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The Future of Web Startups

paulgraham.com

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Re: The Future of Web Startups

#21

Post by Alex3917 »

aston wrote: post #9

Google has by far the best programmers of any public technology company. If they don't have a problem doing acquisitions, the others should have even less problem. However many Google does, Microsoft should be doing ten times as many. I actually think Microsoft does.

I heard Carl Schramm (the economist) give a talk on Tuesday, and IIRC he said that MS buys six to ten startups per month. Most big companies are buying startups like crazy now though, even the ones you'd never expect. For example, even Proctor & Gamble buys around 100 startups per year.

Re: The Future of Web Startups

#22

Post by [deleted] »

aston wrote: post #9

Google has by far the best programmers of any public technology company. If they don't have a problem doing acquisitions, the others should have even less problem. However many Google does, Microsoft should be doing ten times as many. I actually think Microsoft does.

[deleted]

Re: The Future of Web Startups

#24

Post by Alex3917 »

Prediction: Angel investors will ink deals with VCs to create an official pipeline. For example, let's say KPCB agrees to fund at least one Techstars company per year in exchange for first pick or something like that. That's the way elite prep schools interface with certain Ivy's, and it seems to work out for both of them. Of course startups will never get as locked down as colleges because there will always be more money than good investments, at least for the foreseeable future.

Re: The Future of Web Startups

#25

Post by byrneseyeview »

electric wrote: post #17
byrneseyeview wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So wouldn't those people drop out earlier? If you strip out the emotional content of your post, it's quite banal: the price of a product (college) is going up, so people who buy the product (students who pay full tuition) have less money, and since money is a transportable, transferable form of freedom, they're less free. " In fact, most graduates want to find stable jobs to pay off their debt -- startups are not rea…

Regarding the businessweek comment, I can only say that if the desire and willingness to start companies was a meaningful trend, it _might_ have been noted as an option. I would disagree with this: "1) that doesn't appeal to BW's audience" starting businesses _does_ appeal to businessweeks audience. ;)

But that's not a 'place to work'. It's like having a list of the top twenty restaurants, with #3 as "Your kitchen, assuming you go to culinary school and are a talented cook and have the time to cook and..." it doesn't give any real information.

I wouldn't be surprised if BW's readers were less entrepreneurial than average. It's a magazine about big business, not about doing business.

Re: The Future of Web Startups

#26

Post by byrneseyeview »

electric wrote: post #16
byrneseyeview wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So wouldn't those people drop out earlier? If you strip out the emotional content of your post, it's quite banal: the price of a product (college) is going up, so people who buy the product (students who pay full tuition) have less money, and since money is a transportable, transferable form of freedom, they're less free. " In fact, most graduates want to find stable jobs to pay off their debt -- startups are not rea…

"So wouldn't those people drop out earlier?" No those people would not drop out earlier, because they likely did not know they wanted to be startup founders until they had enough technical knowledge and/or more importantly built those relationships with students around them which led to the creation of a startup in the first place. Perhaps your experience has been different in which case I cannot argue with that. "wh…

So you're saying that college, while expensive, is still worth it? I don't get your argument. For a given student, either college is too expensive to be worth it, and people will drop out early, or it's cheap enough to be worth it, and people will finish. Only one of these things can be true, and there are obvious conclusions depending on which you pick. So which is it?

"For precisely that reason..."

Did you miss what I said above? If you're already broke, why is getting broker a problem? What do you have to lose if you have less than nothing?

Can you give me some detail on your 'depends on the role' comment? I didn't realize this; when I recruit people (IT/quant finance), employers respond more favorably to entrepreneurs than to people who worked for someone else. Where did you hear otherwise?

Re: The Future of Web Startups

#28

Post by brett »

The unexpected Ted Stevens reference at the end really made me grin. I find Stevens so hilarious and horrifying at the same time.

I was surprised to find it in a PG essay, but on reflection it seems really appropriate in context. Though it did distract me enough that I had to read the last section twice.

Re: The Future of Web Startups

#29

Post by Alex3917 »

"We now get on the order of 1000 applications a year. What are we going to do if we get 10,000? That's actually an alarming idea. But we'll figure out some kind of answer. We'll have to. It will probably involve writing some software, but fortunately we can do that."

The company that manages to blend digital identity and reputation with the information power of networks is probably going to be the next MS. I've been interested in this problem for a long time now. Someone should really submit a proposal as a YC idea.

Re: The Future of Web Startups

#30

Post by run4yourlives »

dfranke wrote: post #12

With standardization comes bureaucracy. I dread what will happen when all this starts to become apparent to the government, and they decide that they need to "fix" some of the perceived injustices. How long before we start seeing laws regulating founder/investor relationships that look like our current laws for employers and employees? Will investors start being required to submit reports to the government to prove t…

> Will investors start being required to submit reports to the government to prove that their investment decisions aren't racially biased?

Are you suggesting that investors should be racially biased?

I'm playing devil's advocate far further than intended for sure, but the laws regarding employment, although bureaucratic are there for very good reasons.

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