The default state of a startup is failure
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Re: The default state of a startup is failure
#2He brings up some good points, but what does this have to do with anything? Obviously the default state of a startup is failure... what do his preceding two paragraphs have to do with anything? I guess I just don't quite understand the point of this article.
If it's just a PSA about the fact that startups are hard work, I'm not sure what new information it is we're getting here or why this post is being upvoted to be honest.
Re: The default state of a startup is failure
#3He brings up some good points, but what does this have to do with anything? Obviously the default state of a startup is failure... what do his preceding two paragraphs have to do with anything? I guess I just don't quite understand the point of this article. If it's just a PSA about the fact that startups are hard work, I'm not sure what new information it is we're getting here or why this post is being upvoted to be…
hehe, Chris Dixon is right... but all this talk about stuff being hard is cheap! It's hard, hard, hard... I get the point! Now come and help execute something for me, so it becomes less hard! You telling me it's hard is just making me stress out more.
Re: The default state of a startup is failure
#4He brings up some good points, but what does this have to do with anything? Obviously the default state of a startup is failure... what do his preceding two paragraphs have to do with anything? I guess I just don't quite understand the point of this article. If it's just a PSA about the fact that startups are hard work, I'm not sure what new information it is we're getting here or why this post is being upvoted to be…
"I'm not sure what new information it is we're getting here or why this post is being upvoted to be honest."
What makes something insightful isn't whether it has new information, but whether that information is connected in a new way. This qualifies because he's done a good job expressing the connection between a couple different ideas that are very important in their own right but that one wouldn't necessarily think of as being connected. (Think Euler's identity.) Granted other people have made this connection before, but what makes this a great post is that he's done it in a very simple and easy to remember way, one that provides a solid foundation for slotting other ideas into also.
Re: The default state of a startup is failure
#5The part about the colleagues only putting in a few productive hours each day is spot on. They are riding on the company's coattails. It is a sort of corporate-sponsored welfare that no one notices until the company stops performing. Then the dead weight is cut loose. Look at Yahoo.
Maybe some people don't find sitting in meetings all day to be all that satisifying. But they are stuck in it due to family expenses. Maybe they would prefer something more stimulating, if they could have the chance.
The default state of the startup should be: _fun_.
More fun than you would have by being required to show up and remain for eight or more hours each day at a corporate campus where you can clearly see people are not getting much done, but are relying on their position as a source of corporate-sponsored welfare.
To work on a startup should be a privilege for anyone who has worked in a corporate setting for any length of time.
Riding on the success of a large corporation is easy. In many cases all you need to do is show up. But that doesn't always mean you were "a success" or a part of the reason for the company's success. You may have come along after they had already succeeded, looking for an easy payout. Some people make a career out of this. They never join early stage companies. Again, there are family expenses and these motivate people's decisions.
Working on a startup is a way to be able to take full credit for whatever happens. It might be credit for failure. It might be for success. But at least you know you were responsible, and not riding on someone else's coattails.
Re: The default state of a startup is failure
#6Though it's not said, I get the impression that they were technical co-workers... so I need to point out you need "technical skills for technical success; business skills for business success".
I've seen developers work hard on cool features that no one needs, or are too hard to use, or meet a need better met elsewhere. These mistakes are due to not seeing from the user's perspective - and yes, I'd classify doing so as a business skill.
They won't communicate why it's worth using, see how it fits in with what people want to do, allow it to be difficult to try out (download, install, get started, learn). An easy way to address all these is ensure you yourself are a user (and representive of a sufficiently large segment of users).
I believe that if you really know what you're doing, you don't need to work very hard, placing focussed leverage on just the right point to make everything happen (caveats: 1. if you want enormous success, there'll be competition and you'll have to work hard; 2. the big problem is that we don't know what we're doing - in a sense, finding out the actual work of a start-up).
Re: The default state of a startup is failure
#7"A friend of mine got a job at a big company and was shocked to see his colleagues worked just a few productive hours a day."
Depending on what you do, I would say this is natural. I don't care what Henry Ford says (8 hours a day is different for some types of work than it is for others.) I can't go into "super focus" mode for much more than 4 hours per day. I can do my half day of being "wired in" and then take care of lighter tasks for another couple of hours.
There are days when working on an exciting project that I can code for 12+ hours for a few days, but not all of those hours are productive. Typically on these sorts of days I can run into a problem which I bang my head on for a couple of hours and then fix it within 5 minutes the next day after a refreshing sleep.
Maybe part of the problem is that that these places should shorten the work day (but keep payment the same.)
Re: The default state of a startup is failure
#8I think the authors main point is the degree of indifference involved in making something happen. There's a quote I heard Robert Greene give where he said "I'm a firm believer that most people simply prefer to do nothing". The bad side of this is you might have a great idea but are not able to amass the traction due to the lack of anyone else caring or seeing how your vision benefits them, or the world, or whatever. The good part is if you ever get a project set in motion that is successful the same rules of indifference apply, only now they're in your favor. That's why scrambling to just get something out the door and experiment is so important.
Re: The default state of a startup is failure
#9de·fault [dih-fawlt]
noun
1. failure to act; inaction or neglect: They lost their best client by sheer default.
2. failure to meet financial obligations.
3. Law. failure to perform an act or obligation legally required, especially to appear in court or to plead at a time assigned.
4. Sports. failure to arrive in time for, participate in, or complete a scheduled match.
5. lack; want; absence.
Re: The default state of a startup is failure
#10de·fault [dih-fawlt] noun 1. failure to act; inaction or neglect: They lost their best client by sheer default. 2. failure to meet financial obligations. 3. Law . failure to perform an act or obligation legally required, especially to appear in court or to plead at a time assigned. 4. Sports . failure to arrive in time for, participate in, or complete a scheduled match. 5. lack; want; absence. http://dictionary.refer…
6. Computers. a value that a program or operating system assumes, or a course of action that a program or operating system will take, when the user or programmer specifies no overriding value or action.