The market for ideas

Ideas. Everybody has them. Some create enormous fortunes, some never leave the drawing board, and others drive their creators into bankruptcy. Why? Is it the idea itself that it is somehow predestined for success? Is there some other factor that can take coal and turn it into a diamond?

"The Idea Itself" Theory

Inventors from all walks of life feel that the only thing standing between themselves and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is a really good idea. Every idea that is hatched in the cauldron of their mind is a tiny little gem that has to be carefully guarded, protected, kept secret. It is for exactly this reason that nearly all inventors fail to bring their ideas to market.

When you live your life convinced that someone in a 40 story building in Manhattan is going to "steal" your great new idea, a viable product and corresponding business model can never be adequately developed. Almost no idea is born full grown in the inventor's mind. It must be nurtured, tested, developed, piloted, and reworked several times before it can hope to achieve real success. The fact of the matter is, that an idea is nothing more than a seed. This seed must be planted, in fertile soil, to have any chance of growth. Commercial success by any measure requires far more than a single seed.

Something Else

Who is the public anyway? Well, you are. I am. Your friends are. We all are. Why then, when an idea is born, do we not leverage the very people who are all around us to validate them? Surround yourself with those who believe in you, respect you, and whom you respect in return. Share your ideas with them. They will find the gaps that you have missed, and together you can move quickly to fill them, or create another idea entirely. Partner with those whose strengths are your weaknesses, and together, you can succeed.

The "Abundance" Mentality

Leveraging the opinions of others is clearly a paradigm shift from the "me" culture of protectionism and fear. Strange as it may sound, I meet people every day who have an enormous amount of fear that somehow their idea will be stolen, or their trade secrets revealed. I wonder often if Microsoft (the evil empire) would be the gigantic commercial success that it is today if Bill Gates OR Paul Allen had that point of view. What if one of them had "gone it alone"? Boldly, I will venture a guess that Microsoft wouldn't stand a chance were it not the work of BOTH Paul AND Bill. And honestly, would you be disappointed if you had to "share" the fruits of Microsoft's enormous success with someone else. I suppose it would be awful to have a net worth of less than $30 billion.

The point is this: Success, when properly achieved, creates more than enough to reward all involved. In almost every case, the commercial success possible with a small, talented, dedicated team exceeds that which is achievable by an individual by orders of magnitude. By sharing, you create more, not less, for yourself. Would you rather spilt 100 million between 2 people or create 1 million by yourself?

So What's It Worth?

All ideas, on their own, have no value. Stop believing the "get rich quick" dream by which you "release" your idea to the public and the checks start pouring in. The world is awash in ideas. Yours is the greatest, just like everyone else's. A product, on the other hand, does have value. Turning an idea into a product which can be brought to market is a job too big for an army of one. Use those around you to validate, develop, market and ultimately profit from your idea. Doing it any other way is a recipe for failure.