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| ideas are just a multiplier of execution |
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It's so funny when I hear people being so protective of ideas. (People who want me to sign an NDA to tell me the simplest idea.)
To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions.
Explanation:
AWFUL IDEA = -1
WEAK IDEA = 1
SO-SO IDEA = 5
GOOD IDEA = 10
GREAT IDEA = 15
BRILLIANT IDEA = 20
NO EXECUTION = $1
WEAK EXECUTION = $1000
SO-SO- EXECUTION = $10,000
GOOD EXECUTION = $100,000
GREAT EXECUTION = $1,000,000
BRILLIANT EXECUTION = $10,000,000
To make a business, you need to multiply the two.
The most brilliant idea, with no execution, is worth $20.
The most brilliant idea takes great execution to be worth $20,000,000.
That's why I don't want to hear people's ideas.
I'm not interested until I see their execution.
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Well.. yes and no. Some people are better at having ideas, others at implementing. You're a well talented implementor I would say and you've probably been exposed to too many lame ideas to keep believing in them.
Sometimes it takes an idea or a vision to trigger a change of thought.
You're quantifying ideas in $$ which kinda leaves the best ones out :)
Love
Iggy
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And we all know now, Derek, you are a brilliant
executioner. . .
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Right on, Derek. The truth is, ideas are a dime a dozen. Pretty much everyone on earth has at least one idea every day -- some people have dozens of them. But an idea has no value until someone puts forth the effort to *describe* it, *depict* it, *explain* it to the point where anyone with relevant skills could actually construct it; make it into something that could be taken to market -- or, at least, to the Patent Office. And when someone does that, it then ceases to be just an idea and becomes -- an INVENTION! Maybe, even a PRODUCT.
Bottom line: an idea hsa value only if it inspires someone to develop it into an invention. But even that is only the beginning of the even longer process required to make it into the basis of a business.
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But, it makes sense to be protective...of a good idea. Person A tells
person B great idea. Person A doesn't have the resources to
implement his/her plan. As A is slowly working towards putting
said plan into motion, person B, who has no soul, uses available
resources to implement A's idea for him/herself.
A well executed plan is worth x million dollars, fine, but loose lips
sink ships.
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Jesse - I would agree with you, except that I think a "business idea" is about as valuable as a song title.
What matters is what you DO with it, so it "Person B" in your example, actually "wrote the song" - so to speak - even if Person A suggested the title - well then... good for Person B for actually doing it!
You could be sitting with Bono over lunch and say, "I think Sunday Bloody Sunday would make a good song title." - but if Bono uses that title then writes a song that becomes a huge hit, I think he gets the credit, not you.
The hard part is FINISHING something, not just having the wee idea.
I guess what I'm saying is that the original founding idea is only 1% of the overall creativity and effort and labor of bringing something into reality.
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Technically Bono would be entitled to the credit for the title because he wrote the song and rushed off to the copyright office to register the patent. Ethically and morally he is not required to give his
luncheon partner some kudos on the jacket as a source of inspiration along with a straight check based on his ongoing revenues--but he should! I know I would; I'm not in the creativity business for no
one else's idea. I would think myself less of an
artist by not alluding to the source origin. . .
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Yes Literati X you are right. But I think that if someone can have zillions ideas AND put them into practice, it can't be that damaging to have one or two "stolen". As for song, I don't care people steeling my songs because I'm the one who can actually sit and create. But we are definitly (even unconsiously) influenced by the ideas of others. Influence is good. Steeling is bad. But though our lives we sure will face both situation.
As for the calculation of derrek on the first message, this is a very good insight of your point.
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Although I totally get behind the "song title" thought....titles are nothing. If sitting over lunch I voiced an entire concept (from start to finish) of an idea for a song to my lunch buddy (who just happend Bono...wasn't he married to Cher?) and he turned around and recorded it almost word for word....then he didn't create anything. That would be my creation that he put the mechanics to.
But just a thought....just an idea - or in this case, a title....sorry, too broad to try and credit anyone for even the inspriration.
I think as a whole, we are inspired everyday by the smallest of acts. Wheter intentional or not. So that, in and of itself, is nothing.
Getting up and working from the inspiration to create something (a work of art, a company, etc) - that's where the work actually is...and the credit goes to who ever is part of that creation.
By the way - you do realize you can not copyright a title, right?
I know, the discussion really isn't about titles...it's just I don't have a lot of conversations to throw out that piece of trivia that I know. So this was my chance ... so I took it.
:-)
(smiley face)
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> If sitting over lunch I voiced an entire concept (from start to finish) of an idea for a song ... and he turned around and recorded it almost word for word....then he didn't create anything. That would be my creation that he put the mechanics to.
You're right - and this is where my song-title comparison doesn't hold up:
The real point was about business-plans not song-titles, so sorry if I got this point off-track with my example, above.
Taking a business from idea to fulfillment is MUCH more involved than taking a song from idea to fulfillment. Even if you "voiced an entire concept" of a business to someone, I still don't think it's worth more than $20 unless you actually go make it happen.
Here's my quite-detailed idea on how to make a very successful promotions company Take it. Run with it. Have a blast. You could make a million with it and not owe me a thing, because it's just an idea. Doing something with it is what's valuable.
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P.S. That idea for a promotions company : I've been telling that idea for years to anyone who will listen, in hopes that someone will do something with it. So far nobody has.
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Hm...I read your idea for a promo company, and I think I recently found the people who actually did run with this idea and executed it pretty well, too. Or, at least a similar concept.
And what a brilliant idea it was...I paid for the service and have been very pleased with the results I've received for about 10 minutes of my time and a relatively low cost...since my time just gets more and more precious each day.
As for the spirit of this thread:
Experienced venture capitalists and investors share the same philosophy as well...they would rather have a second rate idea with a first rate management team, than a first rate idea with a second rate management team...execution is gold, the value is in the doing. They also view would-be entrepreneurs who are secretive about their idea as inexperienced. Most tell you right up front that they will not sign NDAs.
dg
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It was a very informing conversation. I think over all it lived up to the concept of CD Baby being the premiere place where musicians come to meet and discuss all matters of music...I'm excited about being in the business as a writer/poet; afterwards,I'm no good at stardom. Its not my style nor ambition. . .To take my place among the true and tried literati is my longevity career goal. . . I'll knock a pulitzer prize winning poet out in broad daylight and still won't get a prize; i'm not in the circle and never will be--I'm too down and dirty for those ivy league, snivling
punks!
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Derek,
I always like the things you write and always check on your "derek's report" page for new columns.
Is there anyway you can create a RSS feed to this page. I want to know about any new entries right away.
Vil
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I like this
don't tell me
show me
ande
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Hi,
don't tell anyone this, but...
ideas are a dime a dozen.
It takes smart investment to grow any idea...and more importantly, smart management and backers ($). Of course, don't discount all the other intangibles.
LUV ;-)
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Most ideas don't even need backers ($).
You can start small, test it on friends or local community, repeat, improve, grow.
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Yes, I'm sure CD Baby just jumped into the web with the hands in the air and no money to boot..
jah...right....
not
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Yes, I'm sure CD Baby just jumped into the web with the hands in the air and no money to boot
Yes, actually. I started CD Baby in 1998 on a $20/month webhosting account, and wrote it in a week. It was launched with no money and only 12 artists. It has grown since then with no money invested, very slowly over 8 years by word-of-mouth.
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I'm still looking for backers for my chocolate-covered bacon, ("Baconettes") and my "celphone-universal remote" combo (patent pending!)
So, sometimes money is required. But at least I'll have the jingles already done.
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Hello Beau,
I am interested in backing your chocolate bacon idea. Why not? In Egypt, chocolate coated ants are seen as a delicacy. In Cambodia, giant hairy tarantulas fried in a large pan with oil are seen as lipsmackin´ fingerlickin´ good. Traffic stopping in fact and crowds gather, pushing and pulling to be first served. (Awful but true).
What does this tell us? It tells us that there is a market for everything and anything somewhere. So go identify your market and start selling. In a nutshell: Identify your market - stimulate it - sell to it.
Anyone for a tarantula leg or two????
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Bingo! Good one!
On the Feel Good Tour , it all started out as an idea and once I talked to musiclink it was one step after another and now we have a few folks working on it. So for myself I like streamline process and not way too many meeting.,http://feelgoodtour.blogspot.com/
Still Pickin'
Bill
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You know guy's I'm disappointed... I read this entire post trying to find a good idea to steal and there weren’t any! (asides of course from the chocolate bacon... but I'm not interested in making weapons) Derik's right though, this whole "loose lips sink ships" thing doesn't apply to most people. There aren't many people who CAN come up with a great idea and execute it perfectly. Most idea's or executions are flawed, that's where sharing idea's benefits all. No one here has had a brilliant idea AND great executions because by Deriks mathematical formula... you would then be worth twenty millions dollars! (If there are any people reading this who have twenty million dollars, please accept my humble apologies and let me offer you my hand in friendship.)
Speaking of ideas, I have one. But I'm having trouble executing it. I was reading a while ago about how ring tones are selling like hot-cakes and I figured it must be a pretty low cost thing to get into. I was trying to find a way to sell ring tones of my songs on my website. I emailed a few places that song ring tones but lo and behold... I never heard back from them. I was wondering if anyone else had this idea and did execute it of if anyone else could think of a way to execute this idea. You never know, we could all be millionaires soon!
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Start up a competitor in the market of CD Baby...the web is still young...
just kidding derik...this place is kewl
just needs a better search engine..
a cooler logo..
more name recognition with the masses
and it needs to become the cool "go-to" for music buyers...
and prob. a few other things
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Hi I think this whole topic touches on the greatest fear us independent musicians have...
the topic subject is ideas and basically Derek you are right an idea isn't worth anything as the idea except as potential until it is properly executed...it is a seed!
But like everything there are two sides to this...most of us on this site have 'executed' our ideas in a small way in that we have taken that seed worked on it invested in it and produced a recorded song, the result? that idea is not just worth $20 it is worth -$180 because it has cost us say $200 to do it with no sales!
What concerns me sometimes and I try not to think about it is that someone may 'take' my rough song buff tweek twiddle and polish it and release it through their bigger better machine and more well known artist get all the dividends and moi nothing....this I think has happened to me although it may just be coincidence..A few years back I had an idea for tv to video buskers and characters playing music on the London underground which I called Sounds of the Underground. I hired a video camera and for three days trawled the Underground chatting to and videoing buskers.On the last day I was having a pint in a pub when this guy approached me he said he had a video production company and I'd be mad not to send him the tape...I did. About a year later I'm watching a tv when a programme comes on channel 4 called Sounds of the Underground on buskers!...I rushed to my files but couldn't find who I had posted it too
maybe this is coincidence, but I have had a similar experiences with music but I was stupid not to protct my 'idea' better.....the same thing can happen with demos which we are constantly asked to send out like confetti...there are many other factors to this like a cosmic consciousness! where quite a few people have similar ideas about the same time or you idea was already there but you just didn't know ...say writing a song called Spanish eyes and later discovering a song by that name already existed....God when I think about it I've had loads of ideas I'm yet to profit from...a few years back I hit on an idea for a fast food chain called Wok n Roll designed a logo but just didn't have the start up finds....last year I found out there's a restaurant now with that name in Newcastle...Ultimately those big bad boys in the big bad corps know our copyright don't mean jack without bucks to defend it......HELP THEY'RE COMIN....DEREK PROTECT US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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>> a few years back I hit on an idea for a fast food chain called Wok n Roll
I grew up in Chicago in the 1980's. I remember a restaurant called Wok n Roll as far back as 1981. There was another in Woodstock, New York. Unrelated. I think it's as common a business name as "Jack's Hamburgers" or "Rainbow Food Mart".
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afterthought....ok say it was your idea...say Derek when you had your idea you told it to someone over a drink and then a weak later while your researching it you come across a nice new fledgling site called CDBaby online music store for independent musicians hosted by that same bloke! how would ya feel?
huh?huh? x
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>> when you had your idea you told it to someone over a drink and then a weak later while your researching it you come across a nice new fledgling site called CD Baby online music store for independent musicians hosted by that same bloke! how would ya feel?
Good for them. The one who does it right is the one who deserves it.
This has actually happened to me many times. I seriously don't mind at all.
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| by
on Thursday February 02 2006 @ 06:01AM PST [ reply | parent ] |
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Oh G this topic so pushes my button!...An idea that seed is valuable....as valuable as what that seed may grow into....ok some seed will fall on stoney ground...etcetc...the problem is
I'VE GOT NO LAND...OK LAST POSTING I'M going to water my CD!
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This reminds me of the time I was trying to become a screenwriter.
All the seminarians and how-to books emphasized the point that
ideas are prevalent and therefore worthless. I think they spoke to
that because many folks come up with an idea for a "great movie"
and think they will get rich on it somehow. It's like Derek says, it's
the execution, not the idea. I believe this is a general principle for
all creative endeavors. Of course, you have to have the idea to get
started, but then you have to get a lot more ideas about how to
create the art/enterprise.
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It's easier to sell shovels (Derek) to gold diggers (Artists).
Derek = Shovel Seller
CD Baby Artists = Gold Diggers
Moral...
Gold Diggers go broke trying to find the gold...Derik gets rich selling us the shovels to dig for it.
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Your comparison is correct except for two things:
The gold-digger analogy assumes that people get all-or-nothing. In fact many artists are making a decent living with their music, even if not striking it rich. CD Baby is just helping them sell some more music to strangers, and never promised anyone riches/gold.
So I'd compare CD Baby more to Fender Guitars or something : we'll sell you a tool to help you make (or in this case, distribute) your music. Whether you use it to make $20 or use it to make $20 million is up to you. People don't go broke playing guitar, and people don't go broke selling some CDs.
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| NOTE: If you need a reply you should email CD Baby directly instead of posting here. We don't often read old message board postings, and have no way of replying to them!
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