| I don't think you're wrong. Great ideas are extremely valuable. But I think the disconnect comes from the fact that it's very easy to mistake mediocre ideas for great ones. Most times when I hear someone's self-described great idea it seems impressive at first, but then fails to hold up to scrutiny. Among other reasons that an idea may not be as valuable as it appears: * It's not actually original. Even if not widespread, one or more other parties is already working on it. * "And then a miracle happens..." Some aspect of the idea assumes magic technology or dependencies that don't exist. * The low-level details are not elucidated and have just been hand-waved away. * It's solving a problem that not many people actually have. * It's not economical or practical. * It requires mass widespread adoption or buy-in from powerful interests before being able to actually have value. There's no gentle gradient to product organic growth. The contrast, is that it's much harder to be deluded about the value of execution. Great execution is obvious when it happens. Ask people for their great ideas, and you'll often get something half-baked. Ask people for a demonstrated history of execution, and that's pretty hard to fake. Ideas tend not be valued, not because they're valueless, but because they're hard to value. |
I would hope that people share their ideas anyway, so at least it can be discussed. And not get shut down. It's usually obvious if an idea has prior art or if it's not really good.