The Value of Startup Ideas

Startup ideas are incredibly overvalued by some people.

The idea is worth nothing. The execution is worth everything.

David Cohen at Colorado Startups had a great blog post on the subject yesterday.

Here's the great quote:

One of the students approached me after the class in order to tell me that he had a killer idea for a web startup, but he didn’t feel he had the ability to create it since he was not a programmer. He asked me if he felt this would limit his chance of success in general, or for getting into TechStars. Of course I told him it would not limit, but rather eliminate him from consideration for TechStars. I advised him to find co-founders who are builders and who compliment his own strengths, and then apply. It never ceases to amaze me how people overvalue ideas.

Also on point is Paul Graham

Actually, startup ideas are not million dollar ideas, and here's an experiment you can try to prove it: just try to sell one. Nothing evolves faster than markets. The fact that there's no market for startup ideas suggests there's no demand. Which means, in the narrow sense of the word, that startup ideas are worthless.

The idea for Foneshow is not unique and has little or no value. Lots of people are working on podcasting over the phone. Where Foneshow has created its value in the execution.