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I'm not discounting moonshot business ideas. I'm saying there's a bunch of capable people out there that may not have any idea what exactly to build. And I'm sa

by jb775 6y ago

I'm not discounting moonshot business ideas. I'm saying there's a bunch of capable people out there that may not have any idea what exactly to build. And I'm saying people like that could benefit from active discussion on ideas of what to build, and people that already have ideas of what to build would benefit from discussing their startup idea & business plan with others prior to diving in head first. I'm basically saying mix wisdom of the crowd with the startup-idea generation process.

grey-area 6y ago
Quite sincerely, I'm convinced YC and other VCs don't do this because they've observed that ideas truly don't matter very much. And if you can't even come up with an idea what hope do you have of finishing the work, why not become an employee (which is fine)? What matters is the journey and how you react to the multiple problems along the way (99% of people give up too early, too much grit is required). Usually by the end of that journey your initial idea has changed beyond recognition, even if there are some common elements between the idea and the endpoint. To come up with some examples: Apple: Computers for everyone -> Phones for everyone Amazon: Buy books online -> Logistics, Free Delivery + Cloud Compute Airbnb: Airbeds in living rooms -> Online bookings SpaceX: Greenhouse on Mars -> Reusable rockets Very few ideas survive contact with reality unscathed.
- bobwernstein 6y ago
  if ideas don't matter, explain Uber and the dozens of copy cat apps that launched right after all over the world. Why didn't they launch before Uber was even thought of by the founder?
bobwernstein 6y ago
I agree with you I also have been looking for place where good ideas are shared and discussed. Couldn't find any except the usual subreddits where posts do occaisionally come by discussing trends, ideas etc. A good idea is rare. I don't follow the belief of ideas are a dime a dozen. If that where the case why was Uber the first company to innovate in the taxi space and why suddenly just after it launched like 20 different companies launched everywhere in the world doing exactly the same.

by jb775 6y ago

grey-area 6y ago

Quite sincerely, I'm convinced YC and other VCs don't do this because they've observed that ideas truly don't matter very much. And if you can't even come up with an idea what hope do you have of finishing the work, why not become an employee (which is fine)? What matters is the journey and how you react to the multiple problems along the way (99% of people give up too early, too much grit is required). Usually by the end of that journey your initial idea has changed beyond recognition, even if there are some common elements between the idea and the endpoint. To come up with some examples: Apple: Computers for everyone -> Phones for everyone Amazon: Buy books online -> Logistics, Free Delivery + Cloud Compute Airbnb: Airbeds in living rooms -> Online bookings SpaceX: Greenhouse on Mars -> Reusable rockets Very few ideas survive contact with reality unscathed.

bobwernstein 6y ago
if ideas don't matter, explain Uber and the dozens of copy cat apps that launched right after all over the world. Why didn't they launch before Uber was even thought of by the founder?

bobwernstein 6y ago

I agree with you I also have been looking for place where good ideas are shared and discussed. Couldn't find any except the usual subreddits where posts do occaisionally come by discussing trends, ideas etc. A good idea is rare. I don't follow the belief of ideas are a dime a dozen. If that where the case why was Uber the first company to innovate in the taxi space and why suddenly just after it launched like 20 different companies launched everywhere in the world doing exactly the same.