Steve Jobs' memo to startups • Hacker News Board

Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups

#101

Post by pg » Mon, Oct 31, 2011, 7:41 PM UTC

PLejeck wrote: post #96

pg wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure where you got the idea that I believe in "pandering to the masses," but maybe this will cure that misconception: http://paulgraham.com/usa.html .

"But the just-do-it model does have advantages. It seems the clear winner for generating wealth and technical innovations (which are practically the same thing)." Today, wealth and technical innovations have separated quite a lot. A great programming language will make less money than the programs built upon it. I don't think this is entirely valid in the world of today, where open-source software is often some of th…

By wealth I don't mean money. You don't have to get paid for creating wealth: http://paulgraham.com/wealth.html (search for "open source").

Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups

#102

Post by Hyena » Mon, Oct 31, 2011, 7:43 PM UTC

He's making a subtle distinction because he objects to the word "entrepreneur" in this context. I see this as a valid objection; perhaps we should consider retiring "serial entrepreneur" for someone who does this frequently. What they're actually doing is building a business that builds businesses. A term for meta-firms might be good.

Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups

#103

Post by brudgers » Mon, Oct 31, 2011, 8:08 PM UTC

If you go to YC, you already have started selling your company.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

But there is no reason to kid one's self.

Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups

#104

Post by breck » Mon, Oct 31, 2011, 8:25 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #80

breck wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We were not interested in online stores. Some of the problems were kind of interesting, but neither me nor Robert nor Trevor thought of Viaweb as our life's work. 'How to find your "life's work"' might make a great essay. I think the majority of founders find themselves a few years in working on ideas they aren't crazy about. In a sense founders get married to ideas too young, realize it's not a perfect fit, and th…

http://paulgraham.com/love.html http://paulgraham.com/hs.html

Awesome.

Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups

#105

Post by anon808 » Mon, Oct 31, 2011, 8:52 PM UTC

jarek wrote: post #97

anon808 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they're not mutually exclusive

except when they are

Again it's a choice, you decide. They don't have to be mutually exclusive if you don't want them to be.

Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups

#106

Post by kvnn » Mon, Oct 31, 2011, 9:00 PM UTC

I think we've gotten to the point where we are submitting, upvoting and discussing content solely because it has to do with Steve Jobs.

This (out of context) quote benefits me in absolutely no way. It might, if there was elaboration or example.

Anyway, in my opinion this is a low quality submission and I'm irked by it.

Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups

#107

Post by drumdance » Mon, Oct 31, 2011, 9:06 PM UTC

jasongullickson wrote: post #98

tlammens wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another example would be Elon Musk who would still be doing Zip2 instead of giving the world PayPal, SpaceX or Tesla Motors.

This is a good point, but begs the question, why is it necessary to start a new company (and depart the previous one) to pursue these ventures? I'm sure I'm just oblivious to some legal, financial, etc. benefit of building separate company "entities" for each project but personally I prefer the idea of starting the next General Electric than a string of noun-deprived orphan companies. Keeping your name associated wit…

Focus. Some people are able to do more than one company at a time, but I certainly can't.

Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups

#108

Post by away » Mon, Oct 31, 2011, 9:07 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #24

I can't say he was mistaken, since he was only saying he disliked it. But I don't think there's anything wrong with selling a company at any stage. Steve's problem with selling seemed to be that you're shirking work by doing it. But that isn't necessarily, or even usually, true. A lot of people who sell startups go on to do other things, and often bigger things. If we were still running Viaweb, we could not have star…

The quote is taken from the biography. In that paragraph Jobs is not talking about whether or not he thinks people are shirking by selling. He is saying that real entrepreneurs make companies that last and have a "legacy".

I do find it surprising though that you tell people to do what they love but then in these comments you admit you didn't like doing viaweb. In your essay you wrote, "The test of whether people love what they do is whether they'd do it even if they weren't paid for it." And it seems that you only did that startup because you were going to get money, which I suspect is true for the vast majority of y-combinator start-ups.

Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups

#109

Post by lightyrs » Mon, Oct 31, 2011, 9:27 PM UTC

Amen.

Re: Steve Jobs' memo to startups

#110

Post by tlammens » Mon, Oct 31, 2011, 9:29 PM UTC

jasongullickson wrote: post #98

tlammens wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another example would be Elon Musk who would still be doing Zip2 instead of giving the world PayPal, SpaceX or Tesla Motors.

This is a good point, but begs the question, why is it necessary to start a new company (and depart the previous one) to pursue these ventures? I'm sure I'm just oblivious to some legal, financial, etc. benefit of building separate company "entities" for each project but personally I prefer the idea of starting the next General Electric than a string of noun-deprived orphan companies. Keeping your name associated wit…

Separation of concerns? :)