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> Mainly because I don't agree with the premise that ideas are worthless - something that is echoed around all the time. I don't know the genesis of this, but
by nhebb 14y ago
> Mainly because I don't agree with the premise that ideas are worthless - something that is echoed around all the time.
I don't know the genesis of this, but the first time I heard it was in an interview with John Doerr a number of years ago. And from a VC's perspective, that makes sense. They don't want to invest in an idea; they want to invest in something that has traction.
From a startup's perspective, though, ideas definitely have value. Startups just need to be cognizant of the tightrope between guarding the idea and getting early feedback and buzz.
Edit: I should add that I've had to sign NDA's that I thought were ridiculous, so the blog post isn't without merit. I just get tired of the ideas are worthless meme because I think it's over-applied.
- rhizome 14y agoIt's always business people who say that ideas don't matter, without any indication of the conflict of interest involved in that statement. It shifts the balance of power if the opportunity can be transposed to a separate business, or to separate people. A businessperson knowing an idea commodifies the technology, which doesn't happen when they're tied to an implementation or black box.