Making Startups Powerful

Post by RicoElectrico » Mon, Sep 14, 2026, 1:30 PM UTC

Scoundreller wrote: post #105

CM30 wrote: post #79

There is some really good advice here. Honestly, I think this might be one of the most important takeaways you can have as a startup founder/CEO in general: > It's exciting when you notice users "misusing" your product to do something you hadn't intended. This means there's something they want so desperately that they'll not only use any solution you offer, but even use things that aren't meant to be solutions. When…

I miss the pre-https-by-default days where I could see what search terms people used to land on my blog. Gave excellent topic ideas for unmet needs.

Post by titanomachy » Mon, Sep 14, 2026, 2:44 PM UTC

sublinear wrote: post #29

> Since startups make the best stuff, they're strongest on level playing fields. They're weakest in markets dominated by companies you'd describe as mafia. Record labels are mafia. PBMs are mafia. In these worlds you don't win by having the best product. Indeed you may only even exist for as long as the mafia chooses to allow you to. Which is not to say they can't be defeated. They probably can be, but you'd have to…

Post by epolanski » Mon, Sep 14, 2026, 5:58 PM UTC

brabel wrote: post #132

epolanski wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm European, I see no difference here. Maybe asian cultures are different.

You really think China and India are full of people who want to do good for society instead of wishing to get rich at any cost? I think their human rights record and treatment of the less privileged point at a very different direction.

Post by anonyme-honteux » Mon, Sep 14, 2026, 6:21 PM UTC

epolanski wrote: post #81

dools wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't mean less powerful relative to startup founders, I mean less powerful in terms of how we allocate resources in the economy.

Why would that be a good idea? Greed has been clearly very efficient at allocating resources and money is the first resource of any business endeavour. Politics and courts should frames and boundaries around that greed's reach, otherwise just let it alone.

Post by fakedang » Mon, Sep 14, 2026, 7:12 PM UTC

Cider9986 wrote: post #51

raincole wrote: post #41

I wonder what the tipping point was where the general attitude towards PG and his essays changed. It's tempting to say AI, but I feel it was more like AirBnB era? When people saw how one of YC's golden goose affected the local communities, the rosy color on our glasses inevitably faded.

OpenAI Airbnb Stripe Coinbase DoorDash Scale AI Dropbox Reddit Instacart GitLab Kalshi Replit Twitch These are the companies advertised on ycombinator.com. The only one I like is GitLab which I'm neutral about. All other are companies I dislike.