The golden era of being an open startup is gone
testimonial.to
The golden era of being an open startup is gone
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Re: The golden era of being an open startup is gone
#2I don't really agree or maybe I have misunderstood the author's thesis here. Is he saying it's harder to grow a business by building in the open nowadays because so many people have already done it, so now consumers are weary of it? Or is he upset that many of these companies that were once open have stopped being open once they found success?
Just because many established companies have stopped doing it, doesn't mean it's the end of some kind of golden age. The reason these companies built in the open is in the first place is for selfish reasons - free promotion for their business while they ship. Once they have figured out the business, why should they keep putting in the extra work to tell others about it?
Re: The golden era of being an open startup is gone
#3I don't really agree or maybe I have misunderstood the author's thesis here. Is he saying it's harder to grow a business by building in the open nowadays because so many people have already done it, so now consumers are weary of it? Or is he upset that many of these companies that were once open have stopped being open once they found success? Just because many established companies have stopped doing it, doesn't mea…
> Is he saying it's harder to grow a business by building in the open nowadays because so many people have already done it, so now consumers are weary of it?
From the blog post:
> Why are some of the main evangelists and pioneers of this trend leaving now?
> Because bad examples and negative stories are now becoming so common, everyone thinks twice before disclosing things openly.
> From envy and toxic feelings dividing teams and friends to businesses copying other businesses completely, the scene is getting spotted by more and more cases.
...
> Unfortunately, the build-in-public culture couldn’t stand things like competition and bad business practices.
Re: The golden era of being an open startup is gone
#4I don't really agree or maybe I have misunderstood the author's thesis here. Is he saying it's harder to grow a business by building in the open nowadays because so many people have already done it, so now consumers are weary of it? Or is he upset that many of these companies that were once open have stopped being open once they found success? Just because many established companies have stopped doing it, doesn't mea…
I think you've hit on some of the issues. One of the challenges is that it is hard to know what the company was getting out of being open.
That is hard because there is what folks say, and there is what they really think, and in the startup business the gap between those two realities can be really big. Also, the most successful startup CEOs seem to be really good at crafting a narrative out of very cherry picked "facts" in order to achieve their objectives (funding, growth, recruitment, whatever). As a result the "information space" around startups is usually way more complex than it appears on the surface.
That won't stop people from looking at that information space and drawing conclusions of course, people do that naturally. I agree with the above comment that the author is not (at least in the article) asking themselves if their belief of the motivations for being open are well supported by all the facts or not. Doesn't mean the author is wrong of course, things can be just as they seem, it just seems like some additional care should be taken prior to acting on a belief in why they are doing what they are doing.
Of course a certain level of disclosure is required by the SEC if you want to be traded publicly, and practicing those disclosures prior to an IPO can help set IPO expectations more accurately. And for that reason, understanding GAAP and what disclosures are required are good things for the startup leadership.
Re: The golden era of being an open startup is gone
#5Who is Damon Chen and why should I take this commentary seriously?
Re: The golden era of being an open startup is gone
#6I don't really agree or maybe I have misunderstood the author's thesis here. Is he saying it's harder to grow a business by building in the open nowadays because so many people have already done it, so now consumers are weary of it? Or is he upset that many of these companies that were once open have stopped being open once they found success? Just because many established companies have stopped doing it, doesn't mea…
I think you've hit on some of the issues. One of the challenges is that it is hard to know what the company was getting out of being open. That is hard because there is what folks say, and there is what they really think, and in the startup business the gap between those two realities can be really big. Also, the most successful startup CEOs seem to be really good at crafting a narrative out of very cherry picked "fa…
Peldi (Balsamiq) did this well, but in reality it was all pretend. He pretended like had this massive groundswell of people who loved his app but it was an incredibly well-executed PR campaign and he deserves mad props for it. He didn't make it clear at the time, but eventually it came out. Of course, people did love his app but he engineered that incredibly well.
So if being open makes sense for PR, do it, but learn from people who have done it successfully.
Re: The golden era of being an open startup is gone
#7Who is Damon Chen and why should I take this commentary seriously?
Apparently he is the founder of testimonial.to which this link is going to so this looks like self promoting blog spam.
Re: The golden era of being an open startup is gone
#8Who is Damon Chen and why should I take this commentary seriously?
He’s a prolific indie creator with a history of building a successful business in the open.
More than enough credibility if you ask me.
Re: The golden era of being an open startup is gone
#9I don't really agree or maybe I have misunderstood the author's thesis here. Is he saying it's harder to grow a business by building in the open nowadays because so many people have already done it, so now consumers are weary of it? Or is he upset that many of these companies that were once open have stopped being open once they found success? Just because many established companies have stopped doing it, doesn't mea…
I agree with you and likewise am somewhat confused. My initial read suggests that author bemoans that he needs to scale down how open ( here meaning transparent ) he gets to be. I think it is just a realization that business is cut-throat and information is, indeed, power. Being open can put you at a disadvantage in such an environment.
I certainly don't think it was some sort of golden age. Best I can say about it is that it had benefits.
Re: The golden era of being an open startup is gone
#10Who is Damon Chen and why should I take this commentary seriously?
He’s a prolific indie creator with a history of building a successful business in the open. More than enough credibility if you ask me.
Who are you?
This may be true but without evidence is sounds like exactly what the OP is complaining about.
His LinkedIn doesn't even claim any business building before 2.5 years ago. https://www.linkedin.com/in/damengchen It only claims he built 2 things.