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Comment by pciexpgpu | Hacker News Reader

Ideas are incredibly cheap. Execution is hard as someone else pointed out. Beyond that, a random AI crapsoup of techonerdmangled words would give a pretty good "billion dollar idea":

AI ML crypto spaceship

Nano modular ML-based DNA aggregator

Crypto but actually is useful

And some of the most important ideas require the most boring execution:

- safe, clean toilets for the next billion

- all-display walls, e-paper that can act as lights too

- instead of self driving cars how about simple government intervention to provide sensors on roads for augmented-driving cars?

- continuous study of flu via most populated areas to predict flu vaccine 6 months from now (Bedford lab but super charged and automated)

- and finally, 5$ hospital saline solution

These seem stupid and naive but I believe they are some of the most important "ideas" and again without any execution plans.

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Nowadays, the ideas/execution dichotomy seems to be repeated more or less blindly whenever ideas are discussed. (I do hear you and what you say above though - not blaming you for this, just responding with what arises in me. I'm not saying the following to devalue execution - just to devalue the dichotomy.)

I suppose that this is/was originally a well founded defense against, for instance, people being overprotective about their business ideas to a degree that it was undermining actually getting the implementation done.

To me this seems to mask the fact that not all ideas are made equal. There may be a mountain of user research behind one idea, and another may be just a spark of "wouldn't it be cool if..."

As long as we're working with information, all we're ever doing is in one sense or another dealing with ideas. If we only respect the work of those who deal with the business game or with the bits & bolts, we will keep ending up with poor user/client experiences. Understanding the ideas inside the head of the user often is the difference between a functional product and a brilliantly enjoyable one.

Those ideas may be important. but they aren't valuable.

Valuable ideas are protectable.

Valuable ideas are quite often, unique and relatively secret(for example, secret in your industry).

Often valuable ideas are not just a one liner. That's just lazy. But they're a deep, complex understanding about something.

Valuable ideas allow great amplification of execution, where a small amount execution can create large rewards.

And let's say you're just mediocre at execution. But you have valuable ideas, often.

Couldn't you join a startup, help it succeed and possibly rewarded handsomely ?

Couldn't you join a big co., and become a very useful employee and be rewarded for it ?

Curious about the saline solution problem, it appears 0.9% concentration is available for roughly $10/L on internet marketplaces, likely can be manufactured much cheaper, but getting it for that price in a US hospital might be a challenge.

My point is the insane supply chain costs that permeate the insurance, hospital and medical manufacturing industry. I used the saline solution as an example based on an LA Times investigation that found out saline solution is charged 1000$+.

Again a very hard problem as it involves innovating across the board in boring ways.

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