Being a hacker is all about the open sharing of ideas. So why do I keep my list of ‘projects in development’ so close to my chest? Inspired by tales of R&D departments with security measures the military would weep at? Enchanted by the notion that my ideas are worth millions, I just need to unleash them, then sit back and watch the cash roll in? Yeah, that’s pretty much it!

Yep, until very recently I was an idea hoarder. But inspired by Jacques Mattheij’s recent outpouring of his ideas, I’ve changed my attitude. I’m in good company – the folks at ycombinator have shared their list of “ideas we want to fund“, the people at halfbakery.com have an entire social ecosystem based around sharing ideas, and the Six Month MBA team have listed a whopping 999 business ideas for anyone to pick up and use.

Why share my ideas? Ideas are often said to be worthless until implemented. I’d objected to that sentiment in the past, being a big ideas person. But now I can see there’s truth in it – a bad idea implemented excellently will trump a good idea implemented poorly, and as Paul Graham says: “imaginative people will take (the ideas) in directions we didn’t anticipate”, and “No matter what your idea, there’s someone else out there working on the same thing”. Sharing something multiplies its value.

I encourage you to share your ideas with the community too, because:

1. Someone’s probably already thought of it anyway – no need to keep it secret
2. You haven’t done anything with it yet – so maybe you’re not the right person to bring it forward
3. Inspiring others benefits everyone- let’s talk about these ideas, and create new ones
4. You’re not as clever as you’d like to think – others can see problems and opportunities that you can’t
5. Sharing ideas can kickstart the product – if everyone says “wow I like this”, then you know what to do

So without further ado, ten ideas I’m thinking about:

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