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Very cool. Just too bad ideas don’t matter and execution is everything! I wish the world has more people with technical chops and less “idea guys.” Knowledge o

Very cool. Just too bad ideas don’t matter and execution is everything! I wish the world has more people with technical chops and less “idea guys.” Knowledge of customer and ability to build the minimum viable product is worth more than 100k ideas.

simonrobb 8y ago
It takes a whole lot more to build a business than technical chops.
arcturus17 8y ago
Never bought into how that saying diminishes the value of good ideas, particularly that of a unique domain-specific insight. I'm rarely excited by "the new Facebook" or "like X, but with AI", but when I hear someone say something like "an app that creates layouts for solar plants, saving energy consultants hundreds hours of work", that tickles my senses. That's a real example from a meetup I went to the other day. Two solar engineers who were tired of drawing these solar plant plans and realized a computer would do it faster and better. They're killing it. Many software engineers rely on domain experts to come along with good ideas to execute on. Maybe ideas matter immensely after all.
- zipzap324 8y ago
  Exactly, how many thousands of very strong engineers are there in SV and most of them are not coming up with great businesses.
snaky 8y ago
Well, that's why we all should build yet another calculator or weather app for Android.
dalbasal 8y ago
Ideas alone don't matter. That saying exists to deter procrastination, obsession with being first, being secret and other mistakes people make. But ideas do matter. Google AdWords' bidding model was an idea (I think overture had the first quality implementation at scale). That idea was/is responsible for adding 0s to Google's as income.
jnicholasp 8y ago
Ideas don't matter (assuming the set of ideas you're choosing among are roughly equal in quality, and that the average quality of the set is well above outright stupidity). Which is to say, ideas matter a lot, but no one who subscribes to the saying has ever noticed that they're auto-rejecting bad and terrible ideas constantly, and have also never had a great idea.
ThomPete 8y ago
As I normally to say. If execution is all that matters your ideas arent good enough. There are plenty of good executioners out there who dont succeed because their idea or timing isnt good enough. Good ideas give you something to strive for, something to think alongside i would say good ideas is the very reason a team execute well in most cases.
owens99 8y ago
Edit: for those who haven’t seen this before (talking to you idea guys), I was shared this formula by one of the top VCs in New York almost 10 years ago. https://sivers.org/multiply https://sivers.org/multiply “ The most brilliant idea, with no execution, is worth $20. The most brilliant idea takes great execution to be worth $20,000,000. That’s why I don’t want to hear people’s ideas. I’m not interested until I see their execution. “ I’ve since heard this referenced and repeated by numerous successful entrepreneurs. Let me know if you disagree.
- stevematzal 8y ago
  When it comes to ideas and execution, Derek Siver's multiplication guide is quite the "North Star" in helping entrepreneurs to orient themselves guesstimate if they are on the right path.
arkitaip 8y ago
And yet every single day "execution guys" keep asking about business ideas.
thisisit 8y ago
I don't know how you equate knowledge of customer with technical chops. I see tons of list like these with site and coding etc done but no clue on how to build a sustainable business.
- owens99 8y ago
  Not equating them, they are two separate things and the two most important parts of success IMO.

simonrobb 8y ago

It takes a whole lot more to build a business than technical chops.

arcturus17 8y ago

Never bought into how that saying diminishes the value of good ideas, particularly that of a unique domain-specific insight. I'm rarely excited by "the new Facebook" or "like X, but with AI", but when I hear someone say something like "an app that creates layouts for solar plants, saving energy consultants hundreds hours of work", that tickles my senses. That's a real example from a meetup I went to the other day. Two solar engineers who were tired of drawing these solar plant plans and realized a computer would do it faster and better. They're killing it. Many software engineers rely on domain experts to come along with good ideas to execute on. Maybe ideas matter immensely after all.

zipzap324 8y ago
Exactly, how many thousands of very strong engineers are there in SV and most of them are not coming up with great businesses.

snaky 8y ago

Well, that's why we all should build yet another calculator or weather app for Android.

dalbasal 8y ago

Ideas alone don't matter. That saying exists to deter procrastination, obsession with being first, being secret and other mistakes people make. But ideas do matter. Google AdWords' bidding model was an idea (I think overture had the first quality implementation at scale). That idea was/is responsible for adding 0s to Google's as income.

jnicholasp 8y ago

Ideas don't matter (assuming the set of ideas you're choosing among are roughly equal in quality, and that the average quality of the set is well above outright stupidity). Which is to say, ideas matter a lot, but no one who subscribes to the saying has ever noticed that they're auto-rejecting bad and terrible ideas constantly, and have also never had a great idea.

ThomPete 8y ago

As I normally to say. If execution is all that matters your ideas arent good enough. There are plenty of good executioners out there who dont succeed because their idea or timing isnt good enough. Good ideas give you something to strive for, something to think alongside i would say good ideas is the very reason a team execute well in most cases.

owens99 8y ago

Edit: for those who haven’t seen this before (talking to you idea guys), I was shared this formula by one of the top VCs in New York almost 10 years ago. https://sivers.org/multiply https://sivers.org/multiply “ The most brilliant idea, with no execution, is worth $20. The most brilliant idea takes great execution to be worth $20,000,000. That’s why I don’t want to hear people’s ideas. I’m not interested until I see their execution. “ I’ve since heard this referenced and repeated by numerous successful entrepreneurs. Let me know if you disagree.

stevematzal 8y ago
When it comes to ideas and execution, Derek Siver's multiplication guide is quite the "North Star" in helping entrepreneurs to orient themselves guesstimate if they are on the right path.

arkitaip 8y ago

And yet every single day "execution guys" keep asking about business ideas.

thisisit 8y ago

I don't know how you equate knowledge of customer with technical chops. I see tons of list like these with site and coding etc done but no clue on how to build a sustainable business.

owens99 8y ago
Not equating them, they are two separate things and the two most important parts of success IMO.