

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

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SwellJoe
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.

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swombat
I agree, I also reject the premise of the question.

Ideas don't belong to anyone, anyway.

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donniefitz2
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.

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metaguri
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

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timcederman
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.

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profgubler
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.

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JacobAldridge
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.

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bkbleikamp
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.

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fallentimes
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.

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arien
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...).

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jacobscott
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?

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mynameishere
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.

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DanielBMarkham
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.

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sfamiliar
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.

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

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

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

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ram1024
If people couldn't support an idea that wasn't their own, we'd never see any
startups funded...

