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Ideas are not worthless

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ideas are not worthless

#41

Post by louisadekoya »

I too do not agree that ideas are worthless. About a year ago, I posted that I was amazed at the number of idea-bashing posts that I found in the blogosphere. I have taken the following excerpt from my post:

"... whilst an idea that is not executed is not worth anything in itself, it is worth something if it sparks other ideas that do get executed, whether by the originator or someone with whom the originator shares the idea.

Another point that these idea bashers make is that a well executed poor idea is worth more than a poorly executed brilliant idea. Whilst this may be true, I contend that a good execution of a poor idea is itself a good idea that was sparked by the poor one. In other words, to execute an idea you have to come up with an idea of how to execute the idea you are trying to execute. And the idea you want to execute is what sparks your brilliant execution idea.

So to my mind, ideas rule.So people, please stop the idea bashing. Ideas rock and are the seeds of innovation, change and progress."

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#42

Post by dreish »

johnrob wrote: post #35

Why are YC companies so secretive before they launch? If ideas are worthless, why not tell the world what they do (and start getting feedback sooner)? This alone, for me, proves that ideas are not worthless.

In order to commit to doing a ridiculous amount of work to bring an idea to reality, one must believe deeply that there's a realistic chance the venture will lead to obscene wealth, fame, magazine covers, and a 60 Minutes interview. Believing this, people vastly overestimate the risk that someone else will see how brilliant the idea is and run with it. It goes with the territory.

Just because you're paranoid doesn't constitute proof that they are out to get you.

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#43

Post by dreish »

moog wrote: post #36

Ok, here's my crazy idea: If you have a great idea, you post it to, let's say, 'mycrazyideahaslegs.com' and you pay the site a dollar amount reflecting your belief in the idea. If you really believe in it, you pay $1000. So, what's the point in that? Well, you then get to read all the other $1000 ideas, and those users can read yours. True, your great idea is now shared, but only amongst a small group of people. You…

Who is going to implement this idea?

Hearing this, the novice suddenly achieved enlightenment, several years later.

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#44

Post by Spyckie »

Instead of selling ideas, I think the person behind the idea is valuable.

Some people have the gift of coming up with great ideas, or shaping existing ideas in a good direction. The evaluation of ideas and solving the details of an idea is something that is an art and has valuable, much more than the idea itself.

People that create ideas that have no vested interest in making it a reality probably don't have a good enough idea.

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#45

Post by ubudesign »

I guess it would depend on how you would define that "idea". Is it a generally good idea without any details? (i.e. create a better search engine then Google) It's a good idea but worthless if you don't have the details and any good algorithms behind it. Another point is that ideas develop from previous thoughts and ideas. there is metamorphism about them. And if you also add natural selection to it, for example to your auction site idea, then it could make it work better. but then of course, sometimes it is the unpopular idea that really works and worth something not what gets the most votes. Certainly true when you look at science's history. Yet another important part of an idea is its timing. many examples for this... but just to give one, sending dvd rentals by mail (Netflix) Good for now but perhaps will be over soon and sound ridiculous when more people get high speed internet and can stream.

anyway there are lots of things to conceder about an idea before declaring it worthless or not. And I would definitely not narrow it down to idea vs. execution.

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#46

Post by pixcavator »

mixmax wrote: post #11

Here's what I think: An idea by itself is worthless without execution, but definitely worth something with the right execution behind it. So you can think of an idea as a multilplier, where the better idea will give somebody skilled in execution a better output. To explain: stupid idea: x0,5 OK idea: x1 good idea: x5 great idea: x10 Now if someone good at execution starts a company with an OK idea he will make, let's…

>...you can think of an idea as a multilplier...

Mixmax, you don't seem to realize that in your explanation execution is a multiplier too!

Let me rewrite your comment below:

So you can think of execution as a multilplier, where the better execution will give somebody with a good idea a better output.

To explain:

bad execution: x0,5

OK execution: x1

good execution: x5

great execution: x10

etc

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#47

Post by mixmax »

pixcavator wrote: post #46
mixmax wrote: post #11

Here's what I think: An idea by itself is worthless without execution, but definitely worth something with the right execution behind it. So you can think of an idea as a multilplier, where the better idea will give somebody skilled in execution a better output. To explain: stupid idea: x0,5 OK idea: x1 good idea: x5 great idea: x10 Now if someone good at execution starts a company with an OK idea he will make, let's…

>...you can think of an idea as a multilplier... Mixmax, you don't seem to realize that in your explanation execution is a multiplier too! Let me rewrite your comment below: So you can think of execution as a multilplier, where the better execution will give somebody with a good idea a better output. To explain: bad execution: x0,5 OK execution: x1 good execution: x5 great execution: x10 etc

No, because a good idea without any execution is worth nothing.

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#49

Post by pixcavator »

mixmax wrote: post #47
pixcavator wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>...you can think of an idea as a multilplier... Mixmax, you don't seem to realize that in your explanation execution is a multiplier too! Let me rewrite your comment below: So you can think of execution as a multilplier, where the better execution will give somebody with a good idea a better output. To explain: bad execution: x0,5 OK execution: x1 good execution: x5 great execution: x10 etc

No, because a good idea without any execution is worth nothing.

This is what you said: good idea x 0 = 0. Execution is a multiplier, according to you.
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