Borrow My Brain

Dan Putt, a friend of mine, talks about the myth of the great idea on his blog. This is something I can get stuck doing. He quotes management guru Jim Collins:

First, don’t obsess on finding the “great idea.” In fact, our research shows a somewhat negative correlation between pioneering a great idea and building a great company. Many of the greatest started with either no great idea or even failed ideas.

It’s better to find who you want to work with first, and then figure out what you are going to do. That said, I think it’s important to know yourself and know what areas you’d be passionate about, or at least your general areas of interest. I’d never get involved in a business dealing with, say, waste management, because I know I wouldn’t want to talk about or think about about garbage all day. But apparently, others are really into garbage:

Tom Szaky’s business plan is complete garbage. He buys garbage, feeds the garbage to worms, turns their “garbage” into plant fertilizer, and bottles it in more garbage. TerraCycle Plant Food is the world’s first consumer product where every part of packaging and product is waste — only the label on the bottle is new.

Well, if it works for him…