Don't be paranoid: Ideas are fungible, execution matters
People who think their startup's success is going to follow from their immensely valuable secret idea are disproportionately likely to have bad ideas.
--Paul Graham via news.ycombinator.com
Some level of secrecy can be good psychologically -- it's been shown that telling *everyone* about an idea that you *want* to do will cause reward centers in the brain to fire as if you had already done it.
For tech in general, and web startups in particular, unless you have some one-time-exploitable loophole that powers your business (unlikely) -- you're better off being a little more trusting than paranoid when talking to people who can help you. You have to give a little to get a little... or sometimes get a lot.
8 comments
Oct 28, 2009
Luke Groesbeck said...
Word. It's funny - it seems like when you talk to people about the companies they're starting and products they're building (or want to build), the ones who are the most secretive are those with the least startup/entrepreneurship experience. It's like paranoia-induced anti-customer validation born from inexperience.They'll figure it out, eventually.
Oct 28, 2009
Johan Rhodin said...
I agree, all the feedback you get when discussing ideas are important. Secondly, it's _extremly_ hard to find somebody that will 1) quit his or her current job or..
2) ..current startup just to..
3) ..found a NEW startup and..
4) ..code/design/find customers and / or users/create a business model/get VC funding/../BUILD for a couple of months base upon..
5) .. someone elses idea
Oct 28, 2009
Sachin Agarwal said...
i remember back in 2000 during the tech bubble there was so many startups in "stealth mode." Even then we knew that a startup in stealth mode just meant they didn't have a good idea or just didn't know what they were doing.
Oct 28, 2009
Damon Pace said...
I may be old fashioned, but I still put value on the idea. It's not as though I think someone will steal my idea. I don't care about that. I just think the idea is the seed of the business. Sure it's just a seed and you still have to plant it, add water, talk to it and prune it properly, etc. to watch it grow. But without that seed, you would have nothing. Ideas hold the most value when the person who has it knows how to build it. I simply think we shouldn't discount them too much though.
Oct 28, 2009
Catherine White said...
Life only gives back what we have already put in. Like a bank account you need to make deposits so life can give more back.
Oct 29, 2009
Tahir Akram said...
It works for me. I mean whenever I discuss my idea with some one. I always come up with more improvements in it. Discussion also helps to identify the feasibility of your idea. That whether its suitable to execute.
Oct 29, 2009
Ryuji said...
Totally agreed; information itself is like currency and you don't want to underpay people if you want to maintain good relationship.
Nov 04, 2009
Ilan Volow said...
Reminds me of the Howard Aiken quote: “Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you' ll have to ram them down people's throats.”
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