41–50 of 151 posts
For most of those questions, the answer is capital. Elon Musk started from very low hanging fruits for him, whose success enabled him to move on with more ambitious goals. This model is easily replicable, so if you have ambitious goals, first build capital with something easier. Which, I think, most of people here are doing.
People are getting their feet wet for experience.
And of course this thread fills up with more of the same negativism trying to justify itself. PG nailed it with the term "middlebrow dismissal". Which is a politer term than what I think when I come across it. I never think to myself "Wow, what a realistic, practical, well-informed comment that generic negative feedback was. My respect for that commenter has certainly increased!" Particularly when it's the 500th exam…
I didn't take part in the previous thread, but I kind of took umbrage with the question. It's really hard to take a question like that seriously when it appears that the OP has put zero effort into researching the subject. How can you not be pessimistic about that? If you're not the kind of person that can do even the most basic research of how cable companies operate, then I don't have one iota of confidence that yo…
"Ask HN" doesn't qualify as most basic research?
I didn't take part in the previous thread, but I kind of took umbrage with the question. It's really hard to take a question like that seriously when it appears that the OP has put zero effort into researching the subject. How can you not be pessimistic about that? If you're not the kind of person that can do even the most basic research of how cable companies operate, then I don't have one iota of confidence that yo…
exactly. The ideas this guy cites, like Elon Musk, are completely unrelated. Elon Musk actually researched these markets, figured out what to do and did it. To equate that with asking a completely unresearched question on Hacker News feels like the author was really grasping at straws here...
Looking back to my limited experience, most of the wins in my life was mostly because I was too naive to think "it's probably not all that difficult to do".
I didn't take part in the previous thread, but I kind of took umbrage with the question. It's really hard to take a question like that seriously when it appears that the OP has put zero effort into researching the subject. How can you not be pessimistic about that? If you're not the kind of person that can do even the most basic research of how cable companies operate, then I don't have one iota of confidence that yo…
This doesn't mean reading it's Wikipedia entry.
Ideally, it means spending several years working for the current market leader in that space.
Barring that, reading as much as you can about the history, economics, mechanics, and current players in that space.
If possible, become a customer of one or two of the market leaders. If that is not feasible, again get to know people who are customers (again they may become your first target customers).
Befriend several people who do work in that space (they could become your first hires).
The deeper your understanding and experience in a market, the more likely you will succeed in disrupting it.
I didn't take part in the previous thread, but I kind of took umbrage with the question. It's really hard to take a question like that seriously when it appears that the OP has put zero effort into researching the subject. How can you not be pessimistic about that? If you're not the kind of person that can do even the most basic research of how cable companies operate, then I don't have one iota of confidence that yo…
I don't think there is any reason to criticize you personally for thinking/responding this way, but I find that that attitude leads to the comments on Hacker News that I think are most unhelpful and discouraging (other than blatant trolling).
And of course this thread fills up with more of the same negativism trying to justify itself. PG nailed it with the term "middlebrow dismissal". Which is a politer term than what I think when I come across it. I never think to myself "Wow, what a realistic, practical, well-informed comment that generic negative feedback was. My respect for that commenter has certainly increased!" Particularly when it's the 500th exam…
That's at least half of the value of most posts on this site. Not the content of the posts itself, but rather in the quality of the discussion that follows. And while some posts do a better job than others of sparking that quality discussion, the interesting things is that we have 100% complete control over the quality.
I'm reminded of politicians when you ask them a question you don't want to answer.
"Mr. Obama, under your presidency, what chance do I have of joining the 1% by starting a cable company?"
"Good question. Let's talk about the initiatives I've sponsored to help people create and build businesses in this great land..."
We can do the same thing. "Good question! Let's talk about how one could get into this business and especially how one might make this business irrelevant by disrupting it..."
I didn't take part in the previous thread, but I kind of took umbrage with the question. It's really hard to take a question like that seriously when it appears that the OP has put zero effort into researching the subject. How can you not be pessimistic about that? If you're not the kind of person that can do even the most basic research of how cable companies operate, then I don't have one iota of confidence that yo…
If you have a problem with a market, like the cable industry, your first question should be 'Why is it the way it is?' not 'How do I disrupt it?' Asking HN, for good sources that explain the economics of the cable industry or media distribution, or for a list of the key players in the space would have resulted in a much more positive response. Asking HN about how YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, etc. successfully competed aga…
Q. "How do I start a rocket company?"
A. "Start by asking a different question, such as 'What are the economics of interplanetary exploration?'"
I didn't take part in the previous thread, but I kind of took umbrage with the question. It's really hard to take a question like that seriously when it appears that the OP has put zero effort into researching the subject. How can you not be pessimistic about that? If you're not the kind of person that can do even the most basic research of how cable companies operate, then I don't have one iota of confidence that yo…
> If you're not the kind of person that can do even the most basic research of how cable companies operate "Ask HN" doesn't qualify as most basic research?
Asking the community to spend its time doing preliminary research for you is, to put it bluntly, rude.