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Evernote CEO to entrepreneurs: "don't do it"

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Re: Evernote CEO to entrepreneurs: "don't do it"

#31

Post by carguy1983 »

guelo wrote: post #28
carguy1983 wrote: post #24

Ooh, me, me, pick me. Let me guess! Do it because you want to change the world ? It's a laughable, tired cliche now, especially coming from a guy who made the equivalent of a digital hipster moleskine who isn't changing a god damn thing about this world. People are still broke, sick, and starving. But I can take awesome notes on my MacBook Air! The better answer is "because it's interesting and fun and challenging an…

Changing the world doesn't necessarily mean you're going to somehow rid the world of broke, sick, and starving people. But I agree, this guy is taking himself way too seriously. I guess he gave the world a new way of taking notes, but come on.

> Changing the world doesn't necessarily mean you're going to somehow rid the world of broke, sick, and starving people

That's why it sounds so ridiculous.

Re: Evernote CEO to entrepreneurs: "don't do it"

#32

Post by mcbaby »

Evernote is obviously a very successful company, and I'm sure Phil Libin is a smart guy, but he comes off as a total snob saying this...

> "I think you know what it is: it’s to change the world" Most people who start a company start it to MAKE MONEY. Of course, he presents us with a false dilemma: you can either aspire to change the world, or have the desire to make money, earn power, etc. These are not mutually exclusive options. It's noble and all to want to change the world, but most people probably are out there trying to make a living...

> "If you’re smart enough, if you’re talented enough, if you have the drive, if you have the ability, and you’re motivated by making money, then you should just get a real job instead, like become a banker or an investor or a consultant or something." I'd be fine with this if he finished the sentence with "become something you're passionate about." If you have all the qualities he mentions in the first part of the sentence, than pursue something you're genuinely interested in.

As a side note, I'd be interested to see a list of some entrepreneurs who started companies with the sole intention of changing the world...

Re: Evernote CEO to entrepreneurs: "don't do it"

#33

Post by reason »

People in this space live in a thickly-lined bubble if they think something like Evernote is changing the world. Wisdom is not suddenly bestowed upon you because your note-taking service was recently valued at $1+ billion.

I have always had a really hard time heeding to the advice of rich people who tell you what all the right and wrong reasons to become an entrepreneur are, especially when they start preaching about how it's not about the money, but about the journey.

Also, "don't do it"? I'm sure companies that are having 100x more of an impact in this world than Evernote will ever have were started by people who very bluntly went against that sort of advice. Steve Jobs' "Stay hungry, stay foolish" comes to mind, and I'll side with his blissfully ignorant optimism any day.

Re: Evernote CEO to entrepreneurs: "don't do it"

#34

Post by reason »

carguy1983 wrote: post #24

Ooh, me, me, pick me. Let me guess! Do it because you want to change the world ? It's a laughable, tired cliche now, especially coming from a guy who made the equivalent of a digital hipster moleskine who isn't changing a god damn thing about this world. People are still broke, sick, and starving. But I can take awesome notes on my MacBook Air! The better answer is "because it's interesting and fun and challenging an…

It's almost as if you don't deserve to be an entrepreneur if your goal isn't to change the world.

Re: Evernote CEO to entrepreneurs: "don't do it"

#35

Post by cynicalkane »

eli wrote: post #22
larrys wrote: post #11

"A lot of people think that they want to be an entrepreneur because it’s a good way to make money. It just isn’t, that’s just wrong. Depending on how you count, 95% to 99% of companies fail." Excuse me. It is a way to make money. That figure assumes the definition of entrepreneur is only startups as discussed in places like HN, Techcrunch etc. Not only is the figure of 95% or 99% wrong with respect to "entrepreneurs"…

The average expected income from working at a large corporate may well be higher than founding a startup. But there's at least the chance of making a lot of money in a startup. It's very unlikely that you'll stumble into a windfall working for a large corporation.

Beware this logic; it leads to playing the lottery.

Re: Evernote CEO to entrepreneurs: "don't do it"

#36

Post by muhfuhkuh »

Or, if you really want to change the world, alleviate the spectre of massive world hunger by coming up with radical agricultural techniques and selective breeding for drought resistance, then teach that technique to everyone you know for free[1].

Or, come up with a novel vaccine for one of our most vexing diseases of our time, then give away the formulation for free[2].

That's how you change the world.

Cue the capitalism-as-religion downvote squad, but this guy is a world class putz if he thinks a cloud-based notepad is changing anything but 1st world slight inconvenience.

[1]Norman Borlaug

[2]Jonas Salk

Re: Evernote CEO to entrepreneurs: "don't do it"

#37

Post by napoleoncomplex »

carguy1983 wrote: post #24

Ooh, me, me, pick me. Let me guess! Do it because you want to change the world ? It's a laughable, tired cliche now, especially coming from a guy who made the equivalent of a digital hipster moleskine who isn't changing a god damn thing about this world. People are still broke, sick, and starving. But I can take awesome notes on my MacBook Air! The better answer is "because it's interesting and fun and challenging an…

It's lofty wording, but he does go on to explain it's not necessarily changing the world in a huge way that matters so much, just that changing the world in any degree is at the core of your motivation. Judging by their growth, Evernote helps a lot of people, it doesn't cure cancer, but it still helps by doing what it does.

Personally, I'd rather have successful entrepreneurs selling this story than saying it's all about making money, sailing on your yacht surrounded with beautiful women, sipping on champagne. It's incredibly idealistic, but I think entrepreneurship needs to attract incredibly idealistic people more than any other type.

For the record, I've never used Evernote (pen and paper does the task nicely), so the above assumption of Evernote helping people is based on their business results from the video, which would imply a useful product.

Re: Evernote CEO to entrepreneurs: "don't do it"

#38

Post by rexreed »

Who doesn't start a business thinking they're going to make money? Wouldn't it otherwise be called charity or a hobby? Sure, maybe not hogwild money, but I think getting paid for something for delivering something of value might be a definition of business?

Re: Evernote CEO to entrepreneurs: "don't do it"

#39

Post by dublinclontarf »

reason wrote: post #33

People in this space live in a thickly-lined bubble if they think something like Evernote is changing the world. Wisdom is not suddenly bestowed upon you because your note-taking service was recently valued at $1+ billion. I have always had a really hard time heeding to the advice of rich people who tell you what all the right and wrong reasons to become an entrepreneur are, especially when they start preaching about…

I don't know...Evenote is actually the ONLY service online I have ever paid for.

Re: Evernote CEO to entrepreneurs: "don't do it"

#40

Post by dublinclontarf »

reason wrote: post #33

People in this space live in a thickly-lined bubble if they think something like Evernote is changing the world. Wisdom is not suddenly bestowed upon you because your note-taking service was recently valued at $1+ billion. I have always had a really hard time heeding to the advice of rich people who tell you what all the right and wrong reasons to become an entrepreneur are, especially when they start preaching about…

I don't know...Evernote is actually the ONLY service online I have ever paid for.
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