After the end of the startup era • Hacker News Board

Re: After the end of the startup era

#171

Post by pault » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:58 PM UTC

gpsx wrote: post #116

There definitely is a change in Silicon Valley from before. I don't think it is a lack of things to be created by any means. The difference I see is that before the thing to do was create startup. Now everyone wants to go work for Google, Apple, Facebook or another large company. And why not, you can get a huge salary there without the risk and hard work of a startup. With so many more of the smart people are going t…

The weirdos and hackers are still doing the same stuff they've always done. What you are seeing is the influx of people who would have gone into law or finance identifying tech as having the biggest payoff for the least amount of effort. The Silicon Valley of before was a small fraction of its current size.

Re: After the end of the startup era

#172

Post by Animats » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:58 PM UTC

komali2 wrote: post #48

>IoT devices [are] hard to prototype, generally low-margin, expensive to bring to market, and very expensive to scale. Just ask Fitbit. Or Jawbone. Or Juicero. Or HTC. I feel like this is the public's idea of "iot," while I've learned after a year of working for an iot stack provider that the real "internet of things" explosion is found in places nobody looks except the procurement guys - the stadium lights, the refr…

That's called "machine to machine communication", or "M2M", by the companies who do that. Much of it is still over pager networks. There are hundreds of thousands of industrial HVAC systems, quietly sending "Inside temp 72, outside temp 87, compressor 1 on/OK/2421 operating hours, compressor 2 off/OK/3423 operating hours, coolant pressure OK, water level in chiller OK, city water pressure OK..." back to a maintenance service.

Re: After the end of the startup era

#173

Post by samstave » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:59 PM UTC

tertius wrote: post #166

samstave wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Easy" means that you have been educated to a state that makes you aware of such... That's the problem. We need to educate on a basic standard pantry that allows healthy to be so easy that it doesn't even cross our minds.

Educate? The only thing between me and a home cooked meal is fast food. Cooking is not inaccessible. If the only problem is nutrition education then that is not a rich person privilege. A large majority of the public cannot afford Whole foods but are educated enough to understand that home cooked meals from non-processed ingredients are healthier than their counterparts. If education is all it took we'd all be rich w…

See, your logic is sound, and the math isn't working out recently though.

I learned to cook from my depression era grandmother. Home cooking is healthy, but not always cheap.

My grandmother used to tell me "this meal is $1.37 per serving"

As we made things, I learned to cook in le curset pots from a woman who used to travel the world with Martin yan and Julia child... (we were state department family and had a lot of opportunity)

But my main point remains: the "educate" is pArt-and-parcel to the whole greater idea of a home cooked meal: "family time"

"Fast food is the bane of existence as we have basically brought generations to not value what home cooking means... then we exploit them in the cheap labor force and perpetuate the idea that having a "home cooked meal" means that "the way mom used to cook it" is an actual phrase and it means the disruption of the basis of modern society, the family...

This issue can spiral and spiral, but my point is that rather than basic income, we need basic pantry - the basis of understanding, having access to, and the knowledge to cook a good meal without breaking the home (due to how hard people need to work at jobs for their ability to provide food on the table)

Re: After the end of the startup era

#174

Post by mindhunters » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 6:59 PM UTC

rdtsc wrote: post #42

I look at it from another end - I feel there is a sort of an app fatigue. Maybe it is jut me. I used to be excited about Uber-like things, note taking apps, DropBox, coupon sites, review sites. Installed some of them, used them, then kind of stopped. Someone at work would say "you should try this new thing, totally cool" and I'd be inclined to do it, but now would pass it probably. Extrapolating scientifically from t…

There is a problem with apps, but we should look at it from another angle. We all know that in the app store and play market popular apps become more popular over time and it is difficult for smaller companies to promote their products even if their solution is better.

App market is now a market of couple dozens of apps that make up the most amount of revenue. For small developers, there is a too little chance to be seen at all.

Actually, the whole article makes sense. Nowadays, we all see that it's difficult for small startups to promote themselves. The privilege on major platforms is given to those who pay more(ex: Google). Even if one company gains enough traction and begins to become successful, another larger corporation buys it (in best case) or makes everything to not let small competitor get larger market share. That'a a very big problem that if not solved will result in a slower progress rate.

Re: After the end of the startup era

#175

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 7:03 PM UTC

jackcosgrove wrote: post #165

Startups have also seemed to have morphed from ventures started by founders, to vehicles for investors to make long plays for monopoly control of a market, like Uber and Netflix. I am not sure of the laws regarding dumping and artificially low prices, but when startups operate at a loss for years and gobble up the entire market, that looks like what they're doing.

[deleted]

Re: After the end of the startup era

#176

Post by mindhunters » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 7:04 PM UTC

callalex wrote: post #66

rdtsc wrote: post #42

I look at it from another end - I feel there is a sort of an app fatigue. Maybe it is jut me. I used to be excited about Uber-like things, note taking apps, DropBox, coupon sites, review sites. Installed some of them, used them, then kind of stopped. Someone at work would say "you should try this new thing, totally cool" and I'd be inclined to do it, but now would pass it probably. Extrapolating scientifically from t…

Apps have also gotten much worse than in their heyday. They are all built in whatever the latest cross platform iframe-with-makeup framework which always feels clunky, and they all have to start out as free to get their foot in the door and then make it their life’s purpose to annoy you repeatedly until you cave and give them $.99 every month. The hardware space is now much more diverse so a developer doesn’t have th…

It's not about apps being worse, but about good apps are difficult to discover. Now, the conditions are that if you have larger budget, you are considered better for major platforms. That's the real problem.

Re: After the end of the startup era

#177

Post by pault » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 7:07 PM UTC

city41 wrote: post #73

chrisco255 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

VR/AR fits that bill. It's just that no one has nailed the form factor and hardware yet so that it can reach mass adoption.

Or is it a chicken and egg problem? VR interests me, but I don't feel there is a killer app yet to make the plunge worth it.

Disregarding the new applications enabled by the medium, think of it as simply a new display form factor. Once the quality exceeds the best flat screens we can produce, having one unobtrusively attached to your eyes at all times becomes a no-brainer (from a cost-benefit perspective; obviously there are lifestyle-altering implications that each individual will have to embrace or reject on their own terms).

Re: After the end of the startup era

#178

Post by noddy1 » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 7:09 PM UTC

The cryptocurrency space has brought multiple unicorns - they just mostly don't come from silicon valley and don't follow the typical VC funding model.

Bitcoin Ethereum Ripple Bitcoincash Litecoin Dash NEM NEO Monero Iota

Re: After the end of the startup era

#179

Post by dba7dba » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 7:09 PM UTC

We don't need more humongous private firms like Google/Facebook/Apple. If they were to be replaced by other firms, they will only be even bigger and more powerful. Pretty sure most would say no to that.

What we need is more tech savvy populace that know how to put up their own website (facebook replacement) and apps to share photos (instagram) with family and friends.

Re: After the end of the startup era

#180

Post by samstave » Sun, Oct 22, 2017, 7:12 PM UTC

beachy wrote: post #138

samstave wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm astounded at what a bullshit business it is.