirst into a project, ask yourself: do I master at least 30% of the necessary skills? Do I understand the problem I want to solve? Would I use what I want to create myself?

If the answer is no to these questions, it's not necessarily the end of your entrepreneurial dreams. It might just be the signal that you first need to acquire these skills, understand the market, or wait for the right moment in your life.

Successful entrepreneurship isn't a matter of luck or genius ideas. It's a combination of skills, timing and perseverance. Make sure you have the right cards in hand before playing the game.