well palantir, I guess someone's gotta con the Taxpayers out of their freedom AND money
Welcome Peter
131–140 of 161 posts
Re: Welcome Peter
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
Depends. Is somebody who decries the extension of franchise to women because they don't adhere to libertarian views somebody that you'd willingly associate with? Personally, I wouldn't, because I like looking myself in the mirror, but your mileage may certainly vary.
So you support marginalizing people who have views you don't like? That's not at all horrifying...
poor put upon libertarian billionaires!!!
Not to say P Thiel is this way but come on bruh let's gain perspective
Re: Welcome Peter
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
You could look at them as two sides of the same perspective: Paul is saying basically that competition doesn't exist because if you focus on the customer need enough it ensures uniqueness, and Peter is saying don't copy what someone else has done, be unique.
Focusing on the customer enough does not ensure uniqueness. It is very possible to be in a market where customers needs are satisfied.
Zappos?
Re: Welcome Peter
#134The world would benefit much more from him starting a worthy alternative to YC. Few others are in a position to do so. He probably thinks there would be no profit in competing against what he sees as YC's monopoly.
Well, as above, he did say "choose an idea that avoids competition at all costs" and joined YC thus avoiding competition by joining.
PG's "don't worry about competition at all" rings true by bringing Thiel in and allowing a competitor in a way see how a top performing product runs on the inside.
Who says Thiel isn't just gaining more knowledge to start another one later, then YC and Thiel can have a federation.
Re: Welcome Peter
#135While I found Thiel's recent work (Zero to One) to be extremely interesting, I am skeptical about a fair portion of it. I am much more inclined to agree with the claims in PG's startup essays, which seem to have been the cornerstone principles of YC. Am I to that assume all of YC is adopting Thiel's beliefs as well? To be clear, I'm not saying both views are mutually exclusive.
If everyone agreed with Thiel's approach then it could only be described as obvious. The fact that people disagree with him is a good thing. The rational thing to do is test it. If YC adopts his approach then that will be a significant sample..
Re: Welcome Peter
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
That depends on what actual results you can deliver. If it's not very much, that's not a fallacy, it's a demonstration.
> That depends on what actual results you can deliver. Nothing to do with me. I plan on purchasing the results. > If it's not very much, that's not a fallacy, it's a demonstration. Rats' lifespans have been doubled[0]. And there are medications which are used for other conditions being looked at: like rapamycin (or the development of a variant), and metformin. There are also supplements like the newly released nicoti…
It is never bullshit to say that something not actually proven is not proven until it is proven.
Re: Welcome Peter
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
Which part of his statement is inaccurate?
I think making the claim that democracy and "freedom" aren't compatible is comedic at best. "Freedom" is an incredibly nebulous concept and it's no secret that we have AND should have laws that restrict behaviors like say murder, or rape. What he really means to say is "democracy is a threat to the things I want to do", and when it's coming from someone who's a member of the ultraelite, well, then... maybe it should…
The fact that freedom is a nebulous concept makes his claim nebulous, not comedic.
Re: Welcome Peter
#138Just finished reading Zero to One for a second-time, and it was interesting to see that Peter Thiel's contrarian approach to investing in startups ("What valuable company is nobody building") is very similar to PG's thesis that "all good ideas look like bad ideas to begin with (black swan investing) [0] It will be even more interesting to see if their combined insights and approach can increase their chances of ident…
I'd still love to hear Peter Thiel and PG duke it out/reconcile the "choose an idea that avoids competition at all costs" vs. "don't worry about competition at all" messages.
I think competition on a "macro" scale isn't what counts, it's more the competition at any given moment in the user's story.
When they hear about it or get the invitation, do they get it via a medium filled with a lot of spam?
When they follow the invitation, and see your service for the first time, will they go through the onboarding process?
After they complete onboarding, will they have a compelling reason to come back? Such as transactional notifications?
If they come back, will they form a habit in their mind of using your service for something? This is the "mindshare" that you are fighting for, that is the level on which competition really matters. How do you position yourself?
What network effects, social proof and social convenience / pressure will cause the person to use your service?
What are your customers currently paying for that you can do better / cheaper?
etc.
Re: Welcome Peter
#139The world would benefit much more from him starting a worthy alternative to YC. Few others are in a position to do so. He probably thinks there would be no profit in competing against what he sees as YC's monopoly.
Techstars seems to be quietly doing well by doing their own thing, which includes a surprising amount of geographic diversity.
And of course, for some kinds of businesses, one of the real competitors to seed funding is bootstrapping.
Re: Welcome Peter
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's nothing profound about it, it's common sense in business though people use different words like "moats", "barriers to entry" and "pricing power".
For some reason every generation seems to rediscover the same things and think they've invented something new
Poor history education