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This is why I cringe every time I hear someone say "Ideas are worthless - it's all about execution." Coming up with a worthwhile idea is hard work, and that wo

This is why I cringe every time I hear someone say "Ideas are worthless - it's all about execution." Coming up with a worthwhile idea is hard work, and that work has value. As someone who has executed a bad idea to death, I've come to appreciate how much you have to get right before you start in order to be successful.

krschultz 16y ago
I'd argue that this story supports the "idea is worthless" hypothesis. Your idea is the initial problem you want to solve or new feature you came up with you'd love to make a product around. The business model is built upon that initial idea, but it is part of the execution. The idea itself is worthless, the business model built on the idea (or lack of one) is valuable. That might seem like splitting hairs, but I gaurentee most ideas don't translate directly to a business model without a whole lot of work. And that work is part of the execution. If you don't do that work (and get stuck building on a bad business model), you still have an idea, you just didn't do the proper execution.
- damoncali 16y ago
  I was defining "idea" as "what you have before you start coding". I don't think we disagree.
  - swombat 16y ago
    If you have a defined, detailed, iterated, field-tested business model before you start coding, then you have more than just an idea, by definition.
revorad 16y ago
Damon, please share your story. It could help a lot of people.
- damoncali 16y ago
  It basically reduces down to "sell it, then build it." I'm ashamed to say that I've actually done this a couple times (didn't learn from the first one, apparently). We skipped the process that Jason talks about, built something, and then tried to market it in various trial-and-error ways. Surely we could find someone who would want it at a price that would make us happy? We tried different media, different target markets, biz dev, etc. Only to find out that the idea was just a stinker. That takes a whole lot more time, money and emotional investment that can be hard to walk away from than really digging into some potential customers before you start coding. It's much, much easier to scrap a crappy idea before you've built it. It's almost impossible to scrap a good idea once it's been validated. I would say that among the people I know who have been very successful starting companies, a very healthy majority sold the product before building it, intentionally or otherwise. There are a few who find the right market with their gut instincts - my hat's off to them, because I've tried that and failed miserably.
ig1 16y ago
Validating the idea is a key part of execution. You can't differentiate between a bad or good idea without validation (market research, testing, etc.)

krschultz 16y ago

I'd argue that this story supports the "idea is worthless" hypothesis. Your idea is the initial problem you want to solve or new feature you came up with you'd love to make a product around. The business model is built upon that initial idea, but it is part of the execution. The idea itself is worthless, the business model built on the idea (or lack of one) is valuable. That might seem like splitting hairs, but I gaurentee most ideas don't translate directly to a business model without a whole lot of work. And that work is part of the execution. If you don't do that work (and get stuck building on a bad business model), you still have an idea, you just didn't do the proper execution.

damoncali 16y ago
I was defining "idea" as "what you have before you start coding". I don't think we disagree.
- swombat 16y ago
  If you have a defined, detailed, iterated, field-tested business model before you start coding, then you have more than just an idea, by definition.

revorad 16y ago

Damon, please share your story. It could help a lot of people.

damoncali 16y ago
It basically reduces down to "sell it, then build it." I'm ashamed to say that I've actually done this a couple times (didn't learn from the first one, apparently). We skipped the process that Jason talks about, built something, and then tried to market it in various trial-and-error ways. Surely we could find someone who would want it at a price that would make us happy? We tried different media, different target markets, biz dev, etc. Only to find out that the idea was just a stinker. That takes a whole lot more time, money and emotional investment that can be hard to walk away from than really digging into some potential customers before you start coding. It's much, much easier to scrap a crappy idea before you've built it. It's almost impossible to scrap a good idea once it's been validated. I would say that among the people I know who have been very successful starting companies, a very healthy majority sold the product before building it, intentionally or otherwise. There are a few who find the right market with their gut instincts - my hat's off to them, because I've tried that and failed miserably.

ig1 16y ago

Validating the idea is a key part of execution. You can't differentiate between a bad or good idea without validation (market research, testing, etc.)