11–20 of 232 posts
I get it. /r/workreform, the managers are taking all the money and only make tps reports. But surely not every place needs to be like this.
I don’t actually get why people come to a tech startup forum and post this. Like, I get why this guy posts on Twitter (his audience likes this stuff), but why come to HN and do this? I get it. /r/workreform, the managers are taking all the money and only make tps reports. But surely not every place needs to be like this.
Absolute cope in the twitter comments, and it's weird seeing this on HN, which (at least historically) was a pretty entrepreneur-friendly forum. Yes, we get it, Zuck and Gates and Jobs were "lucky." But that doesn't mean starting a business is like going to the race track, and this extreme oversimplification reminds me of equally-reductive positions (solipsism, nihilism, etc.) where zero knowledge is imparted, and th…
You might just be lucky, period, and still succeed. (Lightning does strike. ha, great name for a horse.)
But your chances are FAR better if you are well prepared, know the stats, know the jockeys, have inside info on what a horse has been fed, maybe even that morning, and so on. You might be able to rig things in your favor via inside connections.
But even with all your "skills" lined up, you still need luck and lots of it.
I think what I'm taking issue with is your statement that winning at the race track is _mere_ luck. No, like being a successful entrepeneur, it also requires lots of preparation.
Twitter by its nature is reductive. The position of the author here should really be read as: I know the other 5 lotto numbers. (baseline for a chance at success.) Now here is the 6th number, the random and lucky part that I'm taking credit for and that won't be reproducible by you.
Absolute cope in the twitter comments, and it's weird seeing this on HN, which (at least historically) was a pretty entrepreneur-friendly forum. Yes, we get it, Zuck and Gates and Jobs were "lucky." But that doesn't mean starting a business is like going to the race track, and this extreme oversimplification reminds me of equally-reductive positions (solipsism, nihilism, etc.) where zero knowledge is imparted, and th…
I think the point is more that most people don't know why they succeeded or fail.
>Entrepreneurship is like one of those carnival games where you throw darts or something.
>Middle class kids can afford one throw. Most miss. A few hit the target and get a small prize. A very few hit the center bullseye and get a bigger prize. Rags to riches! The American Dream lives on.
>Rich kids can afford many throws. If they want to, they can try over and over and over again until they hit something and feel good about themselves. Some keep going until they hit the center bullseye, then they give speeches or write blog posts about "meritocracy" and the salutary effects of hard work.
>Poor kids aren't visiting the carnival. They're the ones working it.
You cannot become someone else. You cannot be where someone else was, when someone else was. And even if you can, it may not be the right place and the right time for you, as much as it was for someone else. Success cannot be copied.
I really hate these "12 steps to becoming successful" recipes. It's well know phenomena that people tend to unrealistically attribute success to their personal traits and not luck. Success needs skills and knowledge, but also some luck. I doubt successful people really know why are they specifically are successful unlike hundreds of their competitors.
This does not mean best practices do not exist. They do and they work. Only they work statistically. You may follow all best practices in the world and still fail miserably.
Any of us who have had at least two “successful” businesses will tell you that this quote is ridiculous.
What’s your ideal of being successful? If it’s exiting at a billion, then sorry. But you can use a lot of this entrepreneur advice to find some level of success.
The problem is that non-entrepreneur or first timers always try to skip the small stuff.
1. have a good team and hire right. you need just three roles: sales, operation and product.
2. TAM is real and will determine the size you can grow your business.
3. focus on sales first literally. as a founder you should do your own selling. take care of your customers!!!
4. don’t be a crook
5. manage your money right; be cheap.
6. grow where you’re planted. dig deep in areas you know or that your personal networks know.
7. be lucky - this is about timing and also putting yourself in a place to have information first or at least know the value of certain information first.
8. know you’re going to get it wrong sometime and fail; when that happens take a small break and then spin up another
I’ve bootstrapped two companies to success in my eyes which has changed me and my families life.
The first was in the 2000s out of college (~$500k annual) it eventually petered out then in the 2010s (~$5m annual). Now I’m going to do another and I hope to create a $5-10m company all off the advice of other entrepreneurs.
I’ve also failed miserably and had 5-7 business go under or never even really get off the ground.