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Name It, and They Will Come

overreacted.io

71–80 of 116 posts

Re: Name It, and They Will Come

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The internet has always had more noise than signal. HN used to have an incredibly good noise reduction mechanism, mostly thanks to self-policing in the community and the occasional intervention of the moderators. Thanks to this mechanism, most of the time, the top comments were really interesting ones. The noise usually ended towards the bottom of the page. I'm pretty sure that the expectation that this would happen…

There once was a model railway enthusiast. He loved trains and knew just about everything about them. He had a wonderful collection of model trains. One day he met someone with the same love of model railways. Together they built complex simulations and had their trains running together. They wrote software that could schedule the trains, etc, etc. A few more people noticed and while most people said, "Wow. These guy…

A similar discussion: https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths

Re: Name It, and They Will Come

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The internet has always had more noise than signal. HN used to have an incredibly good noise reduction mechanism, mostly thanks to self-policing in the community and the occasional intervention of the moderators. Thanks to this mechanism, most of the time, the top comments were really interesting ones. The noise usually ended towards the bottom of the page. I'm pretty sure that the expectation that this would happen…

There once was a model railway enthusiast. He loved trains and knew just about everything about them. He had a wonderful collection of model trains. One day he met someone with the same love of model railways. Together they built complex simulations and had their trains running together. They wrote software that could schedule the trains, etc, etc. A few more people noticed and while most people said, "Wow. These guy…

I love this story. This applies to most hobbies, I'm seeing it happen. Thank you.

Re: Name It, and They Will Come

#73
If you toggle the dark/bright mode enough time, your eyes will hurt. You will come to the conclusion that only the dark mode is enjoyable and readable.

Sorry, if it's true.

Re: Name It, and They Will Come

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There once was a model railway enthusiast. He loved trains and knew just about everything about them. He had a wonderful collection of model trains. One day he met someone with the same love of model railways. Together they built complex simulations and had their trains running together. They wrote software that could schedule the trains, etc, etc. A few more people noticed and while most people said, "Wow. These guy…

Thank you for presenting such a vivid example. Something that appeals to a minority, will, by definition, stop appealing to them when it morphs into a form that appeals to the majority. I have seen this happen even with TV series. Is there a name for this phenomenon? I do agree with the article where it says "we can’t discuss what we never named"

[deleted]

Re: Name It, and They Will Come

#76
This made sense until the last line. If the conclusion was "focus on telling your story well so that people understand the point of your work," I would understand that. But he concludes with "name it, and they will come." So... he's saying that your product needs a good name? I don't get it.

Re: Name It, and They Will Come

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The internet has always had more noise than signal. HN used to have an incredibly good noise reduction mechanism, mostly thanks to self-policing in the community and the occasional intervention of the moderators. Thanks to this mechanism, most of the time, the top comments were really interesting ones. The noise usually ended towards the bottom of the page. I'm pretty sure that the expectation that this would happen…

There once was a model railway enthusiast. He loved trains and knew just about everything about them. He had a wonderful collection of model trains. One day he met someone with the same love of model railways. Together they built complex simulations and had their trains running together. They wrote software that could schedule the trains, etc, etc. A few more people noticed and while most people said, "Wow. These guy…

That's what stackoverflow is now.

Re: Name It, and They Will Come

#80
Well if the thing you're trying to create is really new (let alone zero to one), then it'll probably be difficult to explain concisely without ending up with several sentences full of "trivial" details.

I think Dan's example about irrelevant comments and the reasons behind it are clear, but the ending about naming and telling a story does not provide a good enough solution.

Not sure if his intention was to offer any solutions at all but I wonder if anyone anyone has found some great techniques that guides launching "completely new" ideas to market. (if you do please let me know)

When I look at the first ride-hailing companies or other zero to one companies it seems like they started out by:

1. Coining a definition. 2. Telling a story. 3. Ignoring irrelevant feedback. 4. A wide spread of calculated trial and error marketing, eventually one will do the magic.

Is there a better way?

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