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There's always a small chance that they're not billion dollar genius' but are instead people who have had a pretty good idea at exactly the right time. If the
by dave_au 17y ago
There's always a small chance that they're not billion dollar genius' but are instead people who have had a pretty good idea at exactly the right time.
If the right time is just after a step forward step in some seemingly tangentially related field and just before everyone else spots the connection then it more about luck than genius.
Of course, this doesn't apply to people with ideas that are trivially easy to shoot down but won't listen :)
- trapper 17y agoI am a big believer that everyone's thinking the same thing at roughly the same time. My partner and I tend to come up with great ideas, and then 2-3 years later it appears on the market executed well. We are continually saying "I told you so" with new products that come out. I don't think it's that we are amazingly innovative people, it's just that we keep a pulse on technology and science trends, and love extrapolating them. The ones that aren't on the market usually have a technical hurdle if you look into them. I've got a drawer full :)
- dangoldin 17y agoGladwell wrote an essay along similar lines: http://www.gladwell.com/2008/2008_05_12_a_air.html http://www.gladwell.com/2008/2008_05_12_a_air.html