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I have never read a business plan or balance sheet

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Re: I have never read a business plan or balance sheet

#201

Post by jasfi »

abnercoimbre wrote: post #185
majani wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And assertive. No ifs, buts or maybes

Slight tangent: I wish there were legitimate threats to kill social media as it stands today. Any threat to the current business model, from anywhere.

A lot of what goes on with social media is a reflection of society, in my opinion. Can a new approach fix that?

The only thing I can think of is targeting different users by various segments (which isn't new). E.g. HN is mostly for people that like tech and the startup scene.

Re: I have never read a business plan or balance sheet

#202

Post by thawaya3113 »

I don’t understand why it is now, a couple of years when a bunch of billionaires have basically become 5-10x richer, while the rest of the people in the world are suffering because of understandable economic restrictions, are these rich billionaires going out of their way to show that they really never deserved that money.

They had no special insight. They had no special genius. In fact, we built an economic system that ensured wealth ended up with 1-2% of the population, and they happened to be the ones who lucked their way into the 1-2%.

Like, I’m struggling to understand why so many of these folks are going out their way to show that this is the case.

Is it a power play. Like laughing at everyone else? Hahaha. I’m a bigger idiot than you but still I’m richer. Fuck you.

Or are they just that clueless?

Both of which only serve to show that our rich overlords are not deserving of their wealth for the most part (and the ones that are, are unfortunately the exception).

Re: I have never read a business plan or balance sheet

#203

Post by unityByFreedom »

rexstjohn wrote: post #59

This is probably meant to be, partially, in comparison to Warren Buffet, who famously claims to invest based on reading of financial statements (and other documents) in search of “good businesses.” https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Buffett-Interpretation-Financi... Suspect that both Buffet and Paul’s real methods rely heavily on instinct, context, relationship networks, combination potentials, personality and pattern mat…

Warren's conversations are also short though. The difference is he invests in mature companies. He studies their books, then asks the CEO a few questions. If he likes the answers he invests.

It's rather different from investing in a startup. Plus all of YC's startups presumably receive some boost from exposure on HN and reddit.

Re: I have never read a business plan or balance sheet

#204

Post by jacquesm »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #117
guynamedloren wrote: post #106

I’m surprised the YC application hasn’t been more of a focus in this discussion. The following questions are pulled from the application (perhaps an older version): What is your company going to make? Why did you pick this idea to work on? Do you have domain expertise in this area? How do you know people need what you're making? What's new about what you're making? What substitutes do people resort to because it does…

If all business plans were as thorough and as revealing as YC’s application forces you to be, then YC would have called it one. But there’s a separate name for a business plan. Most are useless. I suspect pg is referring to the plans founders make to impress investors, rather than to figure out which problems to solve.

A typical 'deck' will cover all of these, and a typical deck has about as much relation to what will happen later on as most business plans do, ie: none whatsoever.

In most cases though YC applications are meant as a way to evaluate the team, not the business and that's where the difference lies between the data they collect and what your typical business plan shows, even if there are superficial similarities the goal is an entirely different one.

I think PG & Co would invest readily into a fantastic team with a crappy business plan knowing full well that they are effectively already investing in the first - or second - pivot.

For them it doesn't matter: people driven to succeed will try to do so one way or the other and have a leg up on people that are not like that.

Re: I have never read a business plan or balance sheet

#205

Post by biorach »

jcrben wrote: post #149
sillysaurusx wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If all business plans were as thorough and as revealing as YC’s application forces you to be, then YC would have called it one. But there’s a separate name for a business plan. Most are useless. I suspect pg is referring to the plans founders make to impress investors, rather than to figure out which problems to solve.

This is all just semantic nonsense. YC has no more profound understanding of the noun "business plan" than anyone else in the business world. Don't overthink it

> This is all just semantic nonsense.

No it's not. The point is that what most start-ups submit as a "business plan" is just a load of b.s.

The questions that are asked in the YC interview draw out the information that _should_ be in a business plan.

Re: I have never read a business plan or balance sheet

#206

Post by lottin »

Foobar8568 wrote: post #151
marto1 wrote: post #54

Quoted post unavailable.

At that stage, if your business plan or balance sheet is solid, you don't need funding, or you aren't a tech/growth startup. So basically it's all fluff as he mentioned it in a later tweet.

A business plan is literally the first thing you need to do when you have an idea for a business. The original idea needs to be developed so that you an others are able to see if it makes sense or is complete nonsense. That's a business plan. Whether the business is about tech or about something else doesn't make it any different in that regard.

Re: I have never read a business plan or balance sheet

#207

Post by unityByFreedom »

ignoramous wrote: post #200
monksdream wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His essays are usually a big pile of “focus on the important things and add value or whatever”-type platitudes. It’s funny that each one has been proofread and revised based on comments from the Who-is-Who in SV, a typical Emperor and His New Clothes situation. To be fair though, 99% of wisdom books from successful people are like this.

Calling it platitudes is harsh. The Airbnb founders have repeatedly said that their company was going no where but for Paul Graham's mentorship and the series of advice he gave them, amidst an economy in dire recession. And btw, before YC, the whos-who of SV were a closed-knit, exclusive group. You underestimate the very radical nature of YC when they started in 2004.

He's good at getting attention, that's for sure.

Re: I have never read a business plan or balance sheet

#208

Post by notahacker »

vincentmarle wrote: post #101

Viaweb's First Business Plan: http://paulgraham.com/vwplan.html

Tbf, the idea that all they really needed was a faster Internet connection and a secure server because clients "may believe" that's a useful thing for credit card transactions does fit the don't judge a founder by his planning philosophy

"Spending some money on advertising might also be a good idea"

Re: I have never read a business plan or balance sheet

#209

Post by biorach »

trulyme wrote: post #160
onion2k wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pg saying he doesn't need to see your balance sheet isn't the same as saying no one needs to see your balance sheet.

But this is not what he said. If he said that, it would have been reasonable. Instead he claims to have never read a balance sheet, which doesn't seem likely, and even if it was true, it would not be very smart. Why avoid them until you read them and formed your own opinion? Saying "I don't read those documents anymore " would have made sense too.

> Instead he claims to have never read a balance sheet,

It's pretty clear from the context that he means that he has never read the balance sheet of a company applying for VC funding as the information there is irrelevant at that time.

It's highly unlikely, as the founder of several businesses, and long term investor in others, that he could have never read any balance sheet ever.

Re: I have never read a business plan or balance sheet

#210

Post by synecdoche »

jasfi wrote: post #201
abnercoimbre wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slight tangent: I wish there were legitimate threats to kill social media as it stands today. Any threat to the current business model, from anywhere.

A lot of what goes on with social media is a reflection of society, in my opinion. Can a new approach fix that? The only thing I can think of is targeting different users by various segments (which isn't new). E.g. HN is mostly for people that like tech and the startup scene.

Social media is part of society, and not a small part either, in my opinion. It’s ubiquitous and cross feeding.
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