Doubling down: Investing in ideas

An idea can be completely legitimate—real problem, real opportunity, real evidence—and still not get off the ground without investment. And that doesn't just mean money.

Investment is the second of four things ideas need to succeed: Legitimacy, Investment, Force and Trajectory. LIFT.

It requires doubling down on two fronts:

• Conviction: this idea is important and should be given every opportunity to take flight.
• Resources: time, money, people and energy to make it real.

In my experience, without both, ideas, initiatives and businesses fail in two ways:

• "Let's back ourselves"—a strong belief but no ability to resource it properly.
• "Let's see"— a hedging, under-resourced approach with no real conviction that the work is important or will succeed.

Ideas are uncertain. They're a bet on the future. But what is certain is that half-hearted investment produces half-finished ideas that won't fly.

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Read more about the LIFT FlightPlan