The Extraction Problem

Here's the core tension of the Idea Game: ideas want to be free, but value wants to be captured.

Ideas spread. That's their nature. A good insight moves from mind to mind, adapting, combining, evolving. You can't stop this, and you shouldn't want to—idea flow is how knowledge advances.

But if ideas flow freely and you're in the business of generating ideas, how do you eat?

This is the Extraction Problem. The Idea Game creates value that's structurally difficult for idea-havers to capture.

Three common failure modes:

• Never extracting (Unmined Vein): You generate ideas but don't refine them into forms that can travel or be applied. The value stays latent.
• Extracting but not capturing (Stolen Claim): You refine and share ideas, but others package them better, market them harder, or build on them faster. The value flows to them.
• Extracting without accumulating (Prospector's Loop): You find and partially develop ideas, but never commit long enough to build anything substantial. The value dissipates.

The people who win the Idea Game understand something crucial: the game isn't about having ideas. It's about controlling the extraction process.

This means:

• Refining ideas to the point of application (not just insight)
• Building an identity around your ideas (so extraction is attributed)
• Implementing ideas yourself (so you capture application value)
• Or playing a different game entirely (consulting, building, creating systems)

The Idea Game is often a feeder to other games. Ideas alone are raw material. The finished goods are built in other games.