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Just fucking figure it out

scriptmag.com

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Re: Just fucking figure it out

#11

Post by daniel-cussen »

I've always sort of admired people in the entertainment industry for their ambition and determination. Someone who is taking time off studying CS at Stanford and trying to make a company work is not taking a risk of remotely the same magnitude as someone dropping out of highschool, getting a GED, and working in the music industry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesha#Childhood_and_youth).

If you're a programmer, you have so much to bank on (the CS knowledge/degree) and even if you fail people will be pretty understanding. Try getting a good job in any industry with music skills and a GED.

At the end of the day, a technical stopout founder is taking a smaller risk (really, losing the college experience) for a bigger potential reward (billions) and attractive intermediate rewards (talent acquisition). And frankly, the odds of making it big as a programmer (industry celebrity-big) are not very different from the odds of making it big as a musician (standard celebrity-big).

Re: Just fucking figure it out

#12

Post by frederickcook »

Tichy wrote: post #4

So if somebody comes up with the greatest script on earth, but doesn't work 17 hours a day as a slave for some TV producer, his script will never be made?

The amount of time and effort put into something is inversely proportional to how likely it is to fail.

This isn't just because of the actual time and effort, but because as others observe this time and effort, they take the thing more seriously. For a startup, this is important because it not only means they're more likely to take it seriously, but that others are more likely to contribute their own time and effort.

Re: Just fucking figure it out

#13

Post by jrockway »

Tichy wrote: post #4

So if somebody comes up with the greatest script on earth, but doesn't work 17 hours a day as a slave for some TV producer, his script will never be made?

It will probably be made.

I am not sure how true this article is; I know people in college that majored in English or Journalism and got a TV writing job straight out of school. You probably aren't working on your own show at that point, but you aren't spending 18 hour days getting coffee for people either.

Re: Just fucking figure it out

#14

Post by apl »

Tichy wrote: post #4

So if somebody comes up with the greatest script on earth, but doesn't work 17 hours a day as a slave for some TV producer, his script will never be made?

Correct, correct, correct.

Television (and music and film, for that matter) are hardly a meritocracy. What ends up on screens and CDs isn't determined by quality, at least not primarily. There are fantastic scripts out there, masterpieces that will never get made. Crap gets turned into two-hundred million dollar blockbusters.

[EDIT: This gets voted down why exactly?]

Re: Just fucking figure it out

#15

Post by Tichy »

rick888 wrote: post #9
Tichy wrote: post #4

So if somebody comes up with the greatest script on earth, but doesn't work 17 hours a day as a slave for some TV producer, his script will never be made?

similarly. if you create the best web app on earth, but don't spend any time marketing it and nobody sees it, chances are it will fail.

And marketing is making coffee for Michael Arrington?

Re: Just fucking figure it out

#16

Post by bialecki »

Tichy wrote: post #4

So if somebody comes up with the greatest script on earth, but doesn't work 17 hours a day as a slave for some TV producer, his script will never be made?

Maybe, maybe not. The point is you make your own luck. Work hard == more chances to get lucky.

Re: Just fucking figure it out

#18

Post by apl »

Tichy wrote: post #15
rick888 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

similarly. if you create the best web app on earth, but don't spend any time marketing it and nobody sees it, chances are it will fail.

And marketing is making coffee for Michael Arrington?

Wrong analogy. If you build a web app, you need paying customers. If you write a script, you need to get a producer to read it, like it and finance it. Different aims require different kinds of marketing - for writers it's networking on the producer-level.

Re: Just fucking figure it out

#19

Post by [deleted] »

daniel-cussen wrote: post #11

I've always sort of admired people in the entertainment industry for their ambition and determination. Someone who is taking time off studying CS at Stanford and trying to make a company work is not taking a risk of remotely the same magnitude as someone dropping out of highschool, getting a GED, and working in the music industry ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesha#Childhood_and_youth ). If you're a programmer, you…

[deleted]

Re: Just fucking figure it out

#20

Post by zaidf »

[deleted] wrote: post #19
daniel-cussen wrote: post #11

I've always sort of admired people in the entertainment industry for their ambition and determination. Someone who is taking time off studying CS at Stanford and trying to make a company work is not taking a risk of remotely the same magnitude as someone dropping out of highschool, getting a GED, and working in the music industry ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesha#Childhood_and_youth ). If you're a programmer, you…

[deleted]

It would have been more admirable if her mother could walk on one leg.
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