After the end of the startup era • Hacker News Board

Re: After the end of the startup era

#131

Post by samstave » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:10 PM UTC

rpmcmurphy wrote: post #40

The world does not need more Mark Zuckerbergs, it needs millions of small and mid-size businesses working on the build out of low carbon energy sources. Converting the world electricity supply to run off renewable sources will require tens of trillions of dollars of investment over a period of decades. It's not a small opportunity, but unlike the app economy, it's not a winner take all market. This is mostly a good t…

What absolutely astounds me is how Facebook literally has failed to offer anything of substance to empower people from their massive user base.

For example, it should be "three clicks and you're in" to found a virtual company and state "this is the problem we are going to solve, who's with me" - and another person from across the globe should be able to say "heck yeah let's do this" and then Facebook would say "that sounds great we will host your site/app/whatever and when you show traction on that problem you will hit level 1 funding of "X" and so on and so on..."

Facebook has the daily attention of over a billion people they claim, yet they literally just steal their energy and provide no building power.

Start a fucking economy and empower people unlucky enough to be born in a far reaching place such as the Congo but smart enough to know how to solve various problems affecting many.

Facebook is not making the world a better place until they do something like this.

Re: After the end of the startup era

#132

Post by dyarosla » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:10 PM UTC

api wrote: post #122

dyarosla wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot the biggest smartphone market: 7. Games

I guess I don't game much, but yes that can be added too. Still there is a huge gap between phone games and PC and console games.

There definitely is a gap but not in the way I think you meant; in case you were not aware, mobile games are now the biggest market segment of video games period (console, PC included)

Re: After the end of the startup era

#133

Post by asadlionpk » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:12 PM UTC

andreasgonewild wrote: post #67

bobsil1 wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it's a kind of transfer learning. >will never compete with huge stacks of data Children learn with sparse data based on composable models, and are bio machines.

This boils down to a fundamental divide in life view. Anyone who has done any amount of expanding their consciousness will tell you that there is a ghost in the machine. It's always a mistake to assume that all you can see is all there is to see.

I do some AI work and recently have been thinking on this, can you expand on this. Or point me to the right direction regarding this idea.

Re: After the end of the startup era

#134

Post by justonepost » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:12 PM UTC

api wrote: post #122

dyarosla wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot the biggest smartphone market: 7. Games

I guess I don't game much, but yes that can be added too. Still there is a huge gap between phone games and PC and console games.

Considering you missed the #1 market, maybe your research techniques might be lacking?

Re: After the end of the startup era

#135

Post by beachy » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:12 PM UTC

sosborn wrote: post #127

thinkloop wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer figuring out how to incorporate the externalities instead of banning/quitting things. Meat at twice the price would probably solve the problem.

> Meat at twice the price would probably solve the problem. While true, it basically sends the message of "If you have enough money you are free to do what you please to the detriment of the planet."

Although it sounds outrageous when you say it like that, its pragmatic, and fits us as a species.

I'd like petrol to be 3 or 4 times the cost it is now. That would greatly reduce emissions, but fossil fuels could still be used in situations where there was no alternative (long distance flight, huge earthmoving machines?).

Inevitably, rich jerks would continue to ride their jetskis. So what?

You can't legislate people to have the right attitude. But taxing things does drive bulk behaviour.

Re: After the end of the startup era

#136

Post by mindhunters » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:13 PM UTC

neya wrote: post #95

Ironically, you have a giant media house (AOL), one of whose important revenue streams is selling hopes of the startup world ("Startups, start here". [1]) through their Disrupt conferences, writing something like this. My personal opinion - as long as there is a market demand and as long as you're a business fulfilling that demand, startup or not, whether the tech is accessible or not, it's all that matters. [1] http…

Of course market demand and other factors matter but the point of this article is that large tech companies are now a barrier on the way of small startups to their success. We all see that now, most startups fail and even if some of them gain some traction, they are being bought by big guys. And one of the main causes of that is the outdated nature of large corporations. Nowadays, one of the main platforms to promote your company is Google. However, google advertising is good for those who pay more. Thus, companies with more cash have a privilege over smaller companies even if the second ones do their job better. And that's only one example with one large corporation. To conclude, big guys, which were praised by the whole tech community all the time are now a barrier on our road to progress.

Re: After the end of the startup era

#137

Post by justonepost » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:14 PM UTC

bobsil1 wrote: post #14

Clickbait. ML won’t require mass amounts of data forever. One-shot learning will get solved.

Yeah, AlphaGo Zero is the tip of the iceberg.

Re: After the end of the startup era

#138

Post by beachy » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:15 PM UTC

samstave wrote: post #131

rpmcmurphy wrote: post #40

The world does not need more Mark Zuckerbergs, it needs millions of small and mid-size businesses working on the build out of low carbon energy sources. Converting the world electricity supply to run off renewable sources will require tens of trillions of dollars of investment over a period of decades. It's not a small opportunity, but unlike the app economy, it's not a winner take all market. This is mostly a good t…

What absolutely astounds me is how Facebook literally has failed to offer anything of substance to empower people from their massive user base. For example, it should be "three clicks and you're in" to found a virtual company and state "this is the problem we are going to solve, who's with me" - and another person from across the globe should be able to say "heck yeah let's do this" and then Facebook would say "that…

I don't know why it astounds you. Facebook is a business. I doubt they spend much time in the board meetings pondering what they are doing for the planet. Instead I'd guess its all about mobile clickthrough rates and ROI on recent acquisitions.

Re: After the end of the startup era

#139

Post by samstave » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:18 PM UTC

sosborn wrote: post #127

thinkloop wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer figuring out how to incorporate the externalities instead of banning/quitting things. Meat at twice the price would probably solve the problem.

> Meat at twice the price would probably solve the problem. While true, it basically sends the message of "If you have enough money you are free to do what you please to the detriment of the planet."

Uh, that's the exact business model of Whole Foods, now amazon.

Basically "only the rich shall eat healthy"

And to be totally honest, I want to tackle this issue through a startup called "standard pantry" which is the idea that one should have access to a standard pantry of goods and recipes (in place of a standard min income) and they should be able to sustain only and healthily feed themselves.

Re: After the end of the startup era

#140

Post by notaboutdave » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:18 PM UTC

I get what he's saying. The internet used to be peaceful grassy plains. Now it is loud bustling New York with bigger fish that are out to get you. This doesn't mean you can't disrupt everything, but now you have to outrun this new establishment that reinvests all its money into eating you more efficiently. Companies like Facebook already have giant audiences, and copying your product can be done virtually overnight.