I don't really like the "ideas vs. execution" debate either, largely because it reaffirms that an idea and the execution are separate things. I think that by t

I don't really like the "ideas vs. execution" debate either, largely because it reaffirms that an idea and the execution are separate things. I think that by the time an actual application is written and deployed, the idea and execution are nearly inseparable - in other words, it's nearly impossible to determine what is idea and what is execution. In this sense, I'd say an idea for a piece of software would be much like an idea for a novel. The idea is formed through the act of writing.