The Best Entrepreneur I Know • Hacker News Board

Re: The Best Entrepreneur I Know

#51

Post by marcosdumay » Tue, Jan 20, 2015, 4:20 PM UTC

arximboldi wrote: post #49

visakanv wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Entrepreneurs are just people who take a chance in order to make a real difference. I'd go so far as to say- entrepreneurs are just people who are trying to solve problems. I get annoyed when I hear people ask things like "How do I become an entrepreneur?" in an aspirational way, as though it's some sort of cool club where all the cool kids are hanging out. An entrepreneur is just a person who's so bothered by a pa…

So now Karl Marx was an enterpreneur.

Wasn't him?

He created a missled and malign enterpreneuship, but he did create something.

Re: The Best Entrepreneur I Know

#52

Post by freshfey » Tue, Jan 20, 2015, 4:54 PM UTC

Beautifully written, thanks for sharing.

This reminds me of this movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108560/ (Who's the Man?)

A 1993 classic with a lot of known Hip Hop artists, the main characters basically help a well-known and very helpful barber in the community by joining the police and taking care of the community. Quite funny and entertaining.

Re: The Best Entrepreneur I Know

#53

Post by beat » Tue, Jan 20, 2015, 5:07 PM UTC

cglee wrote: post #28

beat wrote: post #3

There's a lot more to entrepreneurship than the weird little bubble of software startups. Entrepreneurs are just people who take a chance in order to make a real difference. I grew up poor, and one of the hardest things about being poor is that there are so few role models for success. Except for teachers, I didn't know anyone educated. Except for the people my father worked for (and mostly hated), I didn't know anyo…

Software startups also tend to be very product-oriented and focus on global markets. But the most successful people I know (I don't know any billionares) run service-oriented small businesses and are focused on changing the neighborhood. Changing your own 'hood is the first step to changing the world. There's not enough being said about serving your neighbors and getting to know your regulars on a first name basis.

I feel that, in a way, I am changing my own 'hood. As an enterprise engineer, I'm trying to solve what I believe to be the most painful problem experienced by enterprise engineers - trying to figure out what caused complex systems to break down, so a fix can be formulated. This problem really sucks because it leads to a lot of yelling, finger-pointing, all-nighters, and general panic - bad social behavior that has nothing to do with the technical problem-solving we love.

So yeah, I feel I'm going after the problems of my peers, of my tribe. My 'hood, even if it's a virtual kind of 'hood.

Re: The Best Entrepreneur I Know

#54

Post by D-Train » Tue, Jan 20, 2015, 6:09 PM UTC

Dennis sounds like good guy. If I didn't quit buzzing my head, I'd be interested in going to him.

But to a greater point: entrepreneurship isn't just about the millions or billions we more often hear in the news. Instead, it's also about the small biz owners like Dennis who aspire for great things for their communities, their family and friends, and yes, themselves.

We should shoot for the stars, but not get disappointed because we only reached the moon. Or heck, if we were able to "fly" at all... that's awesome.

Great write-up! Now, can Dennis also have an app? I'd like to help with that.

Re: The Best Entrepreneur I Know

#55

Post by visakanv » Wed, Jan 21, 2015, 2:57 AM UTC

arximboldi wrote: post #49

visakanv wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Entrepreneurs are just people who take a chance in order to make a real difference. I'd go so far as to say- entrepreneurs are just people who are trying to solve problems. I get annoyed when I hear people ask things like "How do I become an entrepreneur?" in an aspirational way, as though it's some sort of cool club where all the cool kids are hanging out. An entrepreneur is just a person who's so bothered by a pa…

So now Karl Marx was an enterpreneur.

If you dig into the etymology and history of the word, I'd think yeah, absolutely.

> entrepreneur (n.) 1828, "manager or promoter of a theatrical production," reborrowing of French entrepreneur "one who undertakes or manages," agent noun from Old French entreprendre "undertake" (see enterprise). The word first crossed the Channel late 15c. (Middle English entreprenour) but did not stay. Meaning "business manager" is from 1852.

Re: The Best Entrepreneur I Know

#56

Post by aceperry » Wed, Jan 21, 2015, 5:07 AM UTC

NhanH wrote: post #39

aceperry wrote: post #27

Great article. Also brings up an aspect of the tech startup mentality that bothers me from time to time. From my reading of pg and ycombinator's focus on fast hockey stick like growth curves, it seems that you can easily dismiss/overlook small and steady businesses like Klippers which can perform very important roles in our lives. I'm not criticizing pg and the ycombinator crowd, in fact I have much respect and admir…

It's actually pretty interesting that small/lifestyle businesses get a lot of respect on Hacker News (pinboard, improvely, Appointment reminder and their creators are all very well revered here). In fact, a lot more than the general population (from my point of view) have for those businesses.

It seems to me that the focus at HN is on startups that aim for huge growth, and not really small businesses; especially not small, stable businesses that don't have much potential to grow very large. The subject of the article is a small business that won't really scale well. One of the biggest topics of discussion at HN is around the topic of scaling a business.

I'm glad to see an article like this which reminds us that small businesses can be an important part of our society. I also see some efforts by some people in the ycombinator network to expand beyond the mechanics of doing startups. I attended last year's startup school and was blown away and inspired by one of the speakers, Danae Ringelmann: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPbHf4i6CrQ&list=PLQ-uHSnFig...

Re: The Best Entrepreneur I Know

#57

Post by thetruthseeker1 » Wed, Jan 21, 2015, 6:29 AM UTC

skrebbel wrote: post #34

thetruthseeker1 wrote: post #31

I read the Article. Dennis seems like a nice guy- rather a great guy! But I do think that this article does not particularly embody a spirit of entrepreneurship. Dont get me wrong, Dennis does not embody any negaative spirit, everything positive. It is fitting for MLK day. However, just because it makes us feel warm and fuzzy, it shouldn't be characterized to embody any particular quality that we choose to say it doe…

How very Silicon Valley of you. If he had a "book a haircut" app, would you consider him an enterpreneur then?

No, I wouldn't consider that alone a great enterprise. It should be determined based on some objective and measurable criteria. Everybody who develops an app is not a great entrepreneur, and everybody who is nice alone is not a great entrepreneur

Re: The Best Entrepreneur I Know

#58

Post by hueving » Wed, Jan 21, 2015, 7:42 AM UTC

deciplex wrote: post #33

hueving wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the money wonks just take it out of your account every month. With a statement like that it sounds like you lack some important critical thinking skills. Try to provide concrete examples of things rather than echoing standard claptrap.

With a blanket and snarky dismissal like that it sounds like you lack some important read-a-newspaper-in-the-last-seven-years skills. Try to be more aware of your surroundings. This should get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Economic_Stabilizatio...

So it might surprise you to find out that it was a very small percentage of that industry that caused that. The fair housing act did more damage than any individual banker in that event as well.

Re: The Best Entrepreneur I Know

#59

Post by deciplex » Wed, Jan 21, 2015, 10:03 AM UTC

hueving wrote: post #58

deciplex wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With a blanket and snarky dismissal like that it sounds like you lack some important read-a-newspaper-in-the-last-seven-years skills. Try to be more aware of your surroundings. This should get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Economic_Stabilizatio...

So it might surprise you to find out that it was a very small percentage of that industry that caused that. The fair housing act did more damage than any individual banker in that event as well.

I'm more interested in the damage they caused, than what percentage of the population they are. Murderers make up a small portion of the population as well, but we still punish them and take steps to prevent crime.

I've never heard a convincing argument about the Fair Housing Act - more than anything it reminds me of the 'spectre' of welfare queens riding around in limos that was a favorite of the right for many years. Although, I suppose if your claim is merely that it is more responsible than any individual banker, that might be plausible, if only because the contribution of any individual banker must necessarily be quite small (even if some of them did end up becoming famous for their role).

Re: The Best Entrepreneur I Know

#60

Post by deciplex » Wed, Jan 21, 2015, 10:13 AM UTC

visakanv wrote: post #36

hueving wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the money wonks just take it out of your account every month. With a statement like that it sounds like you lack some important critical thinking skills. Try to provide concrete examples of things rather than echoing standard claptrap.

It's interesting to look at your comment, and look at the nasty comment that it provoked. This is the starting point of a cycle of nastiness. You could've asked the person to elaborate or be specific, or even contradicted or questioned them- without saying "you lack " and "try to rather than ". Why so mean? Was the meanness intentional, or...? Genuinely curious.

Honestly, if you can't withstand a little (in this case, very mild) invective every once in a while, then you probably should avoid discussing politics on the internet - if not in real life - altogether. While I obviously don't agree with him at all, I don't think heuving's comment was inappropriate, even within the context of trying to have a rational debate. And, I would say the same of my own 'nasty' comment as well. You don't have to be courteous and dispassionate to the point of servility to talk about politics or any other topic - and in fact for many people that's quite boring anyway.

Really, grow a thicker skin.