Earlier quoted context omitted.
Was that deliberately self-referential?
Was this deliberately self-referential?
Whoa. This guy had the same question: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=63066
The Future of Web Startups
71–80 of 173 posts
Re: The Future of Web Startups
#72Yet another essay on startups, by PG... It appears that essays tend to be cheaper to make, as time goes on, too (thanks to, you know, copy/paste). I couldn't find any ideas here that hadn't been expressed elsewhere in your writings or wasn't self-evident. We want more crazy controversial stuff, like the last (brilliant) one on philosophy! Ideas for new subjects: - "google is dead"; - "how to fund painters"; - "all th…
I didn't downmod you. But I guess the reason people are downmodding you might be for the way you said things rather than what you are trying to say. And oh, the part about ideas for new subjects... ok. I am wondering why I didn't downmod you now.
Ok, let's prentend I didn't write the stupid suggestions (which i still find funny). The fact remains, this essay is basically a compilation of ideas already expressed by PG, who needs to know that some of his fans are disappointed... Mod it up, if you want good writing!
Re: The Future of Web Startups
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Human Rights trump Economics. That's what our society has decided, therefore employment laws, while imperfect, have good reason. For reference, see 19th century factory conditions.
Economics drives human rights. For reference, see the conditions of the 19th century farms people fled to go work in those factories. See also: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118134633403829656.html?mod=... And I don't understand what you mean about laws being proof that people feel this way. I assume that the proof that people feel a certain way is that they act that way. For example, if I think being a coal miner…
I don't understand why you keep posting comments that begin with "I don't understand", and then proceed to make an argument about the comment that you profess not to understand.
Re: The Future of Web Startups
#74>> One of the most important things we've been working on standardizing are investment terms. I can see this being very beneficial, both for the VCs and the startups. The standardization of terminology in any discipline or field allows the people in it to have their lingo easily referenced and indexed, increasing efficiencies. Who wants to wade through a bunch of superfluous gibberish to get to the point?
In grad school, I remember having the realization that every discipline has it's own little shorthand lingo. I remember thinking about how confusion can result when there are clashes/overlaps in, for example, acronyms.
>>An angel who wants to insert a bunch of complicated terms into the agreement is probably not one you want anyway.Exactly: reducing complexity, not increasing it, seems a better objective.
Re: The Future of Web Startups
#75Where is the evidence that Google has the best programmers? Certainly if you look at Google's acquisitions, they all stagnate post Google. Picasa was a pretty good product -- two years ago when Google bought it. Since then it's added a button to upload photos to Blogger. Gmail had a pretty good feature set for Web-based mail -- two years ago when it rolled out. Since then? etc.
That seems to say more about Google as a company than its programmers.
Re: The Future of Web Startups
#76What Paul ignores is the fact that most people out of college are faced with seemingly insurmountable debt as a result of having to pay for an education - esp. in America (and to a lesser extent in Canada). This is one problem that will prevent startups from happening at such a rapid pace as he anticipates. In fact, most graduates want to find stable jobs to pay off their debt -- startups are not really on most gradu…
I wish I'd thought to consider a startup during my grace period. If I was graduating today, rather than right after 9/11, that's almost certainly what I'd do.
Re: The Future of Web Startups
#77Prediction: 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…
I always assumed the prep-school -> ivy connection was informal, much like the one between certain software companies and cs programs. For instance, Yale takes 10 kids from andover every year because they know all about how smart the 10 smartest kids from andover are from previous experience.
Re: The Future of Web Startups
#78What Paul ignores is the fact that most people out of college are faced with seemingly insurmountable debt as a result of having to pay for an education - esp. in America (and to a lesser extent in Canada). This is one problem that will prevent startups from happening at such a rapid pace as he anticipates. In fact, most graduates want to find stable jobs to pay off their debt -- startups are not really on most gradu…
This is one of those ways in which being a rich kid is a huge advantage. I'm not sure if most young startup founders have rich parents, but it wouldn't be particularly surprising. Then again, maybe having rich parents makes it too easy to just coast in a cruddy job (or grad school)...
Re: The Future of Web Startups
#79Hmm. I find the argument for unlimited concentration of startups in startup hubs somewhat unconvincing.
If the number of startups founded goes up by an order of magnitude or two, then the need to move to Silicon Valley in order to be in a startup-rich environment goes down.
Now, I do think that startups will still move, but I think that the number of hubs they can choose among to move to will be increasing as well.
I also have a feeling that beyond a certain density, the largest hubs will eventually hit diminishing returns in terms of their utility for startups (which will prompt more hub specialization).
Re: The Future of Web Startups
#80on the topic of starting a startup right out of college - being a rich kid of course would have its many advantages - but thats a given in all aspects of life - thus moot point - here is where the US Gov can and in some cases does offer some help.
You can call up the US loan dept., and tell them you having a hard time paying the loan because you quit your lame job and are starting a business and they will defer the loan payments for a while, I did it and it works.
In the future maybe they could offer this to entice more young people to start companies.