I first encountered the notion of idea debt in Jessica Abel’s essay.
Idea Debt is when you spend too much time picturing what a project is going to be like, too much time thinking about how awesome it will be to have this thing done and in the world, too much time imagining how cool you will look, how in demand you’ll be, how much money you’ll make. And way too little time actually making the thing.
The cost of building software has decreased with the rise of higher-level languages and frameworks. LLMs/Vibe-coding are a step function change and further lower the barrier to build and iterate on ideas.
So, what we have is the ability to dream up lots of projects, but do very little stress testing on what should be built, whether it is worth building, and whether it is a good use of time.
To pressure test your ideas, I’ve found the Heilmeier Catechism to be a useful tool. It’s a list of questions you can ask yourself.
- What is the problem, why is it hard?
- How is it solved today?
- What is the new technical idea; why can we succeed now?
- What is the impact if successful?
- How will the program/company be organized?
- How will intermediate results be generated?
- How will you measure progress?
- What will it cost?
The system you build, its scope, feasibility, costs, timeline, and expected outcomes are all laid out upfront - you force yourself to make decisions about the opportunity cost of building the system vs. something else.
Like most models/frameworks, there are exceptions - I tend to skip these questions when I'm indulging my curiosity - there's benefit to playing with ideas just for the sake of it.
Note to self: idea debt is real. Have some structure to evaluate ideas and whether to pursue them. But also give up on projects that no longer interest you. Forgive yourself for not finishing projects.
References
- Heilmeier Catechism DARPA
- Idea debt Jessica Abel’s essay