Execution is much more important than the idea

You may have read our sister blog – Watch us Getting Real, where we write a regular diary of the trials and tribulations of an online startup and building a web application, following the process outlined in the totally awesome Getting Real book from 37 Signals.

We are getting to the stage where the talking’s about to stop, the planning’s done and the focus swings onto execution. Remarkable execution we hope.

I couldn’t help noticing a sidenote in Getting Real, from a chapter you find in its entirety here, but I wanted to emphasise the thinking of the entrepreneur, Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby and Hostbaby. He provides the simplest of formulas behind the making of a good idea and it’s based on a multiplier:

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.

Simple.

How well are you executing?