In the tech world, products are born from two separate yet equally important groups: the Ideators, who generate new ideas; and the Builders, who execute the ideas. This is sort-of their story.

Unfortunately, ideas are cheap

Ideas are a dime-a-dozen. It’s true. I have six to ten ideas a day. My Little Book of No is filling up fast, I tell you. And I don’t even count the collegial ideas we come up with in the office. If ideas were currency, we’d be rich. But ideas are cheap.

“Why are ideas so cheap? Because everybody has at least a dozen per day. Everybody. They even come up in your sleep when you’re not even trying.”
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Here’s how Ideators level up: they get builders on their team. They do it early because they know that as long as the idea is in their head, it’s just another idea. They seek other builders and sometimes other Ideators to start executing the idea. Technology Ideators often have Builders among their entourage so it’s a natural process. But for Ideators who don’t evolve around MSCS graduates, designers and technologists, the way is to hire Builders.

Talk to Builders early

To be clear, Builders are not just programmers and designers. Builders are doers; they implement, execute ideas. Don’t believe me? Facebook recently celebrated its 10th birthday, take a look at all the builders it took from the beginning.

For Ideators who don’t code or design, you can hire a team of Builders. And the good news is that there are many, many who but build people’s ideas. For example, there’s teehan + lax, the Builders of @Medium. And what a great product(obviously) they built together.

The point is: You are closer to making your idea into a reality than you think. You only have to take the first step: Get this idea out of your head and into a lab. Do it now!

“One idea in the lab is worth ten in your head.”
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If you keep it in your head, you’re not building it. If you keep it in your head, you’re just day-dreaming. It means you’re not serious about your idea and that probably means it’s not such a great idea after all. But if it is a great idea, then you should feel bad for letting it waste. You should feel ashamed of yourself too for depriving the world of a brilliant product.

I’m glad that @Ev went ahead and reached out to @gt because now we have @medium.

Something really important happens when you contact a team of Builders: You put your idea to the test.

By talking to Builders, you expose your idea’s logic, its merits and, inevitably, its flaws too. But that’s a good thing. It is so good in fact that we made it a ‘thing’. We call it The Centrifuge. It’s a strategy session we do with clients who come to us with ideas. Basically, we form a small workgroup to test the idea and put it through a rigorous process until we separate the good from the bad and the ugly.

Talking to Builders about your idea exposes its logic, its merits and, inevitably, its flaws too.
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After a centrifuge session, clients end-up with either a) a better, stronger idea or 2) well … back to the drawing board. Either way, it gives client the confidence to put their time and money where their mind is.

Put your time / money where your mind is

We decided to create MindtoApp.com because we were spending a lot of time talking through ideas with clients. The Centrifuge worked well to test ideas — specifically mobile app ideas. And it was a good way to inform our clients on what it would take to build their idea. But The Centrifuge achieved something else: it forced Ideators to put their time and money where their mind were.

That’s the true test really: do you take your idea seriously enough that you are prepared to invest your time and some money into it? I’m not talking about quitting your day job or emptying your savings account. But talking to people about your idea makes it real. Talking to Builders puts your idea in the arena. Taking that one step can be the difference between a new product and a thousandth day-dream.

Got ideas? Take that one idea amongst the thousands and make it happen. Get serious about it. Start talking about it. Talk to Builders. And then start building it. Do it now or forever live in shame and regret.

“One idea in the lab is worth ten in your head” — Start building your idea now or forever live in shame and regret.

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