

Ideas Matter - sneakersneaker
http://k9.vc/IdeasMatter

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pg
This is rather an attack on a strawman. No one thinks that ideas don't matter
_at all._ Obviously you have to have a good one at some point.

When people say that execution matters more than the idea in a startup, what
they're really saying is something fairly complicated: that you need both a
good idea and good execution, but that (1) since good execution is rarer, you
should worry more about that, and (2) good execution will tend to fix bad
ideas, because if you pay attention to users and iterate fast, you will in the
worst case end up with a good idea by successive approximations.

~~~
math
Good execution pretty much is a continuous stream of good ideas. "The idea" is
merely the top level idea, and it matters most because it is at the top level.
Good execution is rarer because it requires not just the possession of a
single idea, but the propensity to come up with them day in day out.

~~~
panic
Ed Catmull, president of Pixar, has made the same comment about their films.
The entire video is worth watching, but the quote in question is at
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2h2lvhzMDc#t=22:01> -

 _The other thing to note is, there is a confusion, I think, that the people
have and is — the books and press kind of work this way in that we think about
"an idea." When we think of ideas for movies, we think about ideas for
products. And it's usually thought of as some singular thing._

 _But the reality is, these successful movies — as with all successful
products — have got thousands of ideas. It's just all sorts of things
necessary to make it be successful. And you have to get most of them right to
do it. And that's why you need a team that works well together._

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jonnathanson
People are too quick to create a dichotomy between Idea and Execution. A good
idea isn't static; it unfolds and evolves over time. A powerful idea, well
executed, leads to more powerful ideas and, in turn, better execution.

When we stop thinking of ideas solely as the germinal stage of startups, and
we expand our conception of them into something resembling a wave of constant,
innovative inspiration, then we get to the heart of what a good idea really
is.

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dshankar
The main reason I (and others) say "Ideas Don't Matter" is because there is an
abundance of ideas. Too many people have too many ideas, and everyone thinks
their ideas are great.

This Silicon Valley 'mantra' (in my opinion) is valid in order to teach people
the importance of execution.

~~~
diego
There's an abundance of people too. You wouldn't say people don't matter.

You can teach the importance of execution by emphasizing execution.E.g. two
teams with the same good idea, one executed and the other one didn't. You
don't need to devalue other factors in order to make a point.

~~~
jbwyme
People that don't execute don't matter. The idea of an "idea" is too abstract
to have this argument really. If an idea is as long as a sentence with no
further in depth exploration, it really doesn't matter. If it is becoming more
of a plan then you might say it matters (which would be going down the path of
executing an idea).

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CapitalistCartr
Ideas matter like cash matters; only as an aid to execution. Any successful
business of any sort will use many good ideas per year to succeed.

Edison's great idea wasn't the electric light; many knew that was a good idea.
Edison's idea was the industrialization of research; solve the problem by
brute force. He used many good ideas along the way, many not his own.

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iag
I typically agree with 99% of Manu's words of wisdom, but for this post in
particular I have concerns that it could be misleading for some entrepreneurs.

It is understandable from Manu's or other experienced entrepreneur's
perspective, ideas are important. I don't deny that. That is because they have
been through startups over and over again, these people understand the work
that goes into the company months/years post-idea-conception.

I would say a good portion of the people who are reading this site won't fall
into that category. As a matter of fact, very few people do. Most of us are
just budding entrepreneurs trying to our feet wet and trying to find our way
to "make it".

If you feel you fall into the latter category more than the former, read
Manu's post with a grain of salt, it's _not_ really meant for you.

I'd argue (with my limited knowledge) that it's more important for young
entrepreneurs to know that ideas are a dime a dozen. By the time you come up
with it, 10 other people have thought of it as well. What separates great
ideas from good ideas is that you have a clear competitive advantage that can
allow you to out-execute those other 10 people. This competitive advantage can
be your passion, skill set, domain knowledge, connections, etc.

So if I have to sum it up, and to modify Manu's post to fit the eyes of the
budding entrepreneurs:

    
    
      It's not the idea that matters, it's the people + the idea that matters.
    
    

\- my 2c

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InfinityX0
Half (or more) of the problem with ideas is the vetting process. You need to
vet your ideas. Very frequently, as stated in the article, some ideas are
"dead on arrival". This is because founders don't have the proper frame of
reference, they're expertise is lacking, or they've made some concept framed
early on their baby - that is, unable to let go. Ideas need to be vetted. Like
getting your first customers, in whatever you do, you need approval from
something or someone to know that something is there, and you need it fast.

You can't be in your basement grinding with one other person for four months
just to find out you misappropriated your customer base, or the problem your
software solves, only to find out there's nobody has that problem, nobody
cares, or some amalgamation of that and many other factors.

I see this elsewhere as well. People want to be a model their whole life but
never had a hope from the getgo. They want to be an architect but their frame
of reference is so off they'll never have a chance. Not saying that work can't
make up for a lot of it, but I'll never in the NBA. Talent dictated that.
There are several other dictators that create the same boundaries as well.

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sgentle
I would make this distinction:

Ideas, as in the process of thinking of new things, also known as design and
creativity and other words people like, vs

The Idea, which is an untouchable monolithic safety blanket common in
startups, where the founder(s) are unwilling to challenge their core
assumptions. This is usually because they think of creativity as a one-off
moment of inspiration type affair and, through fear that it won't strike
twice, stop trying.

Truthfully, you have to _execute_ a process to have good ideas, and processes
for execution _are ideas_ themselves. There's no dichotomy except what we make
when we put The Idea (or perhaps even The Execution) up on a pedestal.

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adamtmca
I actually clicked on the google search.

The second result, "Ideas are just multipliers of execution" is actually a
very insightful answer to the idea/execution "question."

<http://sivers.org/multiply>

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ericflo
A great team will eventually arrive at the right idea.

~~~
stevenj
Do you think the Segway creators were merely a good team then?

~~~
pg
Judged by their results, yes. They were good at building things but didn't pay
enough attention to people.

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mkr-hn
It'll drive you mad if you try to take it too far. It's a shortcut to a more
complex concept, not a rule.

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stevenj
Actions should (and do) speak loudest.

For example, many here believe the future of Microsoft's consumer business is
in trouble.

I'm sure many have great ideas as to how to fix it.

I even bet there are several senior people inside Microsoft who have great
ideas as to how to fix it.

But none of that really matters. Because the stuff that's getting shipped
sucks.

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ender7
One problem with this framing is that almost any idea interesting enough to
base a company around will almost certainly change _during the execution._ The
original idea for Twitter wasn't anywhere near what it became, and you can say
the same thing about Facebook, Youtube, or pretty much any of the other Big
Things to happen recently (some exceptions of course: PageRank was and is
still mostly just PageRank).

Thus, the execution is a central part of the "idea" process. Being an "idea"
person without being an "execution" person leaves you open to a bunch of
dangers - the biggest one being a sense of inadequacy. If all that you bring
to the table is your idea baby, it will be really hard to kill it off and go
with something else, even if it's the best decision. So either be good at
"adapting" your idea, at times to the point of complete transformation, or
start learning to execute.

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msort
A excellent idea executed beautifully matters.

Perhaps startups should spend much time experimenting with, pivoting with,
possible ideas before focusing on one single idea 100%.

Searching for the beautiful idea using a breadth-first rather than a depth-
first approach.

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jdhopeunique
Ideas and execution both matter. The real point of “It’s not the idea, it’s
the execution.” is to emphasize that idea people (those who dream up an idea
and expect others to do the hard work) cannot simply throw their idea out into
the world without doing the work of promoting, building, and monetizing it.
INTIITE is a useful phrase to apply to people, not products. You cannot really
be an "idea person", but instead must be a person who GTD with an idea. People
that GTD don't want to have to deal with people that think an idea entitles
them to greater equity, hence the usefulness of INTIITE.

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6ren
Re Google: not doing paid placement probably helped improve results more than
PageRank. Also in terms of actually helping users, fast response and a sparse
search-only page (not a cluttered portal), helped even more.

Though I'd love to think _The Algorithm_ was key, their main idea was to put
serving customers before monetizing them.

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thentic
You could think of it this way: Execution helps a bad idea exist and grow by
hacking on it until all you're left with is a good idea... Ideas, whether good
or bad, create the drive or motivation to start.

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rbreve
an idea is just an hypothesis, you need to prove it, if it doesn't work you
need to be able to change it and tweak it until it works. Give the same idea
to 50 people, only one will execute it well.

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mdariani
ideas are worthless as long as there is no feasible concept behind it. there
are so many ideas out there that nobody execute, so they are worth nothing.
the team behind a great idea is many times more important than the idea
itself. it's about people, people, people and then the idea.

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barisme
... if you execute them.

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lotusleaf1987
I don't think anyone said ideas don't matter, it's just an idea isn't
something unique you can leverage. Two people can have the same idea and when
all things are equal, it's the execution that really matters. Look at Myspace
vs Facebook, Zune vs iPod, Yahoo vs Google.

