Live data from Hacker News

Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

contrast.app

61–70 of 196 posts

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#61

There's a distinction to be made: - If your business doesn't rely on new technology, then avoid bleeding edge tech (examples: you retail co-working space, rent apartments, do food/grocery delivery, etc.) - If your business model does rely on new technology (examples: airlines in the early 20th century, railroads in the early days of the steam engine, e-commerce in the early 2000s) then you have to work out a way to d…

There are these geniuses that can do something they never did before and create something truly amazing. But realistically even they don't manage to deliver on that the majority of the time.

Even the steam engine people had to rely on known standard parts like screws and bolts and known planing or manufacturing procedures that they didn't invent. Only because they knew which forces a bolt would withstand and learned from (at times catastrophic) failure they were able to even have a bleeding edge.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#62

Had a $4 mouse from the dollar store. Watched some youtube videos, and decided to splurge and bought the latest and greatest bleeding-edge Mx master 3, at $129 and 3225% more expensive. Despite all the great reviews and hype. I'm kind of hating it. Damn thing is so heavy. It feels like I'm moving a brick around. Was going to return it, but now I'm saving it for a protest.

The weight is something I love about MX Masters.

I love the weight too. However, the battery life sucked -- last time I had one, kept dying after a week needing a recharge. I then bought a Logitech Marathon mouse and I'm already going 2+ years wireless on a single set of AA batteries. That makes me happy. I like products I don't have to think about charging all the time.

I wish they covered the mice in solar panels like the solar-powered wireless keyboard, or harvested kinetic energy though -- that keyboard is another great Logitech hit if your workspace is near a window -- you never have to charge it.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#63
I don't think that is really true. Most start-ups fail, whether they build a bleeding edge product or try to compete on an existing market with smaller enhancements. After they fail if it's easy to pick the reason.

Very few start-ups succeed whatever they do. Skype was pretty bleeding edge at the time, the internet speeds wheren't really there at the time. Spotify or Tesla didn't enter a market with real competitors. Before they succeed, it's difficult to say whether they took the correct risk.

Someone has to be the first, chances are just not very good it will be your company.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#64
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The weight is something I love about MX Masters.

I love the weight too. However, the battery life sucked -- last time I had one, kept dying after a week needing a recharge. I then bought a Logitech Marathon mouse and I'm already going 2+ years wireless on a single set of AA batteries. That makes me happy. I like products I don't have to think about charging all the time. I wish they covered the mice in solar panels like the solar-powered wireless keyboard, or harve…

If you didn't buy that used, you probably should've complained to logitech. My master 2 runs ~1 month on a single charge, and when I see the third light blinking I usually just plug it into my laptop overnight. I've not had to deal with a dead battery in this mouse, ever.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#65
post #41

Had a $4 mouse from the dollar store. Watched some youtube videos, and decided to splurge and bought the latest and greatest bleeding-edge Mx master 3, at $129 and 3225% more expensive. Despite all the great reviews and hype. I'm kind of hating it. Damn thing is so heavy. It feels like I'm moving a brick around. Was going to return it, but now I'm saving it for a protest.

I love my Mx master

It is a great fucking mouse, but it's not for everybody.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#66

There's a distinction to be made: - If your business doesn't rely on new technology, then avoid bleeding edge tech (examples: you retail co-working space, rent apartments, do food/grocery delivery, etc.) - If your business model does rely on new technology (examples: airlines in the early 20th century, railroads in the early days of the steam engine, e-commerce in the early 2000s) then you have to work out a way to d…

> If your business model does rely on new technology (examples: airlines in the early 20th century, railroads in the early days of the steam engine, e-commerce in the early 2000s) then you have to work out a way to deliver on bleeding-edge technology.

Also, if your business model does rely on new bleeding edge tech, avoid all other bleeding edge tech. Pick one thing that nobody else can do, and do that. Don't try and create everything at once unless you have ridiculously deep pockets.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#67

Had a $4 mouse from the dollar store. Watched some youtube videos, and decided to splurge and bought the latest and greatest bleeding-edge Mx master 3, at $129 and 3225% more expensive. Despite all the great reviews and hype. I'm kind of hating it. Damn thing is so heavy. It feels like I'm moving a brick around. Was going to return it, but now I'm saving it for a protest.

Best mouse I've found is the Logitech G Pro, it annoys me that it's full of stupid RGB lights, but it has the precision and speed of a good gaming mouse without being too ridiculous in design or cost ~$60

I use a Logitech G502 and it's great. This is the second one I've had (spilled drink on the first one, RIP) and I'll buy the same again when this one dies if they're still around.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#68
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the weight too. However, the battery life sucked -- last time I had one, kept dying after a week needing a recharge. I then bought a Logitech Marathon mouse and I'm already going 2+ years wireless on a single set of AA batteries. That makes me happy. I like products I don't have to think about charging all the time. I wish they covered the mice in solar panels like the solar-powered wireless keyboard, or harve…

If you didn't buy that used, you probably should've complained to logitech. My master 2 runs ~1 month on a single charge, and when I see the third light blinking I usually just plug it into my laptop overnight. I've not had to deal with a dead battery in this mouse, ever.

Yeah it was new. Weird. Did you have to install any drivers to get it to power save efficiently? Because I run Linux and don't have any Logitech proprietary drivers installed.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#69

Seems to be this article is about when your product is bleeding-edge tech, but people are commenting as if it were about building your product using bleeding-edge tech (in-house or otherwise). Definitely only do one of these at a time, tho :)

Yeah, it's kind of like the classic "break one law at a time" rule. If you're hauling drugs, don't speed. Getting away with just the one thing is hard enough. I think Discord is one good example of this sort of trade-off. Single, pretty standard type of app that improves on its predecessors, with some bleeding-edge engineering: https://blog.discord.com/why-discord-is-switching-from-go-to... >Discord has never been af…

> Yeah, it's kind of like the classic "break one law at a time" rule. If you're hauling drugs, don't speed. Getting away with just the one thing is hard enough.

I wonder if not speeding is enough to give police officers a reason to make a drugs search in some places.

Re: Bleeding-edge tech will kill your startup

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like a huge jump! Now I'm curious what kind of solutions where PIC is viable isn't an overkill on Arm? (Or are there really tiny Arms?)

Low end cortex-m cores are pretty cheap these days. More modern designs and processes use silicon more efficiently, so you get more capability for the same raw material cost. Also, you can do a surprising amount with an 8-bit MCU. Lots of very capable 3D printers still run on AVR based controllers. Often times, you're limited by peripherals or memory size more than raw CPU speed. As a baseline, it's relatively easy t…

Why wouldn't you use the more powerful chip if it's readily available, cheap, and efficient?

Much better to update the hardware when you have a chance than to stick with an obsolete part until the rug is pulled from under you and it's EOL'd.

Post reply on HN