Ask HN: Any room in the startup world for an ideas man?

#1

Post by netconnect » Thu, Aug 20, 2009, 11:04 AM UTC

Is there any place in the world of startups and online businesses for an ideas man? I don't just mean scribbles on napkins, I mean well thought out and researched plans for online services, bundled with charismatic presentations and an analysis of the current market.

I am currently working on the skills I need to bring these ideas to life, but being realistic it will probably be some time before I can attempt even the most simple of them, with or without a partner.

Sitting on my laptop are about 15 of these ideas (plans, whatever you would like to call them), each one is the product of a lot of work and the source of much pride. It would upset me to see even one of these ideas, independently thought of by someone else, come to life as a profitable business. I ask you guys, what should I do with them? Let people read them on some sort of website? Try to market them to someone with the skills and resources to bring them into the world?

Honestly, is there anything I can do with them?

Re: Ask HN: Any room in the startup world for an ideas man?

#2

Post by sidmitra » Thu, Aug 20, 2009, 11:15 AM UTC

>Try to market them to someone with the skills and resources to bring them into the world?

It really isn't the idea, but the execution that's essential.

There have been lots of ideas, which i thought were stupid and too simple to be profitable at that time. But i've seen them grow really popular and profitable.

So i guess you should find someone to work with you on those ideas, and hope for the best. It may turn out that some those ideas become successful, but there's a higher chance that none of them do.

Discuss those ideas on HN, and i'm sure you'll get lots of useful feedback.

Re: Ask HN: Any room in the startup world for an ideas man?

#3

Post by ErrantX » Thu, Aug 20, 2009, 11:20 AM UTC

sidmitra wrote: post #2

>Try to market them to someone with the skills and resources to bring them into the world? It really isn't the idea, but the execution that's essential. There have been lots of ideas, which i thought were stupid and too simple to be profitable at that time. But i've seen them grow really popular and profitable. So i guess you should find someone to work with you on those ideas, and hope for the best. It may turn out…

But many of those ideas are half baked :D it sounds like this guy has got some serious plans/ideas laid down.

That kind of stuff can go far in the right hands.

@OP: How protective are you over the ideas? Posting them to HN will probably find someone to build them. The risk being you might be bypassed in that process. Is there a way to give your knowledge / plan enough value that a would be "builder" wants to work with you?

Re: Ask HN: Any room in the startup world for an ideas man?

#4

Post by sidmitra » Thu, Aug 20, 2009, 11:25 AM UTC

ErrantX wrote: post #3

sidmitra wrote: post #2

>Try to market them to someone with the skills and resources to bring them into the world? It really isn't the idea, but the execution that's essential. There have been lots of ideas, which i thought were stupid and too simple to be profitable at that time. But i've seen them grow really popular and profitable. So i guess you should find someone to work with you on those ideas, and hope for the best. It may turn out…

But many of those ideas are half baked :D it sounds like this guy has got some serious plans/ideas laid down. That kind of stuff can go far in the right hands. @OP: How protective are you over the ideas? Posting them to HN will probably find someone to build them. The risk being you might be bypassed in that process. Is there a way to give your knowledge / plan enough value that a would be "builder" wants to work wit…

In my opinion, ideas bred in isolation usually need a lot more work, polishing up to actually bring them to fruition.

"Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats." -Howard Aiken (i think!)

Re: Ask HN: Any room in the startup world for an ideas man?

#5

Post by netconnect » Thu, Aug 20, 2009, 11:28 AM UTC

ErrantX wrote: post #3

sidmitra wrote: post #2

>Try to market them to someone with the skills and resources to bring them into the world? It really isn't the idea, but the execution that's essential. There have been lots of ideas, which i thought were stupid and too simple to be profitable at that time. But i've seen them grow really popular and profitable. So i guess you should find someone to work with you on those ideas, and hope for the best. It may turn out…

But many of those ideas are half baked :D it sounds like this guy has got some serious plans/ideas laid down. That kind of stuff can go far in the right hands. @OP: How protective are you over the ideas? Posting them to HN will probably find someone to build them. The risk being you might be bypassed in that process. Is there a way to give your knowledge / plan enough value that a would be "builder" wants to work wit…

Thats really my problem isn't it - I bring nothing to the table once someone has the plans. I'm a little protective, but I could cope with letting one or two go I suppose. I have only really shared them with non-tech people or my tech friends that are far too lazy or otherwise oriented to ever do anything with them.

Re: Ask HN: Any room in the startup world for an ideas man?

#6

Post by jacquesm » Thu, Aug 20, 2009, 11:32 AM UTC

Sure there is a place for that ! Go to a bank, borrow the $ or mortgage your house, then hire a team to build one of your plans, make it big and use the proceeds to execute the rest of your plans.

That's how everybody else does it. Other than that ideas are two a penny, plans are great but executing them is where the work is and where the money is made. You can have all of my 'good' ideas for free... I value them at exactly $0, which is as good as any other idea/plan.

By the time that you can prove that an idea has legs it should not be too hard to get it funded. Once you've successfully done one next ideas are easier.

Re: Ask HN: Any room in the startup world for an ideas man?

#7

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Aug 20, 2009, 11:33 AM UTC

sidmitra wrote: post #4

ErrantX wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But many of those ideas are half baked :D it sounds like this guy has got some serious plans/ideas laid down. That kind of stuff can go far in the right hands. @OP: How protective are you over the ideas? Posting them to HN will probably find someone to build them. The risk being you might be bypassed in that process. Is there a way to give your knowledge / plan enough value that a would be "builder" wants to work wit…

In my opinion, ideas bred in isolation usually need a lot more work, polishing up to actually bring them to fruition. "Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats." -Howard Aiken (i think!)

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Any room in the startup world for an ideas man?

#8

Post by sidmitra » Thu, Aug 20, 2009, 11:33 AM UTC

netconnect wrote: post #5

ErrantX wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But many of those ideas are half baked :D it sounds like this guy has got some serious plans/ideas laid down. That kind of stuff can go far in the right hands. @OP: How protective are you over the ideas? Posting them to HN will probably find someone to build them. The risk being you might be bypassed in that process. Is there a way to give your knowledge / plan enough value that a would be "builder" wants to work wit…

Thats really my problem isn't it - I bring nothing to the table once someone has the plans. I'm a little protective, but I could cope with letting one or two go I suppose. I have only really shared them with non-tech people or my tech friends that are far too lazy or otherwise oriented to ever do anything with them.

"I have only really shared them with non-tech people or my tech friends that are far too lazy or otherwise oriented to ever do anything with them."

I guess your concern is valid. But, most people are that way, the ones that really are motivated enough to complete a project or build a startup already have their hands full with ideas of their own.

If you have researched your product and have a definite vision of it, then that's what you bring to the table. A stolen idea would look, well.... stolen!

Re: Ask HN: Any room in the startup world for an ideas man?

#9

Post by ErrantX » Thu, Aug 20, 2009, 11:34 AM UTC

netconnect wrote: post #5

ErrantX wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But many of those ideas are half baked :D it sounds like this guy has got some serious plans/ideas laid down. That kind of stuff can go far in the right hands. @OP: How protective are you over the ideas? Posting them to HN will probably find someone to build them. The risk being you might be bypassed in that process. Is there a way to give your knowledge / plan enough value that a would be "builder" wants to work wit…

Thats really my problem isn't it - I bring nothing to the table once someone has the plans. I'm a little protective, but I could cope with letting one or two go I suppose. I have only really shared them with non-tech people or my tech friends that are far too lazy or otherwise oriented to ever do anything with them.

Im thinking jacquesm is your only real alternative then. Unless you can offer something else like sales expertise etc.

The problem is putting enough info out there to get interest without exposing all of your work.

On the other hand if their left on the shelf doing nothing then, well, that is possibly even worse.

Re: Ask HN: Any room in the startup world for an ideas man?

#10

Post by pbhjpbhj » Thu, Aug 20, 2009, 11:46 AM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #6

Sure there is a place for that ! Go to a bank, borrow the $ or mortgage your house, then hire a team to build one of your plans, make it big and use the proceeds to execute the rest of your plans. That's how everybody else does it. Other than that ideas are two a penny, plans are great but executing them is where the work is and where the money is made. You can have all of my 'good' ideas for free... I value them at…

"plans are great but executing them is where the work is [...]" True enough, but some people are good at execution and some people are good at ideas. During the execution phase you're going to need more ideas, probably, to get past your MVP and on to a fully rounded product. Reminds me of the postings the other on Word of Goo - the idea was simple, implementing it was quite hard but additional ideas were added all along the way: things that transformed the product.

Ideas possibly are ten-a-penny, good ideas ...? Great ideas restricted to a specific market segment, they've got to be even more rare. PageRank was a good idea, sure without implementation it's nothing, without the idea there's no implementation though.