> It's commonly asserted that ideas are worth next to nothing, the difficulty is all in the execution, etc. I don't think that's entirely true. If your idea is

> It's commonly asserted that ideas are worth next to nothing, the difficulty is all in the execution, etc. I don't think that's entirely true. If your idea is just a vague one-liner like "facebook for pets", then sure, it's not worth much. But as you start building out a prototype, you're forced to be more specific and refine the idea, and it becomes more valuable. This is a very important point you make. I guess the exact dividing line between an idea that's worth something and an idea that's worth nothing is whether time or money has been invested into the idea or other forms of personal risk by the time it was just an idea. It is the investment and commitment that makes an idea valuable, not the idea itself.