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Ask HN: Can you truly get behind an idea that's not your own?

12 points by navanit 18y ago

timcederman 18y ago
Absolutely. I was sold on the tech behind my old startup and was given the opportunity to contribute my own ideas to improving it, giving me a sense of ownership. This was key to my devotion to the company.
fallentimes 18y ago
Yes. As long as you enjoy working on it why not? Besides, once you start working, the idea changes anyway. Very few ideas stay true to form the whole way through. I think the problems arrive when the people "behind" the idea are completely unwilling to change it at all.
JacobAldridge 18y ago
Yes, you can get behind an idea that's not your own as long as you have a consistent vision or intent with the person who generated the idea. As an extreme example, if I were passionately committed to solving world hunger and the guy running the start-up I worked for found a solution, commitment to that idea would be possible. Ideas are about Strategy - and Vision / Personal Intent are more powerful than Strategy.
SwellJoe 18y ago
Of course, and I emphatically reject the premise of the question. It'd be impossible for any great company to exist without this possibility. Besides that, the best businesses are usually actually many ideas from many people that result in a great series of products. Read Built to Last. The whole point of a company, rather than a sole proprietorship, is for many people to work together for common goals.
- swombat 18y ago
  I agree, I also reject the premise of the question. Ideas don't belong to anyone, anyway.
vaksel 18y ago
yes provided the person has an actual interest in the niche that you are trying to get into.
donniefitz2 18y ago
I personally tried to do this very thing and could not. I had a great opportunity to work with a friend on a startup. I did it for a while, but the fire was just not there. I eventually parted ways (on good terms) and pursued my own idea. I am much more on fire for my own idea. Selfish? Maybe.
metaguri 18y ago
I agree with what's been said. You need a "..." Can you truly get behind an idea that's not your own... if you have another reason for being there? Yes. I want to start my own company (based on my own idea) some day, but I'm learning hell of a lot (and saving up cash) working at another company, on someone else's idea. Getting behind that idea, even if I'm not necessarily passionate about it, is important, because that's the only way I'll do a good job and actually learn what it's like. So yeah. I think it's important to gain some experience before setting out on your own. It's a safer route if you don't have people to fall back on if your first (or second or third) attempt fails
bkbleikamp 18y ago
As long is the idea is something you believe in and you can make meaningful contributions and help shape the product/service, then yes, I think anyone can get behind something they believe in. Look at how many religious people they are - they all emphatically support an idea that was not their own.
mynameishere 18y ago
You think Gates invented OSes or interpreters, or that Brin/Page invented search,.or Jobs invented the Walkman, or that Ford invented Automobiles, etc etc etc etc ad nauseum. Get real.
jacobscott 18y ago
I think the answer to this is obviously yes. Do you use email? Sorting algorithms? Automobiles? Can you not get behind the Internet? Would anyone really say no? Maybe you meant to ask a more specific question?
arien 18y ago
Good ideas can inspire you even if they are not your own, in any case, you probably end wishing you had thought about it before :) Although it probably also depends on the person who explains you the idea (their ability to let you see the point, their enthusiasm...).
DanielBMarkham 18y ago
I've found that true love for the idea comes after you jump in and start owning/developing it. Fake or surface enthusiasm happens when you're just speculating or supposing. In a lot of ways, this is like the difference between seeing a pretty girl in a magazine or something and actually meeting and getting to know a pretty girl. In one case, you're just falling in love with your self-delusion about how something might turn out. In the other case, you're actually experiencing reality and developing a deep relationship. I love cool ideas. But I really love the cool ideas I'm executing. So execution counts more than initial infatuation, even though it doesn't always seem so before you get started.
- sfamiliar 18y ago
  this can be true, but i was sold so completely on my startup (flowmingle) when i first heard about it that i was anxious to start. one of the things that really got me going, and brought me in fully was the person who'd had the idea was open to suggestions and refinement. little changes i was suggesting were adopted, even before i'd written any code, and that granted me a sense of ownership right off the bat. it was a great idea, and more importantly, it was an idea that was mutable, and one i could contribute to making better. that's a strong selling point.
ram1024 18y ago
If people couldn't support an idea that wasn't their own, we'd never see any startups funded...
profgubler 18y ago
I think you can. The task of the entrepreneur is getting everyone else passionate about the idea. Give them ownership in the idea, let them help you create something great and not just build it. America and the constitution were founded because a lot of people were passionate about the idea of freedom. The leaders got people behind the vision of what they could have. And that was a lot harder than getting people to get behind a start up, because people gave their lives for that idea.
albertcardona 18y ago
Is that what a PhD thesis is? Someone internalizing the advisor's/funding provider's ideas (and building them up)?
lacker 18y ago
If you believe in it, the idea belongs to you too.

12 points by navanit 18y ago

Absolutely. I was sold on the tech behind my old startup and was given the opportunity to contribute my own ideas to improving it, giving me a sense of ownership. This was key to my devotion to the company.

fallentimes 18y ago

Yes. As long as you enjoy working on it why not? Besides, once you start working, the idea changes anyway. Very few ideas stay true to form the whole way through. I think the problems arrive when the people "behind" the idea are completely unwilling to change it at all.

JacobAldridge 18y ago

Yes, you can get behind an idea that's not your own as long as you have a consistent vision or intent with the person who generated the idea. As an extreme example, if I were passionately committed to solving world hunger and the guy running the start-up I worked for found a solution, commitment to that idea would be possible. Ideas are about Strategy - and Vision / Personal Intent are more powerful than Strategy.

SwellJoe 18y ago

Of course, and I emphatically reject the premise of the question. It'd be impossible for any great company to exist without this possibility. Besides that, the best businesses are usually actually many ideas from many people that result in a great series of products. Read Built to Last. The whole point of a company, rather than a sole proprietorship, is for many people to work together for common goals.

swombat 18y ago
I agree, I also reject the premise of the question. Ideas don't belong to anyone, anyway.

vaksel 18y ago

yes provided the person has an actual interest in the niche that you are trying to get into.

donniefitz2 18y ago

I personally tried to do this very thing and could not. I had a great opportunity to work with a friend on a startup. I did it for a while, but the fire was just not there. I eventually parted ways (on good terms) and pursued my own idea. I am much more on fire for my own idea. Selfish? Maybe.

metaguri 18y ago

I agree with what's been said. You need a "..." Can you truly get behind an idea that's not your own... if you have another reason for being there? Yes. I want to start my own company (based on my own idea) some day, but I'm learning hell of a lot (and saving up cash) working at another company, on someone else's idea. Getting behind that idea, even if I'm not necessarily passionate about it, is important, because that's the only way I'll do a good job and actually learn what it's like. So yeah. I think it's important to gain some experience before setting out on your own. It's a safer route if you don't have people to fall back on if your first (or second or third) attempt fails

bkbleikamp 18y ago

As long is the idea is something you believe in and you can make meaningful contributions and help shape the product/service, then yes, I think anyone can get behind something they believe in. Look at how many religious people they are - they all emphatically support an idea that was not their own.

mynameishere 18y ago

You think Gates invented OSes or interpreters, or that Brin/Page invented search,.or Jobs invented the Walkman, or that Ford invented Automobiles, etc etc etc etc ad nauseum. Get real.

jacobscott 18y ago

I think the answer to this is obviously yes. Do you use email? Sorting algorithms? Automobiles? Can you not get behind the Internet? Would anyone really say no? Maybe you meant to ask a more specific question?

arien 18y ago

Good ideas can inspire you even if they are not your own, in any case, you probably end wishing you had thought about it before :) Although it probably also depends on the person who explains you the idea (their ability to let you see the point, their enthusiasm...).

DanielBMarkham 18y ago

I've found that true love for the idea comes after you jump in and start owning/developing it. Fake or surface enthusiasm happens when you're just speculating or supposing. In a lot of ways, this is like the difference between seeing a pretty girl in a magazine or something and actually meeting and getting to know a pretty girl. In one case, you're just falling in love with your self-delusion about how something might turn out. In the other case, you're actually experiencing reality and developing a deep relationship. I love cool ideas. But I really love the cool ideas I'm executing. So execution counts more than initial infatuation, even though it doesn't always seem so before you get started.

sfamiliar 18y ago
this can be true, but i was sold so completely on my startup (flowmingle) when i first heard about it that i was anxious to start. one of the things that really got me going, and brought me in fully was the person who'd had the idea was open to suggestions and refinement. little changes i was suggesting were adopted, even before i'd written any code, and that granted me a sense of ownership right off the bat. it was a great idea, and more importantly, it was an idea that was mutable, and one i could contribute to making better. that's a strong selling point.

ram1024 18y ago

If people couldn't support an idea that wasn't their own, we'd never see any startups funded...

profgubler 18y ago

I think you can. The task of the entrepreneur is getting everyone else passionate about the idea. Give them ownership in the idea, let them help you create something great and not just build it. America and the constitution were founded because a lot of people were passionate about the idea of freedom. The leaders got people behind the vision of what they could have. And that was a lot harder than getting people to get behind a start up, because people gave their lives for that idea.

albertcardona 18y ago

Is that what a PhD thesis is? Someone internalizing the advisor's/funding provider's ideas (and building them up)?

lacker 18y ago

If you believe in it, the idea belongs to you too.