(think of the biggest companies you know, and their idea was not original at all, just the execution was different. (better).
Before Google there were a myriad of other search engines. Before Facebook there was Friendster (should be classical case study for poor execution), Myspace etc).
From what I can say it seems that idea doesn't matter (i.e. doesn't have to be original at all), as long as the execution is good/better than everybody's else.
Sure, Friendster validated the 'social networks' idea, but it was ultimately FB that gave a really good execution to that idea.
So the difference between a 100mil, to a 10bill company, is simply execution.
You can say execution is a multiplier of an idea, and if the idea is stupid, it doesn't matter. But that doesn't make idea the most important thing. Most ideas are not that great/original anyways. You can be a mom and pop burger shop, (easy), or you can be mcdonalds (not that easy), even if the idea is the same (sell burgers), it is the execution and scale of operation that wins at the end.
I never meant to imply that execution is always equal.
The idea doesn't have to be original, but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter. You can't be completely ignorant and go ahead with your flying horse idea. But your incompetency at realizing your idea sucks is essentially bad execution.
The flying horse idea is horrible, but it won't matter only because you'll realize immediately after executing that it's a shitty idea. So in that sense you'll amend your flying horse idea and try something better like a flying car instead. But after that iteration it's a new idea.
Google and Facebook certainly weren't original, but they are also completely different from when they started. The idea itself is trivialized in the long term, but only if you are capable of logically iterating and filtering out bad ideas.
I think you should try to grasp my definition of what is an idea and what is execution in relation to an idea. Comparing execution to an idea is like comparing apples and oranges.
My main point is that idea and execution are two different things that are part of the same process.
I agree that executing ability of the people running the company is more important than any individual idea.
Initial, untested ideas are worthless. The list of 998 ideas are probably all things they just came up with on the spot, unexposed to the effects of evolution.
But let's say we took this idea, "Prepackaged school supplies based on the lists from the school districts," tested it. The test would have to consist of some sort of execution. Now we let's say we found out that no one gives a shit about school supplies and don't buy it anyways. Well now we amend our original idea. We have a new idea, it's still an idea. We executed to determine what works and what doesn't. This new idea is worth slightly more. After many, many iterations, we'll still have an idea in the end. If it is carefully documented and proven with a history of execution. This idea is worth something, and I would buy it. The idea, only after execution has value because the execution is factual proof.
Therefore, ideas can be worth something and can be sold. In fact, the idea, plan, knowledge, whatever you call it, is what's worth something in the end. What's worthless is an untested idea, because it is grounded only in imagination.
Also every time you execute an idea, it becomes exposed. It loses it's value because it is free (unless you patent it, but that's just some artificial thing we invented to force value into ideas after they are exposed). But the idea, before anyone else knows about it, and in the instant it is executed, has value.
Of course this means that more important than any single idea is in the ability of the person to come up with innovative ideas. We can all follow the model of evolution and improve our ideas, but who can iterate faster, and predict more accurately what works (guiding evolution), will ultimately dominate.
Execution is simply how well you predict what works, and how well you don't lie to yourself. In this sense execution may be more important than any single idea, but an idea can still have value.