When is an idea "great", and when it's not?
My article about MyClubCards was crossposted on www.arcticstartup.com, a Helsinki based tech blog covering the Nordic startup and web scene. In the comments a small discussion evolved surrounding the question when a web idea can be called "great" and innovative, and how necessary it is for a startup to have economic success in order to be percieved as "great".
For me, a great web service is a service that combines several aspects. In my eyes a really good startup must have an awesome idea and an outstanding execution (features, design, name, logo, communication etc.). But personally I don't find it necessary that the idea is totally brand new. First of all, completely new ideas are very rare. Almost everything has been done and tried before. BUT often with bad execution. Which means that it's actually the execution and not the idea itself that decides if a startup is facing a bright or a rather dark future.
Take Spotify as an example. There have been dozens of streaming music services before, and there are many competitors. Still, none of them was able to create the same kind of buzz and user demand as Spotify did in the few markets where it is available. That's not because the idea was great (it was, but it was not invented by Spotify), but the execution. Or Facebook. Facebook was one out of hundreds of social networks launched during the last decade. They all based their service on the same concept, but the way they approached and packaged it was different. And obviously, Facebook executed better than any other similar service.
So does a "great startup" have to generate a lot of money for its owners to qualify to be labeled as "great"? Probably yes, But within what time? There are people who question the prospects of Spotify or Twitter because those services haven't reached profitability yet. But what if those companies will start to make a lot of money in two or three years? They could become cash cows, as soon as they find a killer business model.
You can never be sure if a popular, innovative looking web startup will ever find a sustainable business model and become a money machine. But you can judge based on the idea and execution. If both seems to be good, then the initial situation couldn't be better for turning the project into a successful business. Having said that, it still won't be easy.
Considering this, it's maybe not the great ideas that always come from Sweden, but rather good execution.
