Are Ideas a Dime a Dozen?!

**MsNadi** · 08-14-2006 01:49 PM

There are hundreds of blogs from those chronicalling their experiences as entrepreneurs. Message boards (like the one I'm typing on) that allow entrepreneurs (or in this case "young" ones) to commisserate, support and bounce ideas off each other.

Folks asking questions and getting responses like "Thats not how you go about it". Not necessarily criticizing the ideas but the methods of the individual.

Which makes me wonder - maybe there is some truth to the statement that in entrepreneurial endeavors and ESPECIALLY when searching for funding and capital that even more important than the idea is the person who plans to take the idea from concept to reality.

And it makes me wonder - where the MySpace guys the first one to come up with the idea of a user driven content community? Hell no. Black Planet, Asian Avenue, Noche Latina all existed for almost 5 years PRIOR to MySpace ever existing and all boasted user communities in the 100K range. What was it about MySpace that lead to its success?

Maybe ideas are a dime a dozen and the more important thing to encompass and express in a business plan/funding proposal is not why your idea needs the money but why you are the best individual, at that given point in time, to take that idea from concept to reality (or why you're advisory/BOD team is capable of helping you get there).

Are ideas a dime a dozen?!

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And visit my blog damnit!!!

Just kidding.
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**Lex** · 08-14-2006 02:41 PM

Ideas dime a dozen? Yes

Good ideas actually worth some salt? no

**shawnman19** · 08-14-2006 03:05 PM

I have to agree most ideas are left as that, just ideas. To take a project from idea to actual product/service is where the true Entrepreneur most try to always be. Everyone thinks they have a million dollar idea, and they probably do, but the idea is either never realized fully or never makes past just being an idea.

Great Ideas are a dime a dozen, great execution is very rare.

**spyro** · 08-14-2006 03:05 PM

I think that you are correct in thinking that it is about the individual that is excuting the idea. It's easy to prove, give everyone the same task and see which one does it better. Essentially, that is what is happening with venture capital and investing.

**tekmoney** · 08-14-2006 06:50 PM

There are definately a million ideas out there and unless your idea is something so brilliant and innovative it takes off all by itself, you're going to have to put in the work.

That does lead me to agree with the fact that it is the person who makes the idea. Someone can have a brilliant idea and then do very little work to get it to work, but another person can spend every waking hour of their day working on it, not accepting failure as an option. I think it all depends on how much work the person puts into their idea which correlates with its success.