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Ideas are not worthless

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ideas are not worthless

#11

Post by mixmax »

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 say, $1.000.000. The idea is the multiplier, so if he executes a good idea he will make $5.000.000, and if he executes a great idea he will make $10.000.000.

So you can argue here that a great idea is worth $9.000.000 more than an OK idea. But you can also argue that if it doesn't get executed it is worth nothing.

That is the dilemma.

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#12

Post by Malcx »

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…

http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2005/08/ideas_are_just...

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#13

Post by Tichy »

Isn't that similar to the prediction markets that are popping up like mushrooms lately?

Also, there are markets for ideas, kind of, for example cambrian house comes to mind.

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#14

Post by ideas101 »

murrayh wrote: post #5

An interesting analysis. I agree that ideas are valuable, and after considering the issue, probably the only reason they have a market value of zero is because there is no good way to trade them. I think you are on the right track with your proposed solution, but I think we can improve it: Basically, ideas are interesting. If you publish ideas, a lot of people would go and read them. So there is your market. And you…

i wanted to write on this from a long time .... thanks to ambition to bring this up ... and thanks to murrayh for supporting it .... can i get email id to contact both of u - murrayh ur email id is bit confusing - can u pls clarify for us ...

Now lets discuss this in detail - i truly believe that idea is always worth something - this is NOT a chicken or egg situation because u just cant execute anything w/o having an idea - u cant have a team in place to execute something w/o an idea - so its clear that idea comes first and then the team and then the execution.

Also idea is not yet traded openly because there are issues in getting idea protected - let me tell u that ideas do get stolen ... trust me !!! What if u put 100 ideas on your web-page and nobody pays for it but still goes ahead uses it in some other part of the world??? But there are ways to deal with this kind of situation - it just requires a motivation and persistence ...

Also people say ideas are worth nothing is because most of the time there is no explanation or analysis or research done to support the idea - also we have a habit to value the idea only when it comes from a popular source else we dont even bother to listen to it. If an idea comes from pg then people will listen to it, but if the same idea comes from a guy on the street then our doubts take precedence.

Conclusion : Ideas are much more worth than what a normal belief is - you cant execute anything w/o having an idea - idea generates creativity - it generates dreams - and If you can't dream, then you can't WIN !!!

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#15

Post by davidw »

ardit33 wrote: post #8

"Ideas need execution to have their value realized. That doesn't mean the ideas are worthless!" --Ok. If you say ideas have a real value, then why there is not market for it? Why there is no website where you can sell your great ideas to the highest bidder? sorry, but ideas are just that. worth 0. It takes hard work and execution to make an idea worth something. Therefore, the execution is the value making part of it…

Because ideas are not easily "excludable" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excludability ). How can you sell it if you're giving it away for free on the site? How can you buy it if you can't read about it?

That doesn't mean that an idea has no value, it means that it's impossible to transform into money. Or, if not quite impossible, that the transaction costs outweigh the value of such a market (I'm not convinced of the value of the original poster's idea:-)

BTW, I explained this a year ago:

http://journal.dedasys.com/articles/2007/04/26/ideas-are-wor...

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#17

Post by tim2 »

ardit33 wrote: post #8

"Ideas need execution to have their value realized. That doesn't mean the ideas are worthless!" --Ok. If you say ideas have a real value, then why there is not market for it? Why there is no website where you can sell your great ideas to the highest bidder? sorry, but ideas are just that. worth 0. It takes hard work and execution to make an idea worth something. Therefore, the execution is the value making part of it…

There are numerous well paid professions where people are paid solely to come up with ideas. Like the poster said, the reputation of the idea creator is considered by the buyer/employer before the ideas are payed for.

So that quote is a little off.

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#19

Post by theorique »

noonespecial wrote: post #4

It also has a continuum and value add component. Think of it like this: 1) A good idea 2) A good idea for searching the internet 3) A good idea for searching the internet with a certain algorithm to rank pages. 4) Using a distributed computing system to make this search scale. 5) Google. As each order of possibility collapses into the next the idea becomes more and more the execution until its done. At each stage, th…

You make a good point and we can see that the value of the idea increases geometrically as you move from one stage of development to the next.

A great idea described in a sentence is not "worthless" - after all it could be the nucleus of the next big thing - but it's still just a few words written down. Just not much there yet.

After experiment, refinement, iteration, failure, rebound from failure, small success, greater understanding of the problem, etc, etc, maybe an idea is worth something more tangible.

An idea described in a few words will never be more valuable than any other few words until you take it through a process of design, engineering, and overall refinement to actually realize any intrinsic potential.

Re: Ideas are not worthless

#20

Post by aswanson »

noonespecial wrote: post #4

It also has a continuum and value add component. Think of it like this: 1) A good idea 2) A good idea for searching the internet 3) A good idea for searching the internet with a certain algorithm to rank pages. 4) Using a distributed computing system to make this search scale. 5) Google. As each order of possibility collapses into the next the idea becomes more and more the execution until its done. At each stage, th…

Yeah, this guy got to stage 3, and nobody gives him credit: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/login.jsp?url=/iel4/4236/1...

With ideas, it's take it to the finish line or die anonymous.

EDIT: 1 guy did give him credit, looking back on this is hilarious. Look at what the engine the guy was forced to use:

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.infosystems.search/brows...

Also note the extraordinary business vision of Dow Jones.

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