Your Idea is Worthless

I had two different incidents remind me how there is a fundamental misunderstanding of what it takes to start a company. Most people are waiting until they get that one big idea so that they can quit their job and just build the next Facebook. The problem is that the Eureka! moment is a myth and ideas aren't worth very much.

I went to another entrepreneur meetup last night and talked to several aspiring entrepreneurs. One of the most common problems that all of them have is that they don't have anyone help them make that idea come to life. They are looking for their "CTO" cofounder that will join them and make their idea become a reality. I then went home and watched Big Bang Theory. In that episode, Leonard meets up with an old high school bully who has this great idea to make glasses that make every movie 3D. When asked how that would work he replies, "How the hell should I know. That's why I need a nerd."

I go to a lot of meetups now and this is a universal theme and the key to almost every great company's success. It is not the idea that matters. It is having the people who can actually take an idea and make it into reality. Any great idea is going to have lots of problems along the way toward implementation. There is zero chance that it is going to work exactly the way you envision it and it is teams that know how to iterate on the idea and execute that are the ones that are going to win. Don't believe me? Go try and get your idea funded without a team or the experience in getting it built.

I'm not trying to say that you don't need a vision and an overriding goal but "The Idea" is well below a few other things when it comes to if you will be successful or not. If you think you have a great idea but don't know what to do next, take a step back and think about how you are going to assemble a great team. It might mean delaying your great idea years while you figure out a way to grow your network of "nerds" but sometimes you have to take a step backward to take the next two forward. 

Terrence Lui - Fundador de Signyfi.com