Ideas are cheap - The importance of Execution

​Following a discussion of an entrepreneur that was lacking the right idea, we came across a post where an entrepreneur was asking the community for startup ideas he could consider for his first startup venture. 
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He quite simply wasn’t able to come up with anything that he could be that passionate enough about to pursue.

What’s fascinating, but not surprising, is the community replied with ideas they came up with which could become his next startup venture! 

​We say ‘fascinating’ because some years ago this would have been a joke.
How can someone ask for innovative startup ideas expecting people to share them when these ideas could be worth millions right? 

We say ‘not surprising’ because attitudes towards ideas have changed and in this highly networked and collaborative world we live in connected by the web, more people realize it’s not just about ideas, but what you can build on top of them that really counts in business.

This is happening also because entrepreneurship education is taken more seriously nowadays.

“Ideas” are separate from “execution” just as open source software is different from running a business using open source software.

​Take the concept of cloud computing for example.
The hardware and resources and the concept are not only shared, but developed to allow for collaboration and co-creation of solutions and businesses on top of what exists to provide people with something more.

In today’s environment, ideas, concepts, business models and even software are universally shared and available it’s more about who builds business (or something else) on top of them. 

​While many traditional businessmen and entrepreneurs still worry about the security of “ideas” when it comes to crowdfunding or working within a community like Startup Commons, the paradigm shift in how innovation is happening and new startups are born has already begun and keeping ideas close to one’s chest is not a part of that changing trend.

How many startups can you name where the idea alone was the key driver of their success? That they had to keep the idea secret and it would be truly impossible for more established actors to steal? You are probably drawing a blank here.

Also as entrepreneurs should fall in love with their ideas, in order to be able to commit several years to their venture – how many entrepreneurs fall in love with other people’s ideas? Commitment is the start of the venture and if cracks appear in the commitment, it will show along the way regardless of what type of patchwork you employ to cover the cracks. 

It takes more than one man with an idea to make things work and build successful startups which is why building on it with the right people becomes paramount. So before we cling on to the notion that publishing an idea is the end of your possible venture remember:

Being a startup is nothing else than being an architect in using existing ideas, concepts and software “legos” to solve existing market and customer problems with a great team.
Building value relies on the execution and funding can be one of the enabling forces.

The idea is only the beginning.

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​Startup Commons has released entire Growth Academy innovation entrepreneurship curriculum training materials with more than 700+ slides, along with supporting booklets​ for free co-development and use.
All is released under Creative Commons licensing and in editable format.​​​

The curriculum is built, designed and refined over the years to increase the volume of entrepreneurship and likelihood of startup success by focusing on removing or reducing the biggest “universal risks” and to educate about optimal methods and structures.
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To give more support during learning process and to train future coaches, we created a serie of training webinars and certification programs.

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