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Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless

Posted January 2nd, 2011 in Social Web | View Comments where-ideas-come-from

I love Silicon Valley. I love the entrepreneurial energy and the blister and pop of passion being painted into reality every day. But if entrepreneurial density is the Valley’s greatest asset, it can also, sometimes, be its greatest weakness.

Conventional Wisdom spreads here like wildfire. A blog post from an influential VC about how to run your startup can go from thesis to gospel truth practically overnight. Because every entrepreneur is ultimately, making it up as they go, there is an incredible and legitimate attraction to insights that seem to give us an advantage. The conventional wisdom gripping the Valley today that I most disagree with is that “ideas don’t matter.”

So what is this idea and where did it come from? Every week, it seems like, there is a new post on some blog about how ideas are worthless and that everything comes down to execution. Inevitably, these posts get retweeted ad infinitum and pumped up the front page of Hacker News, showering linkbait glory upon their entrepreneur-authors. The point of almost all of them is that, if you’re an entrepreneur, you’re going to change your idea, and that a million other people have thought it before, and don’t be so stupid you think your ideas are special, and your team matters much more than anything else, and just get out there and actually do it cause that’s where you will or won’t fail.

It seems to me that the grip that this concept has on the Valley mind right now has been driven by the ascent of Y Combinator and the Lean Startup Methodology. The Lean Startup Methodology is the most influential intellectual force in the Valley right now. Anchored by thinking by serial entrepreneur and Berkeley professor Steve Blank and up-and-comer Eric Ries, the Lean Startup is a methodology that helps startups create iterative cycles with real customer feedback to more effectively achieve “product-market fit” – or people who actually want to use your product. The Lean Startup has embedded the idea of the “pivot” — where a company makes a big, often painful shift from an old model to a new model — into the Silicon Valley lexicon.

Y Combinator is the most influential institution in the Valley right now. It focuses on developer centric teams and rapid development that gets products in front of customers fast. YC doesn’t fully push the “ideas don’t matter” line, but because of its prominence and the extremely early stage of its companies, their changes, developments and “pivots” are often played out in public in front of an audience hungry for tips on how to make their own companies work.

But if these organizations created the context into which the “ideas don’t matter” meme has arisen, they are not themselves responsible for it. The main thinkers behind them understand complexity, and the movements themselves are providing a model for execution that recognizes the incredible number of unknowns that any startup will have to sort their way through, and trying to give entrepreneurs a template to follow as they work through that. This is immensely positive for all of us, and they’re rightly celebrated for it.

The problem comes in the reductionist thinking that translates the recognition that “execution might mean lots of shifts” into the conclusion that “then ideas are worthless.” This is simply not true. There is not a continuum with “idea” on one side and “execution” on the other that demands that if you recognize the importance of execution you all of a sudden have to diminish the importance of ideas.

What is an “idea” for a startup? A startup idea is an assertion about two things; a problem that people have and a way to solve it. Embedded in that “idea” are beliefs and insights about individual and/or collective behavior and psychology. For many problems, this is immensely complicated, and when we assert that “ideas are a dime-a-dozen” (a phrase I’ve heard and read countless times in the last six months), we fail to recognize how much observation and interpretation of behavior goes into good ideas.

Take weight loss. Getting people to change their habits and behaviors when it comes to food and exercise is incredibly difficult. This is not a problem that just demands great execution; it’s a problem that takes a theory of behavior change. What about crowdsourced fundraising? This is one of those “holy grail” problems that tons of platforms try but very few have made work. The successes – companies like Kiva and Kickstarter – are differentiated at least as much by their theories of behavior and incentives as they are by their execution.

The point is that as much as a great idea with poor execution is a sure failure, so too is a bad idea with great execution.

Ultimately, the dichotomy between idea and execution is false. Embedded in every step of execution are ideas, or put differently, assertions of belief about human behaviors. The “pivot” itself only works if the pivot is to a new idea that is good and well executed: pivoting from a bad idea to a new bad idea still leaves you in the same spot. Gmail and Friendfeed creator and new YC partner Bucheit gets a lot closer to the smart middle of this conversation with his concept of “judgement,” or the idea that much of startup “execution” is judgement about which ideas to pursue and how.

This conversation matters a great deal because Silicon Valley is about building the future. Many if not most of the ideas that are the most revolutionary are assertions about human behavior that don’t have evidence to prove them yet. eBay was based on a belief that people were fundamentally trustworthy and you could design around that. Everything that Evan Williams has done has had an element of this: a different belief in how people wanted to share and communicate. Facebook’s success was not due just to “great execution,” but to key ideas about behavior (see: Zuckerberg was roasted on a spit when the newsfeed came out, only to watch it become the sites most popular and essential feature). One of this year’s great breakout startups was Airbnb, a company that allows anyone to become a hotelier and rent out spare space in their house to travelers. Even the sage YC founder Paul Graham thought the idea was bunk when the team applied, but was impressed enough by their persistence (they had been selling Obama and McCain themed cereals to make money during the election season) to let them in.

And persistence is precisely the point. What worries me now is that I see really cool young entrepreneurs — my peers —  ”pivoting” before they’ve really given their ideas a shot. They’re betting on a belief that they’ll somehow just “figure it out” based on feedback, rather than making a bet about behavior and sticking to their guns and assertions about problems, solutions and behaviors just a little bit longer. I don’t care about people who actually think that just having an idea entitles them to something; the conversation can’t be about them. I care about the kids who get that you have to execute like mad to make a startup work, but who are beginning to systematically undervalue their own ideas.

I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with the way that some of these startups are being formed and built: experimenting with ideas until one fits. That’s a totally fine and legitimate approach. But it can’t be the only way, and the problem with “Conventional Wisdom” of any sort is that as it calcifies into gospel, it crowds out alternative approaches. In Silicon Valley, that tends to mean crowding out the dollars, which has a self-reinforcing effect as entrepreneurs shift their methods to fit the funding opportunities.

The most successful startup I’ve been a part of, Change.org is emblematic of how idea and execution are inextricable from one another. From day one, the site has been anchored by a sense that people needed a better way to connect their desire to do good with real action opportunities and designed around ideas about how to accomplish that. It launched in 2007 as a social network for changemakers. Within the next 6 months there were at least a dozen other companies doing similar things, the vast majority of which are now gone. It wasn’t just “execution” (at least in the way the punditry talks about) that allowed Change to rise above the pack. It was ideas.

The company’s founder, Ben Rattray, came to believe not long after launch that the behavior on the first version of the site was just fundamentally wrong and spent a few months figuring out the idea for the next version. That idea was less social network and user-generated content, and was instead a site that would be anchored around original content channels connected to curated action campaigns. The company spent almost a full year working on the new version. When we launched in October 2008, we quickly went from 40,000 unique visitors a month to 300,000 and then 500,000 and then, not long into 2009, a million. The company has grown to over 30 full time employees and hundreds of contract writers around the world. Because of its persistance, it is winning campaigns that are actually positively effecting people’s lives every single day. It was a pivot, yes, but it was a pivot based on specific ideas that were assertions about user behavior.

The point is that great startups need great ideas and great execution. Of course you can’t just have an idea. You have to do something with it. But it doesn’t follow that you only need execution so stop focusing on ideas. You simply cannot fail on either front. Period. I want my peers to be building the next generation of world-changing startups. The more we can move away from these reductionist conversations that say “this, not this” rather than recognizing the complexity of creation, the better we position our whole ecosystem to amplify innovation.

Photo credit: Nataliedee.com

Addendum: The value of ideas as they relate to the way an investor makes decisions may be different than the way an entrepreneur makes decisions. It is probably rational for an investor to weigh team most highly, but that’s not a defamation of the importance of an idea as much an assertion that this team is going to be able to find a good idea and execute against it.

  • http://twitter.com/williampietri William Pietri

    Is it possible you’re attacking a straw man?

    However much you’d like the conversation to move past the people who think an idea on its own is worth something, that’s not where we are yet. The dot-com bubble was filled with people who thought ideas on their own had value. Traditional design methods and design consultancies push that all the time, because that’s what they sell. Novice entrepreneurs and entrepreneur-wannabes turn up all the time thinking that having a good notion is the important part.

    When I see people pushing back against this, it’s never to say that people shouldn’t have ideas, or take their ideas seriously. It’s to say that nobody should invest in ideas alone. Nobody should build businesses thinking that having an interesting notion or a vision is sufficient. And that an idea that hasn’t been tested and refined by trying real things on real people should be treated with deep suspicion. To put it in scientific language, they’re saying that hypotheses without data can be a good start, but nothing more. That properly developed theories come through experiment, not pure imagination.

    I think that’s important to say in Silicon Valley precisely because you’re right about how faddish it is. Everybody here likes ideas and likes novelty. I’ve personally seen tens of millions of dollars wasted because people over-valued shiny ideas. I’ve watched people waste years because they never got feedback. After all, they had a perfect plan in a space that everybody agreed was hot, so why would they need proof?

    The people I’ve heard say “ideas are worthless” are arguing against that. Who exactly is saying that ideas are truly of no importance, that one should just execute without purpose and without thinking deeply about what the results mean? Because the ones I know are saying, just like you are, that good ideas and good execution go hand in hand.

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    Hey William

    Thanks for joining the conversation with your valuable thoughts. There may be a pendulum swinging here that I’m on one side of while you’ve seen the arc being here longer.

    What I am reacting too is how the conversation in the air about the value of ideas in influencing the behavior of 20 and 30 something entrepreneurs in the Valley. I’ve heard probably five friends companies telling me their “pivoting” in the last few months, despite having released products weeks or at most months earlier. That’s not a recipe for building lasting value.

    What’s more, there’s this whole passionate culture around how fast people have started things. “We made this overnight!” “We coded this in a weekend!” “We build this while you were reading a magazine in the bathroom!”

    My argument definitely isn’t against getting things out there quicker. I think, on the whole, the agile movement, the lean startup, yc – all of this stuff has been immensely more positive than negative for the whole startup space.

    But the downside is that this obsession with pivoting and rapid development, while well suited to certain classes of consumer products reduces our attention span for people who are working on different types of problems.

    Your point about evidence is well-taken and I’m absolutely not arguing against a ditching of these methodologies that are making people smarter about how to evolve their ideas. But I see a lot of young entrepreneurs taking it to far and just sorta doing stuff to see what works.

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    Hey William

    Thanks for joining the conversation with your valuable thoughts. There may be a pendulum swinging here that I’m on one side of while you’ve seen the arc being here longer.

    What I am reacting too is how the conversation in the air about the value of ideas in influencing the behavior of 20 and 30 something entrepreneurs in the Valley. I’ve heard probably five friends companies telling me their “pivoting” in the last few months, despite having released products weeks or at most months earlier. That’s not a recipe for building lasting value.

    What’s more, there’s this whole passionate culture around how fast people have started things. “We made this overnight!” “We coded this in a weekend!” “We build this while you were reading a magazine in the bathroom!”

    My argument definitely isn’t against getting things out there quicker. I think, on the whole, the agile movement, the lean startup, yc – all of this stuff has been immensely more positive than negative for the whole startup space.

    But the downside is that this obsession with pivoting and rapid development, while well suited to certain classes of consumer products reduces our attention span for people who are working on different types of problems.

    Your point about evidence is well-taken and I’m absolutely not arguing against a ditching of these methodologies that are making people smarter about how to evolve their ideas. But I see a lot of young entrepreneurs taking it to far and just sorta doing stuff to see what works.

  • http://maxmarmer.com/ Max Marmer

    Great post Nathaniel.

    It’s definitely about having a vision (i.e well thought out idea that takes into account trends and behavior) and testing it against reality.

    Your thoughts are consistent with the developmental model of entrepreneurship I’ve been working on. I see way too many people focusing on building a product quickly and getting to product market fit, before first having a really solid problem/solution hypotheses. And very frequently I see people focused almost entirely on the solution or just throwing stuff out there, without a deep understanding of what problem they’re trying to solve. I think premature pivoting is mostly due to the weakness of their problem hypotheses. But that I think is related to the deeper question of why someone is an entrepreneur in the first place. Do they just like building for buildings sake? Do they just want to build something cool? Do they just want to make money quickly? Or are they an entrepreneur because they believe it’s the best way to solve certain types of problems.

  • http://twitter.com/Kevindoylejones Kevindoylejones

    i really get frustrated with entrepreneurs who can’t stick to a plan when they face obstacles, and listen to each new voice and fluctuate and flutter in the wind.

  • http://twitter.com/Kevindoylejones Kevindoylejones

    plans change. you react to the market. but you stay focused. i have been trying to accelerate the flow of capital to good for a decade. it is working.

  • http://www.facebook.com/micahdaigle Micah Daigle

    Thanks for articulating a feeling I’ve had in my gut for awhile, Nathaniel.

    I’ve received a lot of rapid development & pivot advice about my startup. Much of it is good advice, but some of it just doesn’t make sense. That is, it would make sense if my goal was to make money by finding a niche market need that I can quickly exploit. But that’s not my goal. My goal is to create a service that not only solves problems, but that also fundamentally changes the way that people interact with each other over the long-term. That’s a process that takes a little while, and it takes sticking to your guns while you give people a chance to get over the shock of something they’re not used to. (Glad you mentioned the Facebook newsfeed – great example.)

    When I teach workshops on political campaigning, I use the example of a boxer in training. A boxer needs to be quick and agile… but he also needs to have a solid center of gravity in order to pivot precisely. Otherwise he’ll just flail around and wear himself out. In the context of a campaign, that means having a long-term vision of what success looks like and a plan for achieving it (Goal & Strategy) so that you can change your tactics on the fly when necessary. In fact, that long-term thinking (what you refer to as “ideas” in this post) gives you the grounding to know that you’re pivoting around your target rather than running away from it.

  • http://twitter.com/dfab_con Dan Fabulich

    I think you’ve misunderstood what’s meant by “idea.” The “idea” is the starting concept. “Execution” is literally everything else — everything that isn’t the starting concept. “Execution” means values, pragmatism, persistence, pivoting, even the “new” idea that wasn’t the starting concept.

    When you put it that way, it seems obvious that the “idea” isn’t the most important thing; the point seems trivial.

    So why is this trivial point so frequently repeated? Unfortunately, too many people still don’t know it. Anybody who knows how to program has had some half-hearted wannabe entrepreneur come up uninvited and say “hey, I’ve got a great idea, and if you’ll program it for me, I’ll share the revenue with you 50/50.”

    That part of the idea is not worth 50/50, because it isn’t worth anything. That idea will never succeed; it won’t make a penny. It’s especially bad when they try to get you to sign an NDA. If the idea needs to be protected by an NDA, then as soon as you do it publicly, any large organization can copy it, and move the ball forward faster than you.

    Those losers don’t know the FIRST THING about running a business… and they’re coming out of the woodwork!

  • http://twitter.com/sparkmuse Dave Jafari

    I’m glad to see the counterbalance to this “ideas are worthless, execution is everything” meme take shape. I think we can all agree that execution is superbly important in any venture. However, blindly stumbling about while you hope your customers give your vacuous thoughts a form from which you can profit is a little too wishful. Pivoting is good but, like all things, should be practiced pragmatically.

    We must take ideas for what they are: an important step in both the creation and evolution of a concept (or business). I don’t want to be lazy when it comes to ideas, I want to strenuously evaluate and test them. If I can validate an idea through feedback or user research, it gives me the confidence to stand behind it for long enough to see how it will play out. Only once serious consideration has been given can we make the decision that the idea isn’t going to work out. Otherwise, how are we to know when we should stick to our guns and when we should bail?

    I’m attempting to build a community focused on tech ideas; a place where we can give awesome feedback, facilitate cross-pollination, and open opportunities for serendipitous collaborations. I’d love to hear your thoughts on using social to improve and formalize idea vetting.

  • http://twitter.com/veytsel Michael Veytsel

    Great post.

    I think one of the problems is with semantics. People hear the word ‘idea’ and think of something superficial and insubstantial. It might be better to start calling it a solution design/model/concept than an idea.

    A solution design is something which can evolve over time, but even at its inception, requires considerate observation, research, thought, and understanding, processes which are too often undervalued or overlooked during the chase for execution.

  • http://twitter.com/ryanevans ryanevans

    nice post. “ideas are worthless” is just an idea :)

  • Scott Guelich

    Great post, but I largely agree with Dan Fabulich, above. It really depends on what you mean by idea, and as someone who has crossed over from software into another field (healthcare), I’ve been approached by many people with nothing more than an idea that they hope I can convert into a business for them for just a minor cut of their (assumed) future profits.

    I’m also not sure that YC is to blame in this. I audited an entrepreneurship course at Tuck Business School a few years back. That’s on the opposite coast from Silicon Valley, and the prof’s past industry experience was oil & gas. But the very first thing that he pounded into us was — you guessed it — “Ideas don’t matter.” As he put it, “You have no idea how many times a student has come to me with what they think is a great idea that they want to patent and sell to pay off their loans.” It doesn’t happen that way. The lesson, don’t be protective about your ideas, get out there and talk about them so you can find people to help you build them.

    You make a great point about people pivoting too early and too often, but I’m not sure that it’s the “ideas don’t matter” concept that’s too blame. I’d say they are orthogonal.

  • http://StartupLessonsLearned.com Eric Ries

    Thanks for blowing up the bogus ideas vs execution dichotomy. It’s completely unhelpful. The key to success is to have the right idea. But how do you know if your idea is right? I believe we can use a scientific approach to find out.

    For the record, I believe that having a short attention span is a major liability for an entrepreneur, lean or otherwise. Constant pivoting is just as dangerous as blind perseverance.

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    Thanks for joining the conversation Eric!

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    Thanks for your thoughts Dan. I totally appreciate how frustrating it is for developers to have people view them as replaceble cogs in the entrepreneurial process.

    That said, there isn’t a fixed thing that is “the idea” – your definition is just one, and a very different definition than that I give above. Second, what designers react against and get frustrated by in this conversation is the inverse of your frustration. When developers talk about ideas not mattering, and are told they’re valueless because they can’t code, it’s the same sort of ignorant slap in the face.

    This is not a rejection of your point, just a validation and an extension: the conversation just needs to be smarter and we need to recognize the different pieces that make these things work.

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    Hey Dave, thanks for joining. Your idea for a community sounds cool; the trick is obviously building trust, respect and willingness to share, of course, but it seems like something that could be valuable – particularly as entrepreneurship increases.

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    Thanks for injecting the Tuck context, Scott. I think the conversation that feels like it matters most to me is the one where we’re all on the same page about ignoring the people who just assume their ideas are gold, and talk about how to actually understand the connection between ideas and execution for serious entrepreneurs, without all the hyperbole.

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    “solution design” is a great phrasing – sounds a lot like what Max was saying above!

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    Micah, thanks for this. This reminds me of something that Ben from Change once said, which was basically that “he wasn’t agnostic about the problem he was solving,” and the (taken too far) logical conclusion of some of these ideas was to find any problem that you could solve. I think your startup is an example – certainly Assetmap is – of being clear on what problem you want to solve and having to work within that context.

  • http://twitter.com/eshadah Enrique Shadah

    Funny, I was finishing a post on this issue before I found this one (http://eshadah.wordpress.com/2011/01/02/why-sharing-business-ideas-is-better-than-keeping-them-to-yourself/). I disagree that business ideas matter, because a real sustainable business can only be built by following an iterative approach where learning is paramount. An Idea + Iterations = Value (if and only if there is a real market opportunity). Happy new year to all.

  • http://twitter.com/nlw/status/21672380564774913 Nathaniel Whittemore

    Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/nlw/status/21673127897464833 Nathaniel Whittemore

    @znmeb @WendyNorris @chazdazzle @mikedelponte posted "Lets End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/socialentrprnr/status/21673254020190208 Nathaniel Whittemore

    Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/hildygottlieb/status/21673777402216448 Hildy Gottlieb

    Amen! RT @socialentrprnr: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS (Thank you for this, Nathaniel!)

  • http://twitter.com/assetmap/status/21673949939105792 Assetmap

    Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • Anonymous

    Regarding ideas and development teams, I like the perspective from Ed Catmull of Pixar…

    “If you give a good idea to a mediocre team they will screw it up; if you give a mediocre idea to a great team they will either fix it of throw it way and come up with something that works.”

    During development, there are millions of ideas and decisions. Some are executed. Some are discussed by executives in a board room. Some reside within a short attention span (such as ‘What should I do in the next 5 minutes?’). Some are instantaneous (such as ‘Should I refactor now?)

    There is a progression from an early idea (product concept) to a solution that target customers will purchase and recommend to their friends. In the preferred scenario, the potential value of an idea builds as the team learns and validates assumptions. Everett Rogers called this ‘adoption potential.’

    Development isn’t done until ideas from many disciplines have been integrated successfully in your product and an abundant number of your target customers purchase and recommend your solution.

  • http://twitter.com/debelzie/status/21674541126254592 Deborah Elzie

    RT @jscarantino: RT @socialentrprnr: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS // Finally, someone says it!

  • http://twitter.com/jamiebillingham/status/21674964994236416 Jamie Billingham

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/hnfirehose/status/21675880627572736 HN Firehose

    Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless: http://bit.ly/dNjGK5

  • http://twitter.com/jonnydorsey/status/21678183761838081 Jonny Dorsey

    RT @socialentrprnr: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/monstro/status/21679306392477696 Lane Becker

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/brunoamaral/status/21683094939508736 Bruno Amaral

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • Georgkariuki

    having ideas is like saying that you are thinking. Its inert.

  • http://twitter.com/kevinmarks/status/21684377796743170 Kevin Marks

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/diogocmoreira/status/21686842545934336 Diogo Moreira

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/e_guez/status/21687108053770240 Elizabeth Guez

    RT @socialentrprnr: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/tobybarnes/status/21687229755686912 Toby Barnes

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/f3ew/status/21687502834237440 Devdas Bhagat
  • http://twitter.com/bobfrankston/status/21687828790382592 Bob Frankston

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/newsbloom5/status/21689187799404544 News Bloom

    Let?s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless – http://bit.ly/gU5Al8 – [Hacker News Top]

  • http://twitter.com/gvlx/status/21689350450315264 Gerardo Lisboa

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap: http://is.gd/jYHBN

  • http://twitter.com/khbelizaire/status/21689373212807168 Karl H Belizaire

    RT @socialentrprnr: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS » Agreed! (Good points)

  • http://twitter.com/hntweets/status/21689722308923393 Hacker News

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless: http://bit.ly/ejwrsq Comments: http://bit.ly/fqvbQ8

  • http://twitter.com/episod/status/21689873828155392 Taylor Singletary

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/hermanosol/status/21691179993141250 Hermano Sol

    “@nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right”

  • http://twitter.com/hermanosol/status/21691179993141250 Hermano Sol

    “@nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right”

  • http://twitter.com/hermanosol/status/21691179993141250 Hermano Sol

    “@nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right”

  • http://twitter.com/adaptivecoach/status/21692014470889472 Vickie Gray

    RT @HildyGottlieb: Amen! RT @socialentrprnr: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS (Thank you for this, Natha …

  • http://twitter.com/hackernewsyc/status/21692192791728130 Hacker News YC

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/fb/BzEds

  • http://twitter.com/hackernewsyc/status/21692192791728130 Hacker News YC

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/fb/BzEds

  • http://twitter.com/hackernewsyc/status/21692192791728130 Hacker News YC

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/fb/BzEds

  • http://twitter.com/hackernewsyc/status/21692192791728130 Hacker News YC

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/fb/BzEds

  • http://twitter.com/hackernewsyc/status/21692192791728130 Hacker News YC

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/fb/BzEds

  • http://twitter.com/hackernewsyc/status/21692192791728130 Hacker News YC

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/fb/BzEds

  • http://twitter.com/znmeb/status/21692244876595200 Ed Borasky

    RT @nlw: @znmeb @WendyNorris @chazdazzle @mikedelponte posted "Lets End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/znmeb/status/21692244876595200 Ed Borasky

    RT @nlw: @znmeb @WendyNorris @chazdazzle @mikedelponte posted "Lets End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/znmeb/status/21692244876595200 Ed Borasky

    RT @nlw: @znmeb @WendyNorris @chazdazzle @mikedelponte posted "Lets End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/znmeb/status/21692244876595200 Ed Borasky

    RT @nlw: @znmeb @WendyNorris @chazdazzle @mikedelponte posted "Lets End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/znmeb/status/21692244876595200 Ed Borasky

    RT @nlw: @znmeb @WendyNorris @chazdazzle @mikedelponte posted "Lets End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/znmeb/status/21692244876595200 Ed Borasky

    RT @nlw: @znmeb @WendyNorris @chazdazzle @mikedelponte posted "Lets End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/znmeb/status/21693231540473856 Ed Borasky

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/znmeb/status/21693231540473856 Ed Borasky

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/znmeb/status/21693231540473856 Ed Borasky

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/znmeb/status/21693231540473856 Ed Borasky

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/znmeb/status/21693231540473856 Ed Borasky

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/myikegami_bot/status/21693342131683330 m.y.ikegami_bot

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/fb/i2NkX

  • http://twitter.com/myikegami_bot/status/21693342131683330 m.y.ikegami_bot

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/fb/i2NkX

  • http://twitter.com/myikegami_bot/status/21693342131683330 m.y.ikegami_bot

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/fb/i2NkX

  • http://twitter.com/myikegami_bot/status/21693342131683330 m.y.ikegami_bot

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/fb/i2NkX

  • http://twitter.com/bundleofthought/status/21693973865168896 Thought Provoking

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless: Comments http://digfoc.us/er1ZvH

  • http://twitter.com/bundleofthought/status/21693973865168896 Thought Provoking

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless: Comments http://digfoc.us/er1ZvH

  • http://twitter.com/bundleofthought/status/21693973865168896 Thought Provoking

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless: Comments http://digfoc.us/er1ZvH

  • http://twitter.com/pokkrap/status/21694384818888704 pok rap

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless: Comments http://bit.ly/i5OJDY

  • http://twitter.com/pokkrap/status/21694384818888704 pok rap

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless: Comments http://bit.ly/i5OJDY

  • http://twitter.com/pokkrap/status/21694384818888704 pok rap

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless: Comments http://bit.ly/i5OJDY

  • http://twitter.com/bartezzini/status/21698947487629312 bartezzini

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless: Comments http://goo.gl/fb/dOS8A

  • http://twitter.com/jpaynerss/status/21699753825800192 James Payne

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/fb/nqu3g

  • http://twitter.com/tek_news/status/21703567349907456 Tech news (BOT)

    HNews: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/flivvp

  • http://twitter.com/tek_news/status/21703567349907456 Tech news (BOT)

    HNews: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/flivvp

  • http://twitter.com/tek_news/status/21703567349907456 Tech news (BOT)

    HNews: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/flivvp

  • http://twitter.com/fimparatta/status/21704768233672705 Federico Imparatta

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://j.mp/h7bXIw

  • http://twitter.com/newsyc20/status/21707325966393344 Hacker News 20

    Lets End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/fJmqpk (http://bit.ly/gEERWr) #active

  • http://twitter.com/mrmcdowall/status/21709352708608000 John McDowall

    Lets End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/fJmqpk (http://bit.ly/gEERWr) #active (via @newsyc20)

  • http://twitter.com/techmemedirect/status/21711106435190785 TechMeme Direct

    Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless (Nathaniel Whittemore/Assetmap) http://bit.ly/dNjGK5

  • http://twitter.com/denimsmith/status/21714490319966208 Denim Smith

    RT @newsyc20: Lets End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/fJmqpk (http://bit.ly/gEERWr) #active

  • http://twitter.com/nlw/status/21714739063169024 Nathaniel Whittemore

    Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS (blog back up – and on the front page of Hacker News!)

  • http://twitter.com/edwardharran/status/21715060682391552 Edward Harran

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS (blog back up – and on the front page of Hacker News!)

  • http://twitter.com/virgiliasingh/status/21715361850204160 Virgilia Singh

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/mustafashameem/status/21715684144709632 Mustafa Shameem
  • http://twitter.com/oberglof/status/21718101988999169 Olof Berglof

    Good post on execution vs ideas http://bit.ly/i4wDo9

  • http://twitter.com/pierre_s/status/21719060894973952 Pierre Sauvignon

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS (blog back up – and on the front page of Hacker News!)

  • http://twitter.com/chrissandbox/status/21719851227684864 Christian Busch

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS (blog back up – and on the front page of Hacker News!)

  • http://twitter.com/mw63214/status/21721508623687681 Matt W.

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS (blog back up – and on the front page of Hacker News!)

  • http://twitter.com/jorgebarba/status/21723477425782784 Jorge Barba

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap: http://disq.us/wkr5n (@assetmap)

  • http://twitter.com/marcuskuhn/status/21728446812000256 Marcus Kuhn

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS (blog back up – and on the front page of Hacker News!)

  • http://twitter.com/valleyloop/status/21732447574040576 Valley Loop

    Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap: This conversation matters a great deal because Silicon V… http://bit.ly/hdbLVN

  • http://twitter.com/roald/status/21735560829730816 Roald Sieberath

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/vivsharma/status/21736481458491392 Vivek Sharma

    RT @HackerNewsYC: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/fb/BzEds

  • http://twitter.com/sirramongabriel/status/21736492393037824 Ramon Porter

    RT @jorgebarba: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap: http://disq.us/wkr5n (@assetmap)

  • http://twitter.com/crmarconi/status/21737502414999552 caesar marconi

    http://goo.gl/fb/BzEds /via @HackerNewsYC likely the best article I have read in a long time.

  • http://twitter.com/rgrsn/status/21743451322187776 Derek Rogerson

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/brianccarroll/status/21743725076029440 Brian Carroll

    RT @socialentrprnr: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/marionogueira/status/21744582903468033 Mario Nogueira Ramos

    "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hoDkkL

  • http://twitter.com/bjoernlasse/status/21745680234057729 Bjoern L. Herrmann

    "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/i4wDo9 by @nlw

  • http://twitter.com/hawkwilson/status/21757999181733888 Mike Wilson

    > @Tech_Blend: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://goo.gl/xuxWm

  • Devon

    It’s kind of difficult to read all the body text with the 3D effect. No problem in the headers, but for small characters it’s not as readible as flat text.

  • http://twitter.com/vijay_says/status/21767673167745024 Vijay Sundaram

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/newsyc50/status/21767722622779393 Hacker News 50

    Lets End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/fJmqpk (http://bit.ly/gEERWr) #active

  • http://twitter.com/mustafashameem/status/21770201322225666 Mustafa Shameem
  • http://twitter.com/sachinrekhi/status/21771038186541056 Sachin Rekhi

    Great essay on the risks of SV echo chamber and the nuances of every debate: Let's End the Myth that Ideas as Worthless http://bit.ly/dT7Ruc

  • http://twitter.com/keithrhernandez/status/21775506101768192 Keith R. Hernandez

    RT @socialentrprnr: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/infoarbitrage/status/21779131603619840 Roger Ehrenberg

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS Right. On. Dude. So true… $$

  • http://twitter.com/iangertler/status/21779899043807232 Ian Gertler

    @infoarbitrage @assetmap re: http://bit.ly/easSVS -> Ideas, passion and innovation = foundation for all. Then, you need to execute on them!

  • http://twitter.com/otoburb/status/21782258658582529 Davison

    [Jives] RT @infoarbitrage: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS Right. On. Dude. So true… $$

  • http://twitter.com/bkuz001/status/21789175770517504 Brian Kuzmanoski

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/bkuz001/status/21789175770517504 Brian Kuzmanoski

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/amanfirdaus/status/21790931896238081 Aman Firdaus

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://goo.gl/yx5Hx

  • http://twitter.com/umairh/status/21791737638813696 umair haque

    RT @infoarbitrage: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS Right. On. Dude. So true… $$

  • http://twitter.com/nithin/status/21792736080306176 nithin

    The Lean Startup Methodology is the most influential intellectual force in the Valley right now. http://j.mp/gQ56xx

  • http://twitter.com/azanetti/status/21794026365648897 Antony Zanetti

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS (blog back up – and on the front page of Hacker News!)

  • http://twitter.com/adityaanupkumar/status/21795225596854272 Aditya Anupkumar

    RT @infoarbitrage: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS Right. On. Dude. So true… $$

  • http://twitter.com/Carl_Franklin Carl Franklin

    It strikes me most start-ups are taking bets on human behaviour and perhaps how quickly it will change or how quickly it can be changed. The interesting thing, though, is how much attention is paid to this – how many start-ups will sit down and think about human behaviour or try to study it and understand how they can influence it? Ditto their own behaviour as entrepreneurs (and all the cognitive biases that come with it, eg overconfidence, overoptimism etc).

  • http://twitter.com/brianamc/status/21796369823956992 Brian McCaul

    RT @infoarbitrage: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS Right. On. Dude. So true… $$

  • http://twitter.com/joeaugustin/status/21796925892206592 Joe Augustin – Emcee

    RT @infoarbitrage: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS Right. On. Dude. So true… $$

  • http://twitter.com/rohi81/status/21797227034836993 Rohit Nallapeta

    http://bit.ly/hKC7Lk – Ideas are not important is a myth – an interesting view point!

  • http://twitter.com/civisidedotcom/status/21800726208454656 Ken Seville

    RT @infoarbitrage: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS Right. On. Dude. So true… $$

  • http://twitter.com/hgetson/status/21803830341537793 Howard Getson

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless: interesting blog post from AssetMap. comments http://twurl.nl/xkypqh

  • http://twitter.com/danklynn/status/21807781656920064 Dan Lynn

    RT @infoarbitrage: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS Right. On. Dude. So true… $$

  • http://twitter.com/abdoul1/status/21808812772036609 abdoul Wane

    Great essay on the risks of SV echo chamber and the nuances of every debate: Let's End the Myth that Ideas as Worthless http://bit.ly/dT7Ruc

  • http://twitter.com/jongos/status/21809250825150464 Jon Gosier

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless: Comments http://bit.ly/i5BCQY

  • http://twitter.com/hugovanvuuren/status/21812060270632960 hugovanvuuren

    @nlw Thought provoking essay on the "myth that ideas are worthless" http://goo.gl/XEpMj #change.org #YC

  • http://twitter.com/pieterpeach/status/21814596234907648 Pieter Peach

    RT @jongos: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless: Comments http://bit.ly/i5BCQY

  • http://twitter.com/adjames/status/21815962835619840 Alex James

    RT @infoarbitrage: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS Right. On. Dude. So true… $$

  • http://twitter.com/ianchia/status/21817387749744640 Ian Chia

    A startup idea is an assertion about two things; a problem that people have and a way to solve it. http://j.mp/f9YIuZ

  • http://twitter.com/tguemes/status/21817538853736449 Celestino Güemes

    Great read: it's both Ideas & Execution that are important, not only the last one. http://icio.us/ghLHRZ

  • http://twitter.com/desk_stage/status/21817572097789952 desk_stage

    http://tinyurl.com/23va3ge
    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap

  • http://twitter.com/peakscale/status/21818793521053696 Tim Freeman

    Let's end this topic, #tiring > RT @newsyc20: Lets End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/fJmqpk (http://bit.ly/gEERWr)

  • http://twitter.com/mlz/status/21819777253113856 Marco Zappacosta

    "Ultimately, the dichotomy between idea and execution is false." http://bit.ly/hCT0Zc /cc @socialentrprnr

  • http://twitter.com/scepticgeek/status/21822008568320000 Mahendra Palsule

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://j.mp/h9HOWr #mustread

  • http://twitter.com/kkabjaleel/status/21822333064847361 Abdul Jaleel Kay Kay

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/f4zSHu

  • http://twitter.com/akarambir/status/21822630214500353 Karambir Singh Nain

    RT @ScepticGeek: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://j.mp/h9HOWr #mustread

  • http://twitter.com/aharpaz/status/21824139337666561 aharpaz

    RT @ScepticGeek: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://j.mp/h9HOWr #mustread

  • http://twitter.com/qureka/status/21824166667747328 Qureka

    RT @ScepticGeek: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://j.mp/h9HOWr #mustread

  • http://twitter.com/matthiasdaues/status/21825812634279936 Matthias Daues

    RT @ScepticGeek: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://j.mp/h9HOWr #mustread

  • http://twitter.com/carelvanrooyen/status/21829676041248768 forkrulassail

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless: Comments http://bit.ly/i5OJDY

  • http://twitter.com/hakipj/status/21830500922429440 hakipj

    Great article. RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/lightyoruichi/status/21830816061464576 Harinder

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/gtp19/status/21831849986760704 Gtp19
  • http://twitter.com/tophackernews/status/21832764496019456 Top Hacker News

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/htRdys http://ff.im/-wclhw

  • http://twitter.com/dregar/status/21833455574712320 Andre Siregar

    RT @ScepticGeek: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://j.mp/h9HOWr #mustread

  • http://twitter.com/wordie/status/21833884203229184 John McGrath

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/merijn481/status/21834654029979649 uǝƃƃǝɥɹǝʇ uɾıɹǝɯ

    #ideas Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless: http://me.lt/4o8lp

  • http://twitter.com/spring_stream/status/21835627041394688 Dimitry

    “Execution means lots of shifts” doesn't translate into “ideas r worthless” Though the latter is a convenient heuristic http://bit.ly/hetXBK

  • http://twitter.com/garyvalan/status/21837705008644096 Gary Valan

    Finally! RT @sachinrekhi: http://bit.ly/dT7Ruc Great essay on the risks of SV echo chamber and the nuances of every debate: Let's End…

  • http://twitter.com/ckarbass/status/21845385488113666 Cyrus Karbassiyoon

    Awesome RT @sachinrekhi: Great essay on the risks of SV echo chamber and … Let's End the Myth that Ideas as Worthless http://bit.ly/dT7Ruc

  • http://twitter.com/l8stars_top_20/status/21849779080265728 laterstars top 20

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://dlvr.it/CYp6s

  • http://twitter.com/lolahayes/status/21849980364914688 Lauren Hayes

    Move away from reductionist convos & recognize the complexity of creation to position our ecosystem to amplify innovation http://me.lt/4o8lp

  • http://twitter.com/jldavid/status/21850465582981120 Jean-Luc David

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless: http://bit.ly/hier7U

  • http://twitter.com/aainslie/status/21850617249005568 Alexander Ainslie

    Let’s End the Myth that #Ideas are Worthless. /by @assetmap http://bit.ly/ecjYpQ #VC #Entrepreneurship #Innovation

  • http://twitter.com/eliasbiz/status/21850867556679680 Elias Bizannes

    Great post. "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/fiEOwb

  • http://twitter.com/rssirteubal/status/21851716907442176 Ignacio

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap: Let’s End the Myth that #Ideas are Worthless. /by @asset… http://bit.ly/dNjGK5

  • http://twitter.com/dee_delgado/status/21852125097107456 David Delgado

    startup idea is an assertion about two things; a problem that people have and a way to solve it. –> http://tinyurl.com/23va3ge

  • http://twitter.com/lowrobb/status/21852533970440192 Robin Malau

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://lwrb.in/eUpEVv

  • Ron Kass

    “If you give a good idea to a mediocre team they will screw it up; if you give a mediocre idea to a great team they will either fix it of throw it way and come up with something that works.”
    This sort of hints that “great team” means both good implementers (execution team) AND good thinkers, because a great team of implementers that are not great thinkers can’t do anything to improve a mediocre idea (as it requires good thinking process).
    And trust me, as I’ve met plenty of people who can execute great but cannot think very hard. Give those people a mediocre/bad idea, and they’ll waste their time and get nowhere.
    And this is pretty much the point… A weak idea given to a team of great implementers have exactly the same chance of succeeding as great idea with weak team of executioners.
    A “great” team, in Ed Catmull’s words would be BOTH great execution AND great thinking. Now, that pretty much puts idea and execution on the same level, as this article hints.
    So, if you don’t have a good idea AND a good execution, you are just betting on luck, trend or lack of competition of any sort.
    Lastly, if I may.. I DO think that it’s harder to find good thinkers than good executioners, and certainly harder to hire them for merely a salary. It is therefore my view that good ideas are somewhat more important, as you can tell if an execution of an idea is bad, long before you can tell if an idea is bad, especially if it’s well executed.

  • Mike Del Ponte

    Great post, Nathaniel. Very well written. You have a talent for kicking off addictive memes (like the life investing one). I’m happy to see everyone getting excited about an important topic.

    I’ve thought about this a lot, both as the founder and now as an employee of a start-up. As Eric said in an earlier comment, it’s about finding the right idea. I appreciate how Eric and Steve Blank have given us methodologies to know when to pivot, when to keep testing, and when to crank things up because product market fit has been achieved.

    If you haven’t used this tool yet, check it out http://www.survey.io. Very helpful!

    Thanks for kicking off an alternate view of this conversation, Nathaniel.

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    Thanks Mike. I hadn’t seen Survey.io but we’re using Kissinsights, which is just absolutely awesome. Thanks for the tip!

  • http://www.5o9inc.com/ Peter Cranstone

    I think you’re on to something here. Judgement is critical. Ideas need validation NOT just execution. Money will allow you to execute, validation allows you to refine and iterate into a business that is profitable. And to me that’s the really critical element that is missing in virtually every post I read these days. Entrepreneurs solve real customer problems and “generate measurable sustainable profits from revenue”. The last point is critical. It’s all about earnings (or it should be). Earnings and cash flow allow you to measure your return on invested capital. Anything else is just window dressing. Judgement is vital if you’re to succeed in building a real business. Keep the ideas coming, but validate and drive to positive cash flow and real earnings… then you have a business.

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    Thanks Peter. I think this is sort of a key point. The smarter, refined discipline in the way we acquire and measure customer feedback is amazing. But for me that is still largely reactive to things that are being tested. Without good ideas, vision, theses about behavior, how do you make those decisions to test in the first place?

  • http://twitter.com/cleartrip/status/21864047926321152 Cleartrip

    Let's end the myth that ideas are worthless: http://bit.ly/i4wDo9

  • http://twitter.com/mikeabundo/status/21864668184186880 Mike Abundo

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://j.mp/f424d6

  • http://twitter.com/l8stars_top_20/status/21868104845889536 laterstars top 20

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://dlvr.it/CYp6s

  • http://twitter.com/plsburydoughboy/status/21871605265207296 plsburydoughboy

    RT @MikeAbundo: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://j.mp/f424d6

  • http://twitter.com/socialmedia_jpn/status/21872279960952832 Social Media Lab

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://bit.ly/i5OJDY #socialnetworking

  • http://twitter.com/thirdeye3/status/21875001321848832 Κοnstantina Zoehrer

    Great startups need great ideas and great execution. Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless – http://bit.ly/eubnbz #in

  • http://twitter.com/pieterduboisfi/status/21875638239502336 Pieter Dubois

    @founding #BRFI RT @nlw Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/ediggs/status/21877100298375168 Eze Vidra

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/ecjYpQ

  • http://twitter.com/craigdeakin/status/21878455331192832 Craig Deakin

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://ping.fm/c5vfn

  • http://twitter.com/pds216/status/21883218013724672 Phil Sarin

    RT @sachinrekhi Let's End the Myth that Ideas as Worthless http://bit.ly/dT7Ruc

  • http://twitter.com/gavinellerby/status/21883349270265856 Gavin Ellerby

    http://j.mp/hyKU4e Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless

  • http://twitter.com/bitmantra/status/21896829750743040 Bitmantra

    Let's end the myth that ideas are worthless: http://bit.ly/i4wDo9 http://fb.me/wUnUDhKq

  • http://twitter.com/veyk/status/21900945424125954 Vivek Wagle

    RT @pds216: RT @sachinrekhi Let's End the Myth that Ideas as Worthless http://bit.ly/dT7Ruc

  • http://twitter.com/acorn/status/21903450681909248 Nitin Pai

    "ideas don't matter" is similarly the complacent & empirically false myth in Indian politics http://j.mp/h7bXIw LT @gkjohn

  • http://twitter.com/mikeloukides/status/21904478424797184 Mike Loukides

    The importance of ideas in startup-land: execution important but don't undervalue the ideas http://instapaper.com/zCv5hch1c

  • http://twitter.com/achillopoulos/status/21905120321077248 Evang. Achillopoulos

    RT @ThirdEye3 Great startups need great ideas and great execution. Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless – http://bit.ly/eubnbz #in

  • http://twitter.com/rmantri/status/21905190441455616 Rajeev Mantri

    RT @acorn: "ideas don't matter" is similarly the complacent & empirically false myth in Indian politics http://j.mp/h7bXIw LT @gkjohn

  • http://twitter.com/girlswithgoals/status/21905425284730880 Girls with Goals

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/primary_red/status/21905558239977472 primary red

    RT @RMantri: RT @acorn: "ideas don't matter" is similarly the complacent & empirically false myth in Indian politics http://j.mp/h7bXIw

  • http://twitter.com/adivik2000/status/21905944078196736 Aditya V Thoomati

    "Ideas don't matter" is similarly the complacent & empirically false myth in Indian politics http://j.mp/h7bXIw LT @gkjohn (via @acorn)

  • http://twitter.com/inospito/status/21908360882294784 inospito

    agree! let's end with the "ideas are cheap, execution is all that matters", shall we? http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/inospito/status/21908360882294784 inospito

    agree! let's end with the "ideas are cheap, execution is all that matters", shall we? http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/nowaffle/status/21909176108187648 Amanda Boyle

    Thought-provoking… and challenging for everyone with bright ideas! Building lasting value has to be the goal. http://lnkd.in/Jxn6iK

  • http://twitter.com/presstartgames/status/21914858186350592 John Thomas

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://j.mp/ekoSOI

  • http://www.5o9inc.com/ Peter Cranstone

    I think it relies on that old say… Judgement comes from Experience, Experience comes from bad Judgement. The people who get it right are not afraid to experiment, but always do so with boundaries which include all of the metrics we’ve talked about. The first time entrepreneur might get lucky once, they very rarely do a second time. A third time is virtually unheard of. Here’s something that fascinates me.. FaceBook. $500m users, 3 trillion ads and yet no one ever talks about earnings or cash flow. Today they took another $500m with $1.5b available via special means… and yet never once do I hear talk about earnings. Are there any? If so why would you take more cash (dilution)? You’re bigger than every other network, so growth is not really the question. What new features are you going to add that will be accretive to cash flow and positive quarterly earnings? No one ever talks about it. Before I digress too far, it all ties back into your blog… what’s your intent behind the idea? Is it profits, customer acquisition, M&A or what? That helps define the direction you’ll take your idea. Also remember FB is an anomaly – 99.9% of ideas are not FB.

    So to answer your question – it’s judgement, experience and intent. (IMO).

  • http://twitter.com/sherroddine/status/21914936603049984 Rebecca Sherrod Dine

    RT @craigdeakin: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://ping.fm/c5vfn #startup

  • http://twitter.com/RobertaBud Roberta Budvietas

    What we have now we would not have without ideas but sometimes an idea takes a long time to become reality – the submarine, the helicopter. Times are changing and the concern I have is what is the need that the idea is meeting for the potential buyer, the person conceiving the idea and the greater community. Some ideas I think we might have been better off without – e.g. P, cigarettes, alcohol, fast food. Others I wonder when they will become reality – teleportation, the Dymaxian electricity grid, and the replicator?

  • http://twitter.com/nacho540/status/21922485398151169 Nacho Vilalta

    La importancia de la idea y de una buena ejecucion en las startups http://bit.ly/hyKU4e #emprendedores #startup

  • http://twitter.com/cfelde/status/21924357630590976 Christian Felde

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://blog.innogage.com Tom Williams

    I think the backlash against the idea (i.e. ideas are worthless) comes from entrepreneurs who execute and those who don’t. The person with the idea is like the quarterback at the watercooler who suddenly knows more about football than the entire coaching staff. Of course ideas are worth something…nothing exists without first the idea. However, ideas unexecuted (of which 99.9% probably fall into this category) are in a way “worthless”. As an entrepreneur myself, if someone comes to me with a “killer idea” my response is usually the same – GO DO IT. You will find out quickly enough if the idea is worthless or not.

  • http://twitter.com/kusti/status/21926443193737217 Juho Makkonen

    Good points RT @socialentrprnr: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • Anonymous

    This whole debate is like the chicken or the egg analogy. It’s a memetic argument based on your own bias – you either become a person full of ideas, or you become the cog in the wheel of implementation…It’s as simple as that.
    Stepping back a little though and you have to understand that all creativity (the ideas) are in some way derivative, that is, they stem from some other thought or idea that has either originated in your mind, or spread as a meme from somebody else. You also have to realise that ideas are re-iterative, meaning they are revisited and improved with time, consideration, and insight. Some people can do this well and others cannot.
    As has been mentioned already in the comments, the key element in both this process and the re-iterative process of execution/implementation is that all results are dependent upon the quality of thinking of those involved, which Brian Tracy, a leading US author on personal achievement and success, says that “You are paid in direct proportion to the quality of your thinking.”
    Find these people and reward them suitably and interesting things begin to happen…

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for putting this out there Nathaniel – I have some ideas that I’m working on getting into the execution phase and found myself many times being stressed out about the execution and not jotting down ideas that pass through my mind.

  • http://twitter.com/williampietri William Pietri

    Ah, I see. I think the problem here is that it is impossible to know a priori whether an idea is worthwhile. As you say, quitting too soon can keep you from creating value. But sticking with a bad idea destroys value just as surely.

    The best we can hope for is a balance: some quit too soon, and some quit too late. But if we’re going to err, it should be on the side of shorter cycles. Doubly so for novices, who will always misunderstand and make mistakes. Short cycles give them more chances to see what they’re doing wrong, even if what they’re doing wrong is not sticking with things enough.

  • Anonymous

    Right idea for who, for your tribe or yourself? If my motivation is to make the idea right for getting paid……so my tribe is happy, i will disagree. I want to make my core idea, my passion and my life vision trew.. I believe in the power of one entrepeneur, he can move a moutain.

    To make the right idea, need to balance both. (tribe and you)

  • Anonymous

    Part of finding his path…..his passion.

  • Anonymous

    Time for some thinkers to give us some tools, how to make your core idea of your business.. Your passion, your company vision? So we can evolve the conversion and having a great definition about what is a great idea?

    When to have it, when to pioritize it, how many ideas? How to use ideas when you are building…..enz

  • http://twitter.com/girishkolari/status/21937968855916547 girishkolari

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://goo.gl/eqWUV

  • http://twitter.com/javisagan/status/21944273142284288 Javier Martinez

    RT @nacho540: La importancia de la idea y de una buena ejecucion en las startups http://bit.ly/hyKU4e #emprendedores #startup

  • http://twitter.com/bunkywu/status/21944524607586304 James Wu

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/gulture/status/21948361871466496 Frank Colin

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/barbietunnie/status/21953512824897537 barbietunnie

    Let’s End The Myth That Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/dOtv7K

  • http://twitter.com/cvahanian/status/21953797236465666 Charles Vahanian

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/hIXMPR Cool post!

  • http://twitter.com/blogsoftheworld/status/21962011248168960 blogs of the world

    It seems to me that the grip that this concept has on the Valley mind right now has been d… http://reduce.li/i45vjh #that

  • http://twitter.com/erikb/status/21970046217621504 Erik Bergsagel
  • http://twitter.com/nlw/status/21971497270644736 Nathaniel Whittemore

    This post on Why Ideas Matter seems to have struck a nerve – 100s of shares, dozesn of comments http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/slobotski/status/21971592321957888 Jeff Slobotski

    RT @nlw: This post on Why Ideas Matter seems to have struck a nerve – 100s of shares, dozesn of comments http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/beunreasonable/status/21974162700509184 Unreasonable Inst…

    "Let's end the myth that ideas are worthless" by @nlw: http://ow.ly/3xbMb #startup #socent

  • http://twitter.com/schsocent/status/21975448510529536 Nick Temple

    RT @BeUnreasonable: "Let's end the myth that ideas are worthless" by @nlw: http://ow.ly/3xbMb #startup #socent

  • http://twitter.com/josephdung/status/21975492718501888 Joseph Dung

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/katiemang/status/21975892058181632 Katie (Purcell) Mang

    RT @BeUnreasonable: "Let's end the myth that ideas are worthless" by @nlw: http://ow.ly/3xbMb #startup #socent

  • http://twitter.com/klaitner/status/21976126725296128 Kurt Laitner

    RT @infoarbitrage: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS Right. On. Dude. So true… $$

  • http://twitter.com/ashokaarabworld/status/21976136879706113 Ashoka Arab World

    RT @SchSocEnt: RT @BeUnreasonable: "Let's end the myth that ideas are worthless" by @nlw: http://ow.ly/3xbMb #startup #socent

  • http://twitter.com/gregorymiller/status/21979943269310464 gregory miller

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/amrucker/status/21980126170324993 Amanda Rucker

    Love this. 'Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless' RT @nlw Post on Why Ideas Matter seems to have struck a nerve http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/bbangtx/status/21980556233285632 bigBANG!

    Love this quote: 'every entrepreneur is ultimately, making it up as they go' From http://bit.ly/hyKU4e via @BeUnreasonable #startup #socent

  • http://twitter.com/arpitrai/status/21981006265323521 Arpit Rai

    thank you for saying it and calling out the silicon valley BS. ideas do matter. execution is a given. http://bit.ly/fm1fcW

  • http://twitter.com/hlovins/status/21981466770538496 Hunter Lovins

    RT @gregorymiller: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/ayllu/status/21983874061963264 The Ayllu Initiative

    RT @mikedelponte: "Let's end the myth that ideas are worthless." Great post by @nlw http://bit.ly/i4wDo9

  • http://twitter.com/nmondollot/status/21984344725786624 Nicolas Mondollot

    RT @cvahanian: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/hIXMPR Cool post!

  • http://twitter.com/irgnews/status/21989675023470592 IRGnews

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless. http://bit.ly/gxLSIl

  • http://twitter.com/tianixtweeting/status/21991407010979840 Tiani Jimenez

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS a good New Year re-solution!

  • http://twitter.com/chermanowicz/status/21991438757658624 Chris H.

    Bad ideas with great execution are failures just as much as good ideas with no execution.
    http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/brickandclick/status/21993552892399616 Jeff Crites

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/gjDUgD

  • http://twitter.com/natematias/status/21994288497827840 J. Nathan Matias

    @nlw in an excellent post about why ideas *do* matter in startups http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/davenaff/status/21995085587550208 David Naffziger

    Its not that ideas are worthless, its that ideas only become valuable with execution: http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/npost/status/21996033294737408 Nathan Kaiser

    "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" (but they *are* only a small part of success) http://bit.ly/h1xjVT (via @galenward)

  • http://twitter.com/startegy/status/21996652436914176 Startegy

    The Lean Startup Methodology is the most influential intellectual force in the Valley right now. The Lean Startup… http://fb.me/HEH2urrD

  • http://twitter.com/saidismeenk/status/21999744771432448 saidismeenk

    RT @IRGnews: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless. http://bit.ly/gxLSIl

  • http://twitter.com/jonkleinnews/status/22000270032502784 Jon Klein

    Think ideas don't matter? Watch a mindless action flick. RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/mekalav/status/22003038273142785 mekalav

    Let's end the myth that ideas are worthless: http://bit.ly/i4wDo9 good one @cleartrip

  • http://twitter.com/entrepreneurasu/status/22004568543993856 EntrepreneurshipASU

    RT @BeUnreasonable: "Let's end the myth that ideas are worthless" by @nlw: http://ow.ly/3xbMb #startup #socent

  • http://twitter.com/chrisscott_/status/22008448296157184 Christopher Scott

    Now Reading: @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/afjacobson/status/22011234060607488 Andrew Jacobson

    Startup ideas ARE important. Stop the "we'll figure it out later" madness. @assetmap: http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/shalynhockey/status/22023845556789248 Shalyn Hockey

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/timkastelle/status/22024325406130176 Tim Kastelle

    Good post: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/gilETt

  • http://twitter.com/socialentrprnr/status/22026628095803392 Nathaniel Whittemore

    Wild – this story shared 300+ times already. Why Ideas *DO* Matter for startups: http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/clayturk/status/22026666972807168 Clay Turk

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS Great!

  • http://twitter.com/causeglobal/status/22026908090765312 Marcia Stepanek

    RT @socialentrprnr Wild – this story shared 300+ times already. Why Ideas *DO* Matter for startups: http://bit.ly/hQPaTR #socent #nptech

  • http://twitter.com/noeldickover/status/22027470827950080 NoelDickover

    Good discussion here RT @timkastelle Good post: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/gilETt

  • http://twitter.com/2causeimpact/status/22030666375888896 Sean McGee

    Insightful article on startups RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/ryanm/status/22030736148135936 Ryan Mickle

    RT @socialentrprnr: Wild – this story shared 300+ times already. Why Ideas *DO* Matter for startups: http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/lindegaard/status/22036547612184576 Stefan Lindegaard

    RT @timkastelle: Good post: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/gilETt

  • http://twitter.com/tomforemski/status/22037751016726529 Tom Foremski

    RT @arpitrai: thank you for saying it and calling out the silicon valley BS. ideas do matter. execution is a given. http://bit.ly/fm1fcW

  • http://twitter.com/lhawthorn/status/22038621343191040 Leslie Hawthorn

    RT @NoelDickover: Good discussion here RT @timkastelle Good post: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/gilETt

  • http://twitter.com/spirospiliadis/status/22043366560636928 Spiro Spiliadis

    RT @timkastelle: Good post: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/gilETt

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    I’m ALMOST agreeing. It’s not so much the “short cycles” in terms of pivoting and switching ideas, but shorter intervals of finding ways to test hypothesis, right? The distinction is small but important. Encouraging new startups to bring products to market more promptly than might feel comfortable is a good thing; getting them in front of customer feedback is a good thing. But we also have to make sure to help them learn when to stick to their guns – and I think that persistence is one of the casualties of too lose a conversation about the lack of value in ideas.

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    Great example of ideas that, if there wasn’t some persistence and vision on the part of those involved could have been easily “Customer feedbacked” out of existence.

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    Right on Carl – we absolutely don’t spend enough time talking about the value of understanding human behavior when it comes to startup design. That said, design consultancies like IDEO and frog design are paving the way for that conversation by placing such a strong emphasis on anthropology, ethnography, and “human factors” as the core of the design experience.

  • http://twitter.com/barzhini/status/22054155447177216 Tonya Hall Barzhini

    @bfeld What do you think? – RT @tomforemski: RT @arpitrai .. ideas do matter. execution is a given. http://bit.ly/fm1fcW

  • http://twitter.com/nataliewh/status/22071856060178432 Nat

    RT @socialentrprnr: Wild – this story shared 300+ times already. Why Ideas *DO* Matter for startups: http://bit.ly/hQPaTR

  • http://twitter.com/kende/status/22092205053181953 Jason Kende

    2011 is young yet, but this is the best read of the year so far: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://j.mp/h6NZo7

  • http://twitter.com/collabworks/status/22101383230525440 Bryan Richardson

    RT @kende: 2011 is young yet, but this is the best read of the year so far: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://j.mp/h6NZo7

  • http://twitter.com/christianpbrink/status/22119746019262464 christianpbrink

    kiva, kickstarter "are differentiated at least as much by..theories of behavior and incentives as..by their execution." http://bit.ly/hgFguh

  • http://twitter.com/kencooperusa/status/22135959936049152 Ken Cooper

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://bit.ly/dRTII5

  • http://twitter.com/tonyhartl/status/22136050742726656 Tony Hartl

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/r_macdonald/status/22147193628528640 R Macdonald

    Liked @assetmap thoughts on perilous pivot predilections based on ideas are worthless, execution is everything meme http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/djay75/status/22149736437911552 Dylan Jay

    RT @EliasBiz: Great post. "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/fiEOwb

  • http://twitter.com/djay75/status/22149736437911552 Dylan Jay

    RT @EliasBiz: Great post. "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/fiEOwb

  • http://www.freddestin.com Fred Destin

    When folks say “the idea does not matter, execution rules” it’s a mental shortcut to put budding entrepreneurs in front of a harsh reality, i.e. that most ideas remain exactly that and never go anywhere, that the idea per se is only one component.

    In the same way that cemeteries are full of Mozarts who did not train hard enough to actually become Mozart, most ideas die on the vine because they do not get executed on.

    Great projects come together when a great team comes upon a great idea. Unsurpisingly, these tend to be well correlated: great teams often hit upon great ideas.

  • http://www.freddestin.com Fred Destin

    Hum. Tail wagging the dog. What you are driving at, I think, is sustainability and you are looking at it through the lens of profits (having profits makes you sustainable, right ?). I would question whether using that a single focus concept is correct. As for a quarterly earnings focus, they lead IMO to the most distorted behavior and actually threaten the long term sustainability of large corporations. Why did eBay acquire Skype ? So Meg W could protect her dizzying growth induced multiples. Instead of running a highly profitable low growth utility. Why ? Because shareholders would ask for her head the moment she admitted that. And so on. Let’s not even get into short-term exec incentives… Take a look at nestle maybe as a business that takes a 50-year view on itself and hardly communicates on short term movements.

    So fb is right to remain private and take the long view, with plenty of capital markets funding to take them there.

  • http://www.5o9inc.com/ Peter Cranstone

    Interesting. Sustainability is (IMO) important, just as quarterly numbers are important – what’s missing I think in this discussion is the degree (think precision) around the key performance metrics in a company. Meg W made a mistake buying Skype. She tried to fit a square peg in a round hole with a very poor justification as to why owning Skype would make a difference. It didn’t work because the two entities are fundamentally different businesses.

    Focal points change as a company evolves. The key to sustainability is adapting to those new focal points, remaining competitive and driving new innovations that refresh the cycle without corrupting the core of the business.

    Nothing is forever these days – we’re consuming resources faster than we replenish, information flow is numbing our ability to reason through the problem and leading to unpredictable behaviors. Welcome to the new norm.

    As for FB… the piper has started playing. With GS showing up the future is now becoming clearer – the investors want a return on their investment, their game plan changed the moment they closed that deal, just as Meg’s did when she brought Skype.

  • http://twitter.com/sanatawileh/status/22159638111723520 Sana Tawileh

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless – http://goo.gl/LMXIE

  • http://twitter.com/benzenzz/status/22172259720364032 Ena Brdjanovic

    RT @Kuhn: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless. http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    I definitely agree that, in general, that’s the intent. What the piece is reacting against is that I think the zeitgeist has shifted a bit. The best young entrepreneurs have gotten the big 10-4 on having to bust ass to make a company work. But they’ve started to get more than that, and the wonderful and terrible echo chamber of the Valley is actually pushing the meaning of the message even further. What happens is that they start to view an “idea” only as the initial spark, and begin to treat everything that comes after as a process of split testing and customer feedback. My worry is that unless we apply the same discipline to helping people learn how to ideate and develop vision that we are increasingly (and positively) applying to helping them test hypothesis, we’re going to accidentally create a generation of entrepreneurs who know how to optimize but not innovate. In a strange way, this would be the inverse situation of the MBA with a great idea from the first web bubble.

    I do believe, as well, that there is a discipline for ideation and vision. In the Valley you have people like Max Marmer (who posted in these commons) working with Steve Blank to articulate methods for problem and solution identification. Even more, you have the emergence of an entire design industry led by firms like IDEO that are actually articulating and incubating a methodology of problem and solution discovery.

  • http://twitter.com/communicating/status/22219372755951616 Chris@SocialTexture

    "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless", Nathaniel Whittemore: http://j.mp/dOtv7K [Finally a rational ideas "vs" execution" article!]

  • http://twitter.com/bcaffin/status/22221855855222784 Brenton Caffin

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/adivik2000/status/22237360359997440 Aditya V Thoomati
  • http://twitter.com/paulisick/status/22259800293244928 Adam Paulisick

    RT @ediggs: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/ecjYpQ

  • http://twitter.com/brahminboy/status/22261325543514112 Aham Brahma asmi

    RT @adivik2000: @brahminboy http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/imemyself/status/22264274600591360 IMeMyself

    RT @Cleartrip: Let's end the myth that ideas are worthless: http://bit.ly/i4wDo9

  • http://twitter.com/andsinc/status/22266037927940096 Andrew Sinclair

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS – need idea+execution to build a great startup

  • http://twitter.com/janseurinck/status/22280777987264512 janseurinck

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/eNjN6E (via @tijs)

  • http://www.freddestin.com Fred Destin

    Ah yes so I really agree with that. I do also hope we get beyond “problem companies” i.e. gap identification / fast prototyping against gaps identified –> predictable but unexciting outcomes.

  • http://www.freddestin.com Fred Destin

    My beef with Skype / eBay is : CEO has to deliver insane growth because market has priced that in, but ebay fundamentally cannot grow faster than GDP given its huge penetration, so silly acquisition ensues with enough “mystery upside” to try to placate markets i.e. skype. Bad strategy derived from a relentless need to achieve quarterly goals. My dad used to say “any fool can drive profits up for 2-3 years in a row. It’s what happens after that matters”.

  • http://twitter.com/justintormey/status/22291433968893952 Justin Tormey
  • http://twitter.com/acoolearth/status/22354145679777793 ferdinand swart

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/treecredits/status/22356931939139584 Ferdinand Swart

    RT @acoolearth: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/alshebil/status/22373931616837632 Saleh AlShebil

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS via @infoarbitrage #creativity #ideas #mubadiroon #ent

  • http://twitter.com/trbg/status/22377966436618241 Abullah Al-Battal

    RT @alshebil: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS via @infoarbitrage (cont) http://tl.gd/7u181u

  • http://twitter.com/lennysan/status/22399833876725760 Lenny Rachitsky

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/gVnEm0 <– Agreed. Execution and ideas are multipliers.

  • http://twitter.com/bopreneur/status/22374135946547200 Paul Hudnut

    "Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" by @assetmap http://bit.ly/hyKU4e #leanstartup #bmgen But…some are worth less than others.

  • http://twitter.com/cjamesbarlow/status/22426569943285760 James Barlow

    RT @BOPreneur: "Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" by @assetmap http://bit.ly/hyKU4e #leanstartup #bmgen But…some are worth …

  • http://twitter.com/arjanknaap/status/22564403605929984 Arjan van der Knaap

    "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap" ( http://bit.ly/h04odb )

  • http://www.5o9inc.com/ Peter Cranstone

    Well said. Every CEO has a turning point. Meg’s was when she did the Skype deal. There was no strategic value to eBay – they were just buying earnings. Which means that eBay had run out of steam. Your dad is spot on. Now she’s just another unemployed billionaire. Oh well.

  • http://twitter.com/srifer/status/22645970667835392 ferdinand

    RT @acoolearth: RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/japoniano/status/22778527174631424 Mauricio Villegas

    RT @Pitch_Doctor: 'Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless ' http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/pitch_doctor/status/22778152082219008 Martin Soorjoo

    'Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless ' http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/martinsoorjoo/status/22778115558211584 Martin Soorjoo

    'Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless ' http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/commercial_edge/status/22778631516327936 Dan A. Colachicco

    RT @martinsoorjoo: 'Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless ' http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/seedups/status/22791471111344128 Seedups

    RT @martinsoorjoo: 'Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless ' http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/johncabra/status/22813492545331201 JohnCabra

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/drupeek/status/22872943314866176 Andrew Peek

    Best read in a while… – "Ideas and Execution do not exist at opposite ends of the same spectrum" http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/mjstringer/status/22873960890769408 Mike Stringer

    RT @drupeek: Best read in a while. – "Ideas and Execution do not exist at opposite ends of the same spectrum" http://bit.ly/hyKU4e I concur

  • http://twitter.com/godparents/status/22885449961840642 Godparents.in

    "The value of ideas as they relate to the way an investor makes decisions may be different than the way an… http://fb.me/LpujE8el

  • http://twitter.com/lifeartist3/status/22929738842505216 Susan Jones

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/zubeta/status/22974237392240640 zubeta

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless – Assetmap http://bit.ly/iccbxK

  • http://twitter.com/chyan/status/23000952021721088 Chyan Phang

    Read: Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://is.gd/kavj9

  • http://twitter.com/assetmap/status/23097109129465856 Assetmap

    Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/isoergo/status/23122490167398400 Fernando Vargas

    RT @martinsoorjoo: 'Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless ' http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/rachnaspace/status/23243223560355840 rachna

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/tempo/status/23285146631282688 Thor Muller

    Ideas vs. execution is a false dichotomy. http://t.co/VWfnkf0

  • http://twitter.com/johnoday/status/23287249663692800 John O’Day

    RT @tempo: Ideas vs. execution is a false dichotomy. http://t.co/VWfnkf0

  • http://twitter.com/willotoons/status/23293654042943489 WilloToons

    RT @tempo: Ideas vs. execution is a false dichotomy. http://t.co/VWfnkf0

  • http://twitter.com/cbtacy/status/23406371118514176 Chris Tacy

    RT @tempo: Ideas vs. execution is a false dichotomy. http://t.co/VWfnkf0

  • http://twitter.com/ness013/status/23420514198360064 Jeffrey Wood

    RT @tempo: Ideas vs. execution is a false dichotomy. http://t.co/VWfnkf0

  • http://twitter.com/cvharquail/status/23516373388894209 cv harquail

    Interesting meta look at startups as a concept RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/breizh2008/status/23787530222567425 breizh2008

    RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS <–not all Silicon Valley conventional wisdom is right

  • http://twitter.com/card4net/status/23791481147891712 ATIG

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://www.nektra.com Sebastian Wain

    I like your contrarian non-mainstream point of view.

    This is not black & white or facts vs fallacies. It depends, but I agree that “ideas are worthless” are part of a hype and it’s time to sell! Generally speaking medium/big companies really need strong execution, while small companies can live with ideas and less perfect execution.

    i) There are ideas where execution doesn’t matter too much, I came from idea to profitable business in less than two weeks in an area outside of my expertise. One can say that I had the skills to execute in less than two weeks but indeed anybody with some expertise had been achieved a similar success with “the idea” (and this is not false execution modesty). Also, it was the first time that this (niche) idea was executed, so based on this experience the idea was 99.9%.

    ii) At the same time our team came up with a lot of ideas:
    - Some ideas could not be executed, they are in the limbo or killed.
    - Some ideas were executed quickly with moderated success.
    - Some ideas were executed with zero success in a few years and started to have success after years only by a change of context or by “luck”. This remind me that the main goal of a business is to stay alive! only one opportunity can change your luck.

    Now, I agree that it’s difficult statistically to come up with an idea like (i) of quick & relatively easy execution, but I see that many of the YC companies (IMHO) has an advantage in execution related to the YC social business network, what I am saying is that I will change the web startup mantra from “execution is everything” to “your business social network plays a huge part”.

    But web companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, eBay excel in execution. One thing are few million dollar companies and another story when you’re playing in the billion league.

  • http://twitter.com/ykgoon/status/24006559558270976 Y.K. Goon

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://ff.im/-wru66

  • http://www.LinkedMediaGroup.com Linked Media Group, Inc.

    Great, powerful and insightful post – in violent agreement. I think the super heated economy in “silicon valley” (really a mythical place) can at times cause founder/entrepreneurs to be pushed in the wrong direction via investors and VCs who “think” they have a good grasp of the biz model.

    At the end of the day it’s about shaping the idea and initial product marketing strategy around customer needs and morphing when/if need be moving forward.

    Google’s founders did a great job of ignoring investor input (“become another Yahoo like portal”) and stuck to their guns to build a pure play search engine, which in retrospect was certainly the right decision.

  • http://twitter.com/pitch_doctor/status/24227671621763072 Martin Soorjoo

    "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/martinsoorjoo/status/24227679565778945 Martin Soorjoo

    "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/ampgt/status/24227792648413184 Ampersand GT

    RT @Pitch_Doctor: "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/clickryan/status/24227822423777282 Ryan Gamble

    RT @Pitch_Doctor: "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/jatetro/status/24228758982496256 Jason Anthony Tetro

    RT @Pitch_Doctor: "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/davidoldham/status/24229485675020289 Dave Oldham

    Smart stuff. RT @Pitch_Doctor: "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/michael3h/status/24233697246969856 Michael Huh

    RT @martinsoorjoo: "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/d_a_keldsen/status/24235775763681281 David A. Keldsen/Dak

    it's not just execution: “@martinsoorjoo: "Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless" http://bit.ly/hyKU4e”

  • http://twitter.com/gregoryjrader/status/24713022761078785 Gregory Rader

    A timely attach on conventional wisdom RT @nlw: Let's End the Myth that Ideas Are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/Halsey1 Daniel Halsey

    Ideas are worth far more than their investment if they make change.

  • http://twitter.com/claynewton/status/26299185447833600  Clay Newton 

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless | Assetmap http://j.mp/hsoL4G

  • http://twitter.com/saltwaterc/status/26304786345238528 Ștefan Rusu

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://t.co/IzqNzi2

  • http://twitter.com/andjelicaaa/status/27203065983537152 Ana Andjelic
  • http://twitter.com/smartel/status/27207814682255360 Sylvain Martel

    { Brilliant post. Ideas, ideas, ideas!!! } RT @andjelicaaa: let's. http://bit.ly/i4wDo9 #UsGuys

  • http://twitter.com/card4net/status/27258343198298112 ATIG

    Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/saracera/status/27370704437518336 Sara Nussbacher

    Great read | On the values of ideas vs execution| http://bit.ly/dIV9VS |Full piece by Nathaniel Whittemore here: http://bit.ly/hyKU4e @PSFK

  • http://twitter.com/ginocosme/status/27378831266414593 Gino Cosme

    RT @AssetMap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/leearthuruk/status/27379394620170240 Lee Arthur

    Nicely written for followers of Steve Blank or LSM #in I am sure they will agree: Ideas are not worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • http://twitter.com/galactic/status/27412147600367616 Cristian Gonzales

    Great post. Can't have great execution w/out a great idea. RT @smartel RT @andjelicaaa http://bit.ly/i4wDo9

  • http://twitter.com/philipletts/status/27413170360426496 philipletts

    Great post. Can't have great execution w/out a great idea. http://bit.ly/i4wDo9 RT @smartel RT @andjelicaaa RT @galactic

  • http://twitter.com/tommoradpour/status/27415360407871488 Thomas Moradpour

    Great post. Can't have great execution w/out a great idea via @smartel @andjelicaaa @galactic http://bit.ly/i4wDo9 #usguys

  • http://twitter.com/betafabrik/status/27423345985200128 betafabrik

    Let’s End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/i9lJPK

  • http://twitter.com/innovatrs/status/27431293251756033 Crowdsourcing Ideas

    Great post. Can't have great execution w/out a great idea. http://bit.ly/i4wDo9 RT @smartel RT @andjelicaaa RT @galactic

  • http://twitter.com/ourmaninabiko/status/27578905808347136 OurManInAbiko

    "Just as a great idea with poor execution's sure to fail, so too is a bad idea with great execution" RT @Darrell_Nelson http://bit.ly/hyKU4e

  • http://twitter.com/brunofujii/status/27776217331539969 Bruno Fujii

    RT @assetmap: Let's End the Myth that Ideas are Worthless http://bit.ly/easSVS

  • Ricardo dos Santos

    Couldn’t agree more. Will give you an example – Contrary to popular belief, the Model T (or car for the masses) WAS Henry Ford’s great idea, not the execution requiring engineering innovations (use of vanadium steel in the frame), a large dealer network, introduction of the assembly line at Highland Park, etc….those are all ideas anyways (not just execution steps), but not as great (they’re natural followers) as the Model T idea – Other teams might have failed in its execution, but that was still teh great idea to stick with, not pivot away…Now, did Ford pivot to the Model T through the Quadricycle, Model A, N, etc…? Probably. This simplicity of terms (idea, execution) leaves out something else… leadership… leadership is needed to convince others that there is a great idea and to execute (encourage supporting ideas)…Ford had a lot of faults.. but he could lead

  • http://blog.assetmap.com Nathaniel Whittemore

    Interesting – the Model T as an example of why ideas and execution matter in equal measure. I think you’re right that leadership that can continue to align ideas and execution is an essential element. Thanks!

  • Mihály Borbély

    Sorry to say, but I think this is pure wishful thinking and playng with words.

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