(My apologies for how pixelated it is! It’s the only visual artifact I have left from the catodicos.com project, a fitting reminder of how an idea can fade if not executed properly.)
We’re obsessed with the “eureka” moment. We celebrate the flash of inspiration, the brilliant idea sketched on a napkin that’s destined to change the world. As creators, entrepreneurs, and dreamers, we often believe that the most valuable thing we can possess is a truly original, million-dollar idea. I’m here to tell you that’s only a tiny part of the story.
Years ago, I had what I was convinced was one of those ideas. I launched a project called catodicos.com. The concept was a social network for TV show fans. It was a platform where users could connect, track what they were watching, write reviews, and—this was the core of it—get personalized recommendations based on their viewing habits and ratings.
This was before the streaming giants had perfected their recommendation algorithms into the powerhouses they are today. I genuinely thought, “This is it. This is a million-dollar idea.” And maybe it was. The concept itself was sound. But the project never took off.
Why? Because I learned a hard but invaluable lesson: ideas are common, but execution is rare.
A great idea is a starting block, not the finish line. The real work—the part that determines success or failure—is in the execution. For my project, the idea was the easy part. The hard parts were:
- Building a flawless user experience: How do you make tracking and rating shows effortless and fun?
- Developing the technology: A recommendation algorithm isn’t a simple thing to build.
- Creating a community: A social network is nothing without its users. How do you attract and retain them?
- Marketing and promotion: How do you get the word out with a limited budget?
- Timing and resources: Was the market ready? Did I have the capital and the team to sustain it?
My execution couldn’t live up to the ambition of the idea. And I see this pattern everywhere. The world is filled with brilliant concepts that never see the light of day, not because they were bad ideas, but because the path from concept to reality is a grueling marathon of a thousand small, difficult decisions.
So, if you have an idea that keeps you up at night, that’s wonderful. Cherish it. But don’t stop there. Shift your focus from protecting the idea to mastering the craft of execution. Because in the end, the world doesn’t remember the best ideas; it remembers the best-executed ones.
