31–40 of 52 posts
An idea is a thought and execution is action - clearly these are different things.
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...
It has taken me years of studying and work to be able to put in practice (some of) my ideas. So keep your ideas for yourself, people is busy taking action with their own.
This alone, for me, proves that ideas are not worthless.
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 all get the chance to execute on it.
When you compare the hour to think up the idea to the work required, there's no comparison. Worse, there's no shortage of ideas--they're nearly infinite, which, in supply and demand terms means their value approaches 0. This does not mean that some ideas are not better than others, only that their economic value is still generally $0.
The sentiment that ideas are worthless without execution is generally true. This can be easily explained, as "execution" can be broken down into two components: actions, and details. Action is obvious: no action, no product. Details, well, are "where the devil is." A really good idea will include enough details, that it spills over into "execution." It's not just an idea-market. It's an idea-market where people submi…
Effectively, what you're saying is "fuzzy" ideas have low value, and we would end up with market for full business plans.
Aside of that, someone indeed has created a "business plan" market website. I don't remember what it's called, but if you can't find it, I can try fishing it out.
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.