Thread by @mijustin

I know it’s popular to say “Ideas are easy. Execution is everything,” but I disagree.

If ideas are so easy, why are most business ideas so bad?

The opportunity you identify, and focus on, matters a lot.

The ability to identify a good idea takes a lifetime of effort! It’s the culmination of the experiences you’ve had, the markets you’ve observed, the customers you’ve listened to, the experiments you’ve run.

In software, the execution piece (building it) is easy by comparison.

The market you choose, and the idea that you focus on, are the most important business decisions you’ll make. They determine your trajectory.

Yes, how you execute is a part of that, but your ceiling for success is set by the idea itself.

The risk with overemphasizing “execution” is it deludes people into running that if they work hard enough they can make any idea successful.

It’s just not true.

On the flip side, an idea that has tons of demand may need less “hard work” to make it succeed!

If you don’t believe me, go browse old listings on Product Hunt.

You’ll see page after page of beautifully executed products that never achieved meaningful traction.

There have been thousands of ideas posted; most failed.

Are ideas really “easy?”

Folks keep commenting: "But coming up with ideas *is* easy!"

Coming up with low-quality ideas is easy.

(So is executing something poorly).

There are tons of tech people who are skilled at building software but struggle to build good software businesses.

The difference is in the quality of their ideas.

We underestimate the power of a good idea.

Most of the future potential for success is contained within the idea itself.

Of course you need to *do the work* to move forward. But the idea determines your direction and momentum.

We often compare ideas to seeds. But a bad seed can’t grow into a plant; only a good seed can.

Got a bad idea? Don’t spend lots of time fertilizing it, watering it, and trying to get it to grow. No! Throw it away.

Focus on cultivating good ideas and helping them grow. 🌱

I know talented makers who had to hunt for years before they found a good idea.

Good ideas are not easy to find. Often, you have to wait for them.

The problem is, most of us are impatient and want to *execute* as soon as possible, so we pick the first idea that comes to mind.

When an author says: “I have an idea for my next book” the success of that book largely depends on the concept they’ve chosen.

The same is true in business.

“I’m working on an idea for a new app.”

If you’re reasonably good at execution, what matters is *whether people want what you’re building.* That speaks to the strength of the idea.

Realizing that many of you use this framework:

Idea ➡️ Execution (and validation is a part of execution)

That’s not how I think about ideas and execution.

Here’s the framework I use now:

1. I have many ideas (most of them are bad)
2. As I evaluate ideas, some are worth exploring
3. I explore the shape of those ideas
4. I choose the idea has the most potential (and best fits me)
5. I shape it some more
6. I work on it

(H/t @rjs)