This afternoon I was monitoring NASA TV for what was to be the launch of the space shuttle Endeavor. Ultimately, once again, the mission was aborted for weather, but as I listened to the 
process leading up to the scrubbing of the launch, I couldn't help but see the parallels with the kinds of things entrepreneurs go through at the run-up to the launch of their ventures, or the challenges that thwart a company attempting to secure an investment or complete an IPO. As with a shuttle launch, it's all about timing and polling all the relevant stakeholders for a go/no-go decision before the final committment is made.
In the case of NASA today, all the groups in charge of the technical aspects of the launch were "go" up to the very last minute--this baby was ready to fly. Technology was all working according to plan; communication was on target; astronauts were chomping at the bit--I'm sure my friends at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, who supply the main shuttle engines (PWR has provided the world's only fully reusable high-performance rocket engine since the first shuttle mission in 1981, and it has never failed), were a go as well. But NASA can't control everything related to the flight, and mother nature proved yet again who really is boss. So, now they're regrouping and looking at another possible window of opportunity.
How many times have entrepreneurs had all the technical aspects of the business lined up and ready to go, but the market shifted and the customer was no longer there. That's what happened to one entrepreneur I know who had developed a technology for managing all your text message and email accounts in one location on the Web. Everyone he talked to gave him a thumbs up so he pushed forward. Trouble is by the time he had worked out all the bugs in his program and started demonstrating his app to investors, his target market had moved to Smartphone apps and Twitter and he had to scrub the venture. How many entrepreneurs have misjudged the window of opportunity by launching too soon before the market actually exists? Nothing like supplying a solution for a problem that doesn't exist! (Recall my tale of the screenwriting Web site).
Windows of opportunity are moving targets. That's why entrepreneurs need to be flexible, move fast, and be able to regroup and morph their original plans into something that better meets market needs in real time. NASA's new window appears to be Wednesday and no doubt they'll be ready to try again - what's your window of opportunity?
