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How to Avoid Distractions and Start the Right Company

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Re: How to Avoid Distractions and Start the Right Company

#41

Post by simonebrunozzi »

fermienrico wrote: post #13

I honestly do not gain anything from articles like this. They are so abstract that when it comes down to an actual actionable information - it doesn't apply anymore. It is sort of like reading one of those fluffy "How to become a millionaire" advice books. Nothing of substance comes out of it and they do not work for me. I recently watched Sam Altman's MIT lecture [1] on Youtube about startup advice for hard tech com…

I agree, I don't find much value in these things. I suspect that for a certain audience, however, there is a lot of value (perhaps for people that have rarely been exposed to such concepts).

Our of curiosity: is your real name Enrico Fermi, or are you simply a fan (that would be my guess) and decided to use it as your HN username?

Re: How to Avoid Distractions and Start the Right Company

#42

Post by fermienrico »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #41
fermienrico wrote: post #13

I honestly do not gain anything from articles like this. They are so abstract that when it comes down to an actual actionable information - it doesn't apply anymore. It is sort of like reading one of those fluffy "How to become a millionaire" advice books. Nothing of substance comes out of it and they do not work for me. I recently watched Sam Altman's MIT lecture [1] on Youtube about startup advice for hard tech com…

I agree, I don't find much value in these things. I suspect that for a certain audience, however, there is a lot of value (perhaps for people that have rarely been exposed to such concepts). Our of curiosity: is your real name Enrico Fermi, or are you simply a fan (that would be my guess) and decided to use it as your HN username?

I stay anonymous on HN. Not because I want to hide my personal views, but to ensure I can communicate freely without obstruction and personal liability.

Re: How to Avoid Distractions and Start the Right Company

#43

Post by urda »

dang wrote: post #37
urda wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The more and more I read on Altman, the more and more it feels like fluff and snake oil. Stanford dropout, a major failed startup, pretty much kinda "failed" into the position he is in today. He doesn't add value at all. Edit: This was flagged as "a personal attack" apparently.

That crosses into personal attack, and you can't post like that here. I work with Sam, so normally would intervene less in such a case—but you can't post like that here about anybody. Some rules need enforcing across the board and this is one of the main ones, so please don't do it again. Edit: it looks like we've warned you repeatedly about making personal attacks in the past. That is the sort of thing we ban accoun…

How exactly is this a personal attack? It's my observation plus publicly known information. No name calling or any harm mentioned toward him. I believe this content, and others, is empty, fluff, and of little actual value.

We're allowed to disagree with Altman, even on HN.

Re: How to Avoid Distractions and Start the Right Company

#44

Post by wtvanhest »

pen2l wrote: post #26
kolbe wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know it's not his fault per se, but YC has had a horrible track record since he joined, too.

Do you think it would have been any different if pg was in charge? I don't. I think it's rather that the 'low hanging fruit' are all gone. The whole mood has changed. It's become harder. Notice for example that YC places a lot of importance on growth when evaluating applicants, I think in early stages you could've had practically zero users of your product and they would have considered you -- now, not so much. Secon…

They are just part of the signaling echo chamber now. No gutsy calls. When I started reading HN in 2010, it was all information about early stage tech. PG was saying that founders can lead companies all the way and that founders should have the power.

Now they do... YC is just an average investor now with more scale. The next gutsy call or intuition is simply not there with the current team.

HN is a news site and I enjoy it for that, but the community has been moved to a private network and the current YC team is more focused on looking good than doing anything innovative.

Re: How to Avoid Distractions and Start the Right Company

#45

Post by qume »

liquid153 wrote: post #22
fermienrico wrote: post #13

I honestly do not gain anything from articles like this. They are so abstract that when it comes down to an actual actionable information - it doesn't apply anymore. It is sort of like reading one of those fluffy "How to become a millionaire" advice books. Nothing of substance comes out of it and they do not work for me. I recently watched Sam Altman's MIT lecture [1] on Youtube about startup advice for hard tech com…

All his stuff are fluff pieces, it's like listening to a pitch coach. I have no idea why people see him as an authoritative figure in this space, when all he had was 1 failed start up.

Because he has had a privileged view of more modern style tech startups than almost anyone else writing about the subject.

Re: How to Avoid Distractions and Start the Right Company

#46

Post by jonbarker »

liquid153 wrote: post #22
fermienrico wrote: post #13

I honestly do not gain anything from articles like this. They are so abstract that when it comes down to an actual actionable information - it doesn't apply anymore. It is sort of like reading one of those fluffy "How to become a millionaire" advice books. Nothing of substance comes out of it and they do not work for me. I recently watched Sam Altman's MIT lecture [1] on Youtube about startup advice for hard tech com…

All his stuff are fluff pieces, it's like listening to a pitch coach. I have no idea why people see him as an authoritative figure in this space, when all he had was 1 failed start up.

I like that he is willing to offer generalized advice, even though that is his job. He has one failure, that's one more failure than most of the people listening to his advice, and counts as experience.

Re: How to Avoid Distractions and Start the Right Company

#47

Post by jaredklewis »

A lot of sama hate in this thread for some reason, but the criticisms just come off as petty.

It's a less than 1000 word article giving a 30,000 ft ariel overview of making a startup. Not sure what people expected. If you have 10 years experience in graphic design, you are probably not going to find much of interest in a 1000 word article titled "Getting started in graphic design." Deal with it.

And everyone seems very glib to point out that his startup "failed," but I am not sure how that is relevant here. He's the president of Y Combinator and last time I checked they are doing fine. In art and science, some of the most accomplished figures are lousy teachers and vice versa. Any reason why this would be different in business?

Re: How to Avoid Distractions and Start the Right Company

#48

Post by modi15 »

tlb wrote: post #28
modi15 wrote: post #14

Broadly disagree with ALL the points, except for the first one. IMO this happens with a LOT of standard advice regarding startups. The problem is that there are as many ways to do a startup as there are founders and its too tempting for VC's to infer 'wisdom' from their immediate samples. I suspect that this happens because as an observer its extremely hard to distinguish causation from correlation. Also, it seems th…

From an investor point of view, correlation can be good enough. If startups with property X are measurably more likely to succeed, it doesn't matter whether X causes success or if X is caused by some other property Y of the startup that causes success but isn't easy to determine in an interview. In your example, X = "has multiple founders", Y = "first founder is not impossible to work with". Clearly Y causes success,…

The concern is that Sam is offering this advice for founders not investors - and many would lap it up given the authority he has and make suboptimal decisions about their startup.

I think YC is probably HEAVILY influenced by appearance. Wrestle with the data little bit, check all the right boxes, prep that video, get some intros and your YC MBA is set.

Customers largely couldnt care less about one-man shows and even if in any specific case they do, it is very easy to 'look' like a company on the internet or in real life.

Amazon has always been a one-man show - but maybe thats why they never made money.

Re: How to Avoid Distractions and Start the Right Company

#49

Post by smcquade »

wtvanhest wrote: post #44
pen2l wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think it would have been any different if pg was in charge? I don't. I think it's rather that the 'low hanging fruit' are all gone. The whole mood has changed. It's become harder. Notice for example that YC places a lot of importance on growth when evaluating applicants, I think in early stages you could've had practically zero users of your product and they would have considered you -- now, not so much. Secon…

They are just part of the signaling echo chamber now. No gutsy calls. When I started reading HN in 2010, it was all information about early stage tech. PG was saying that founders can lead companies all the way and that founders should have the power. Now they do... YC is just an average investor now with more scale. The next gutsy call or intuition is simply not there with the current team. HN is a news site and I e…

What is the name of the private network?

Re: How to Avoid Distractions and Start the Right Company

#50

Post by mattthebaker »

tlb wrote: post #35
lalos wrote: post #8

I always feel bad when I see startups come from a rich guy chasing fame or increasing the family wealth, they have a great and vital tool (money) but not a problem to solve nor an edge in the industry they are attacking. Kind of ironic, but hey throwing money to random ideas at least generates jobs and moves the economy.

Throwing money at unworkable ideas makes the world worse, because it employs people that could be working on good ideas instead. For example, Theranos was a tragedy not because investors lost money (it's part of the deal) but because hundreds of smart scientists and engineers spent years working on something that went nowhere. All that talent directed elsewhere could have built something great.

The 'unworkable ideas' can typically only be determined in hindsight. Pushing the cutting edge will always result in some paths that lead to nowhere.

Theranos was a good idea, the tragedy was rampant fraud.

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