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I think he undercuts his own argument. If the idea only takes four hours to build, and the result is a commercially value product, then how can he argue the id

I think he undercuts his own argument. If the idea only takes four hours to build, and the result is a commercially value product, then how can he argue the idea isn't the uniquely valuable component, and his labor is really the commodity? Does he really believe that _nobody_else_ can build it in 4 hours or so? Obviously, execution is important. But if someone has an idea that's great and doesn't require a lot of execution, then the majority of the value of the end product should probably be assigned to the idea.

phlux 16y ago
Maybe he has the experience of 1000 hackers and 1000 project managers! Or maybe hes just 21.
hoosh 16y ago
seems like in this case coming up with the idea is easy, building a prototype is easy, and building a solid, profitable company with stable management and growth prospects is hard and time consuming. So it's the same as every other business scenario ever.
- tomkarlo 16y ago
  Well, as far as I can tell, he has no idea if coming up with the idea was easy. And anyway, I'm not sure ideas are valued based on how hard they are to come up with. Work can be based on replacement value, but I don't think you can do that with ideas.
waxman 16y ago
Most consumer web apps require many and frequent iterations before striking a chord with users. Therefore, the ultimate great "idea" is usually arrived at through a process of engineering and design tinkering, and not through a singular, initial spark of genius. The main differentiators in consumer web startups tend to be: the speed and creativity with which the team can iterate, the quality of the user experience and design, and, if all goes well, the ability of the architecture to scale. The capacity to do these 3 things well is relatively rare. Finding a person or a team with these skills is exceedingly difficult (especially in this talent market). So yeah, I do stand by my assertion that the starting-point idea is the commodity, and the ability to build and design a decently scalable web-app in 4 hours (and then get user feedback and push another version later that same day) is a rare skill---especially on the open market, since most such individuals are either well-employed at companies or working on their own.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]

phlux 16y ago

Maybe he has the experience of 1000 hackers and 1000 project managers! Or maybe hes just 21.

hoosh 16y ago

seems like in this case coming up with the idea is easy, building a prototype is easy, and building a solid, profitable company with stable management and growth prospects is hard and time consuming. So it's the same as every other business scenario ever.

tomkarlo 16y ago
Well, as far as I can tell, he has no idea if coming up with the idea was easy. And anyway, I'm not sure ideas are valued based on how hard they are to come up with. Work can be based on replacement value, but I don't think you can do that with ideas.

waxman 16y ago

Most consumer web apps require many and frequent iterations before striking a chord with users. Therefore, the ultimate great "idea" is usually arrived at through a process of engineering and design tinkering, and not through a singular, initial spark of genius. The main differentiators in consumer web startups tend to be: the speed and creativity with which the team can iterate, the quality of the user experience and design, and, if all goes well, the ability of the architecture to scale. The capacity to do these 3 things well is relatively rare. Finding a person or a team with these skills is exceedingly difficult (especially in this talent market). So yeah, I do stand by my assertion that the starting-point idea is the commodity, and the ability to build and design a decently scalable web-app in 4 hours (and then get user feedback and push another version later that same day) is a rare skill---especially on the open market, since most such individuals are either well-employed at companies or working on their own.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]