I just came across this 2016 blog post from Stonemaier Games – the people behind the beautiful Wingspan, among others. Recommended. Here’s a snippet:
Your friend’s terrible prototype is worth 100x more than your great idea.
Why? Because your friend actually did something with their idea. They created something. It may be terrible, but at least it exists. They’re now informed about how to proceed based on something real, something tangible.
It takes a tremendous amount of courage to turn an idea into reality. It then takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to turn that reality into something functional, much less something great.
So if you’re offering someone your idea in exchange for them to execute it, you’re basically asking them to do 99.99% of the work. That’s not a partnership.
Imagine if your spouse told you, “I have an idea for a delicious 10-course meal. You should spend the next few days researching each dish, buying the ingredients, testing different versions, preparing the final meal, and serving it plate by plate at a dinner party. We’ll split the credit 50/50.”
Jamey Stegmaier – Kickstarter Lesson #204