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Ask HN: Which startups are thriving in the downturn?

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Re: Ask HN: Which startups are thriving in the downturn?

#91

Post by j2bax »

Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #88
th1s1sit wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because what are we working on? Amazon is running out of people willing to work in its warehouses; gig work gets old fast. Low unemployment is unsustainable if it’s unfulfilling errand running. There’s little net new invention going on in entrenched big tech; Bezos and co are riding high on mathematical inference by accountants; it’s a math scam being forced upon people who can’t “see” how he’s not really invented an…

> Video games? 40+ years old. As a gamer, I find this is incredibly dismissive. There's still tons of new ideas in games being explored. Factorio introduced the factory building genre in 2014, and we're still seeing new takes on it. Satisfactory made it first-person and beautiful. Dyson Sphere Program made it multi-planet and interstellar. Captain of Industry made destructible and moveable terrain. The colony sim gen…

I think OP was referring to major new verticals... Video game vertical is 40+ years old now. Sure still lots of innovation happening within the vertical, but anything that is going to change the trajectory of humanity?

Re: Ask HN: Which startups are thriving in the downturn?

#92

Post by th1s1sit »

Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #88
th1s1sit wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because what are we working on? Amazon is running out of people willing to work in its warehouses; gig work gets old fast. Low unemployment is unsustainable if it’s unfulfilling errand running. There’s little net new invention going on in entrenched big tech; Bezos and co are riding high on mathematical inference by accountants; it’s a math scam being forced upon people who can’t “see” how he’s not really invented an…

> Video games? 40+ years old. As a gamer, I find this is incredibly dismissive. There's still tons of new ideas in games being explored. Factorio introduced the factory building genre in 2014, and we're still seeing new takes on it. Satisfactory made it first-person and beautiful. Dyson Sphere Program made it multi-planet and interstellar. Captain of Industry made destructible and moveable terrain. The colony sim gen…

I have built engines for my own games and worked with the big engines; I’ve modded games going back to Doom.

I’ve built game loops and models; I know how games work.

The suggestions you cherry picked still do not come with any fundamentally new technology behind them as it’s still a machine of known constraints.

Rockets to nowhere is nostalgia for the Spaceship. Cherry picked games are nostalgia for playing Super Mario. It’s all a huge waste of real resources, the real deficit we’re leaving the future, since the fiat money one is a shared hallucination detached from that material reality.

Re: Ask HN: Which startups are thriving in the downturn?

#93

Post by conductr »

__MatrixMan__ wrote: post #71
felipellrocha wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you know the answer: > The recent interest rate hikes also didn't seem to have nearly as much impact on the markets as everyone feared they would. Markets aren’t rational

How can you be sure? Maybe they're just acting according to a rationality that humans don't understand.

Or humans aren’t rational so neither are markets

Re: Ask HN: Which startups are thriving in the downturn?

#94

Post by glorified-html »

dionidium wrote: post #85
Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't have to be strong-arming, but what about propaganda? High schoolers are still being told "If you don't want to make minimum wage for your whole life, you need a college degree!", yet a high schooler certainly can't pay the $15K+ per year to get a degree, so they take out student loans. And then, the same people who hounded them to get a degree then hound them when they beg for student loan forgiveness, tel…

> "If you don't want to make minimum wage for your whole life, you need a college degree!" I started college in 1999. The day my freshmen year started, jokes about English majors asking if you want fries with that were already 60 years old. This argument is revisionist bunk, in other words. Everybody knows there are some degrees that are more valuable than others, that some degrees lead to higher pay and that some do…

How many teenagers really understand the practical implications of what they're signing up for?

No one is saying teenagers lack agency, but there is definitely a problem when an outsized number are making decisions that are detrimental to their long-term future

Re: Ask HN: Which startups are thriving in the downturn?

#95

Post by conductr »

hartator wrote: post #54
estomagordo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely you're not saying that anyone who has the same riches today as compared to 3 years ago is, in fact, half as rich?

If you consider money should be rare right now not plentiful, I think it’s an accurate way to look at economics.

It does however take time for all the prices to go to 2x what they were. If we end up having 7 years of 10% inflation we will be there. Had this hypothetical person still just held onto their cash, they’ll be half as rich as they were in terms that matter (purchasing power). I for one would not be surprised at all if that’s what we’re in for.

Re: Ask HN: Which startups are thriving in the downturn?

#96

Post by dccoolgai »

ChadNauseam wrote: post #82
dccoolgai wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real "reason" for this "recession" is all those stupid articles about the "great resignation". I knew as soon as those appeared the billionaire ruling class would rather cut off their own arms than allow the notion of workers getting access to some of the wealth they create. Thus: "Panic! Recession! Work harder!"

Do you have any substantiation for that?

You mean other than the 200 years of history since the start of the industrial revolution?

Well, for starters there's the proven collusion between big tech CEOs in the very recent past to keep wages suppressed... I "suppose" it could be coincidence that the FAANG execs all came out at the same time and made a big Kabuki dance about "everyone work harder or we'll fire you"... But my money is on the square that they are colluding with each other again... Because they already proved they will do that.

Re: Ask HN: Which startups are thriving in the downturn?

#97

Post by MikeTheRocker »

j2bax wrote: post #91
Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Video games? 40+ years old. As a gamer, I find this is incredibly dismissive. There's still tons of new ideas in games being explored. Factorio introduced the factory building genre in 2014, and we're still seeing new takes on it. Satisfactory made it first-person and beautiful. Dyson Sphere Program made it multi-planet and interstellar. Captain of Industry made destructible and moveable terrain. The colony sim gen…

I think OP was referring to major new verticals... Video game vertical is 40+ years old now. Sure still lots of innovation happening within the vertical, but anything that is going to change the trajectory of humanity?

Virtual Reality is an increasingly popular vertical that's emerged in the mainstream in the last decade. Mobile gaming too.

Re: Ask HN: Which startups are thriving in the downturn?

#98

Post by tmaly »

NickM wrote: post #12

I find the whole "economic gloom" sentiment a bit odd. We're at extremely low unemployment, and GDP took a small dip in Q1/Q2 but is projected to start growing again in the second half of the year. The S&P 500 is down less than 10% from it's all-time high. Inflation was an issue for a while, but a lot of that seemed to be driven more by temporary supply constraints in certain sectors than any actual currency devaluat…

Inflation is still at 8.5% it is still an issue. Rates on 30 year conventional mortgages are extremely high compared to just a year ago.

Food and energy costs which are not considered in mainline inflation figures are still very high.

Re: Ask HN: Which startups are thriving in the downturn?

#99

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

j2bax wrote: post #91
Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Video games? 40+ years old. As a gamer, I find this is incredibly dismissive. There's still tons of new ideas in games being explored. Factorio introduced the factory building genre in 2014, and we're still seeing new takes on it. Satisfactory made it first-person and beautiful. Dyson Sphere Program made it multi-planet and interstellar. Captain of Industry made destructible and moveable terrain. The colony sim gen…

I think OP was referring to major new verticals... Video game vertical is 40+ years old now. Sure still lots of innovation happening within the vertical, but anything that is going to change the trajectory of humanity?

I think it's silly to expect every innovation to "change the trajectory of humanity".

Sometimes people just want entertainment and that's fine. Based on the OP's response to my comment, I wonder if they consider leisure time to be wasted time.

Re: Ask HN: Which startups are thriving in the downturn?

#100

Post by Red_Leaves_Flyy »

NickM wrote: post #12

I find the whole "economic gloom" sentiment a bit odd. We're at extremely low unemployment, and GDP took a small dip in Q1/Q2 but is projected to start growing again in the second half of the year. The S&P 500 is down less than 10% from it's all-time high. Inflation was an issue for a while, but a lot of that seemed to be driven more by temporary supply constraints in certain sectors than any actual currency devaluat…

Regular people are concerned about affording basic necessities. Supply chains are absolutely fucked. The company I work for is so effected that the folks in logistics are talking to ship captains and port managers, and we’re pretty well insulated from most of the inflation. My colleagues and I are hurt more by inflation than my company is. This inflation is wild though. Large companies are posting obscene profits while fighting labor on every front, raising prices massively (just got back the store and some items are up 300% from last month), and have taken full advantage of government subsidies. Consumers are well and truly tapped out, look at target posting a massive decline. Target’s performance is a bellwether of middle class conditions and its bleak. Walmart is also reporting a decline. Companies should have been preparing for this 6-12-36 months ago, the signs were there. Instead short-term-ism won out again in board rooms and talking heads look like a surprised pikachu trying to talk around the problems effecting consumers and the obvious solutions. People need affordable: food, housing, transportation, and healthcare. The rampant and excessive profiteering in these industries has dug a huge hole that is going to be exceptionally painful to dig out of because so many people have had their lives wasted on truly frivolous endeavors. I expect the beatings to continue until morale approves or the proletariat finds their voice. All these people you hear fear mongering are the soundtrack to the game of musical chairs playing in the economy.
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