Ideas are easy. Execution is hard. This fact is especially true for anyone who has ever started a business. A good idea can get you excited but it cannot support your family. The one thing that often distinguishes a startup that succeeds from one that fails is how it is executed.

A good idea is just a beginning, not an ending. Many founders lose themselves in the vision, the pitch deck and the big picture. They believe that all that’s needed is the idea to get them to the top. They are wrong. Ideas are cheap. There are so many great ideas out there that never became a viable business. Why? Because the founders didn’t make the idea into a product and a company.

Execution is about action. It is the ability to convert a plan into outcomes. This includes creating the product, identifying the customers, and the finances. We know this well because our experienced operations executive, Shahin Shateri, understands it. He has a background of building and scaling businesses. Shahin Shateri knows that a founder’s number one job is not to be a visionary. Their job is to be a doer. He says, “The winners of this market are those who understand how to build systems that allow AI to do the work of the grunts while humans focus on strategy, creatives and relationships.” This insight is key. It reflects the fact that execution is not merely brute force. All about creating smart systems and using the right tools to get it done.

Speed matters. In the world of startups it is a recipe for failure to wait for perfection. The market moves fast. Competitors are everywhere around us. A fast-paced startup can respond to changes and get its product out first. This is called agility. It is the capacity to turn and learn in the moment. A startup that waits, overthinks or waits for the perfect time, will miss its opportunity. As one of the founders said, “If you’re embarrassed about your first version, you’re late.”

This agile thinking, and learning, is the defining characteristic of successful founders. Shahin Shateri stresses this attitude. He says, “If you’re waiting for things to calm down, you’re already late.” This is our new normal, and is overflowing with opportunity if you know where to look. This has nothing to do with irresponsible behavior. It is about a disciplined process of learning and iteration. You release a product, you take feedback from customers and you make it better. Then you repeat the process. This action and feedback loop is the source of momentum. Without it the startup is nothing but a static idea waiting to die.

Winning startups wear their execution on their sleeves because they know a simple fact, a business is not a theory. It is a living, breathing thing that needs ongoing work. The founders who have the most success are the ones who get their hands dirty. They form the teams, they solve the problems and they make the decisions. They not only think about success, but do their best to achieve it.