Counter-intuitively, we must be willing to be playfully creative if we want to make serious money. Let's reintroduce enjoyment into what we do. Sustainable creativity is not possible without levity and experimentation.
I like this idea for personal projects (er, experiments) as well. I have a list of side projects I work on, but new items get added much faster than existing ones get done. A lot of times the list feels like a burden. A mental switch from "I should write this widget for myself" to "I wonder if this widget would make life easier" takes the mental pressure off and at the same time reminds me why I wanted to make that widget in the first place. Sometimes that switch in perspective is the difference between having the motivation to tackle an item on the list and not.
You're always able to evaluate an experiment to a full-fledged startup.
And, however odd it sounds, very frequently I'm much more effective when I know that no one counts on me, and I'm free to experiment. It gives a little competentive edge as well.
I think experiments make sense for startups too. Maybe especially for startups. The basic mind switch is that failure is expected, your hypothesis has a chance to be disproven. Too often in the non-startup world and in the world of bureaucracies, failure is not an option. It must be carpeted over and the failures are ostracized.
Full-fledged startups tend to fail too often in the real world. Better maximize your chances and have a bag of proven experiments/prototypes before you start IMHO.
