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How does this jive with the Silicon Valley trope that ideas aren't worth very much in and of themselves, but the people and teams who can execute on them are?

api 9y ago
That trope is sort of bullshit. Both matter. It does apply when the idea is some kitschy social media thing but not so much when it's a real key innovation.
- TheOtherHobbes 9y ago
  The problem is we don't have much of a theory of innovation. Google beat AltaVista etc because of execution, not because page ranking was the most amazing invention in history. But to get to Google you need a trail of gamechanger innovations in science, physics, and math. All those innovations were created by individual geniuses armed with a pen, some paper, a brain, and maybe some discussion with other geniuses. At that level, ideas don't need to be executed with a commercial strategy and a website, because they're more abstract and far more powerful than a startup. In fact they create an envelope in which new kinds of execution become possible.
  - api 9y ago
    I'm skeptical of whether there can be a theory of innovation. Innovation means a novel movement in state space toward some new maximum in the fitness landscape. Each movement is going to be different. Each innovation is a unique thing. A theory of innovation would be like a theory of adaptation. You can say vague general things like "adaptations occur because of natural selection" but you could never formulate a theory specifying the exact sequence of concrete changes or events leading to an adaptation.
baxtr 9y ago
I think it’s quite dangerous to rely on such simple logic. Great ideas are not worthless and it’s not only execution that matters.
pvaldes 9y ago
The value of some "life-changing for all" ideas is not always based in building a sellable product, as Alfred Wegener could tell us. On the other hand, there is not point in being granted a patent unless you have a lot of money and can afford to hold it.
ataturk 9y ago
It's "jibe" not "jive" although some people are trying to normalize jive because it sounds better, I guess. Jibe is a nautical term, jive is an inner-city dialect circa 1970s.

api 9y ago

That trope is sort of bullshit. Both matter. It does apply when the idea is some kitschy social media thing but not so much when it's a real key innovation.

TheOtherHobbes 9y ago
The problem is we don't have much of a theory of innovation. Google beat AltaVista etc because of execution, not because page ranking was the most amazing invention in history. But to get to Google you need a trail of gamechanger innovations in science, physics, and math. All those innovations were created by individual geniuses armed with a pen, some paper, a brain, and maybe some discussion with other geniuses. At that level, ideas don't need to be executed with a commercial strategy and a website, because they're more abstract and far more powerful than a startup. In fact they create an envelope in which new kinds of execution become possible.
- api 9y ago
  I'm skeptical of whether there can be a theory of innovation. Innovation means a novel movement in state space toward some new maximum in the fitness landscape. Each movement is going to be different. Each innovation is a unique thing. A theory of innovation would be like a theory of adaptation. You can say vague general things like "adaptations occur because of natural selection" but you could never formulate a theory specifying the exact sequence of concrete changes or events leading to an adaptation.

baxtr 9y ago

I think it’s quite dangerous to rely on such simple logic. Great ideas are not worthless and it’s not only execution that matters.

pvaldes 9y ago

The value of some "life-changing for all" ideas is not always based in building a sellable product, as Alfred Wegener could tell us. On the other hand, there is not point in being granted a patent unless you have a lot of money and can afford to hold it.

ataturk 9y ago

It's "jibe" not "jive" although some people are trying to normalize jive because it sounds better, I guess. Jibe is a nautical term, jive is an inner-city dialect circa 1970s.