Yeah, there are a lot of companies in silicon valley not solving "real" problems. That idea has been discussed in many a blog post. I won't point out the painful irony here.
I’m Done Pretending SF Tech Is Visionary
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Re: I’m Done Pretending SF Tech Is Visionary
#12And this is precisely why I'm a mechanical engineer instead of a web developer, despite being very very good at the latter.
What are you engineering right now?
My work is a bit meta at the moment. I'm making software that can take part designs and optimize their physical shape for better performance.
So the end result is more fuel efficient cars, faster planes, etc.
Re: I’m Done Pretending SF Tech Is Visionary
#13Just something to think about: everyone who gives advice has their own goals. Sometimes those goals align with yours and sometimes they don't. The economics of VC make it so that they need their companies to be big successes or not succeed at all (Thiel's "Zero to One" talks about the power law distribution of VC returns on investment). So it makes sense for a VC to give "take huge risks" as advice. That may be good advice, or it may not be, but if advice is in someone's economic interest you should probably take that into account...
For that matter "Zero to One" also argues that people should aim high and do important things.
Re: I’m Done Pretending SF Tech Is Visionary
#14This is stupid. The claim is not that all SF tech companies are visionary. The claim may be that most visionary companies, today, are concentrated in or benefit from SF tech. From a simple market perspective, many tech companies are "visionary" by definition of the premium over current earnings. People may be "realizing their potential" in ways that are not obvious to you and me. The laundromat next door helps a lot of people, and does its part in increasing general quality of life – some of the "dumb" companies may do that tomorrow. That's what people putting their time and money on the line believe, at least.
Re: I’m Done Pretending SF Tech Is Visionary
#15SF is the hot potato economy.
Just take a company, hire lots of people that fit into the western "strategic genius" stereotype, create lots of hype, inflate the value by hiring lots of people and expanding, clone lots of technology that already exists, then when it's time to actually make revenue, sell it really expensively.
The value of something is relative. The entire idea is to inflate the value of a company as much as possible, then sell it, then repeat the cycle again and again.
Then, in some cases it might be fine to buy a company because of their intellectual property such as their patent portfolio, their franchises, branding, know-how... but if you buy a company because of its software, make sure you are not buying a communal pot of spaghetti. Send a tech person to make sure you are not getting scammed into a technical debt nightmare.
Re: I’m Done Pretending SF Tech Is Visionary
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are you engineering right now?
My work is a bit meta at the moment. I'm making software that can take part designs and optimize their physical shape for better performance. So the end result is more fuel efficient cars, faster planes, etc.
Oh, so you're optimizing and not innovating.
Re: I’m Done Pretending SF Tech Is Visionary
#17As someone who is outside of SF looking in, to me the whole startup culture there seems utterly insane. To me, it seems as though there is some kind of reality distortion field that convinces us all that no matter what we is being worked on or created, it is in some way world changing or "disruptive", despite how stupid it is, or how viable a market there is for what is being made.
The funny thing is, organizations that are actually trying to make the world a better place by helping the homeless, poor, disadvantaged etc I've never even heard of.
The way I see it is that VC's are all about world changing and making the world a better place, so long as in this better world they can still milk a market for every last penny.
Re: I’m Done Pretending SF Tech Is Visionary
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
My work is a bit meta at the moment. I'm making software that can take part designs and optimize their physical shape for better performance. So the end result is more fuel efficient cars, faster planes, etc.
Oh, so you're optimizing and not innovating .
Actually no. I'm making the software that did not previously exist. Others down the road can then use it to produce better performing products.
Passive aggressive word games aside, you really can't compare "reducing the global need for oil" to "snapchat for cats".
Re: I’m Done Pretending SF Tech Is Visionary
#19Every one of those entrepreneurs and VCs are working on something they believe in. Making themselves rich(er). That's all there is to it.
If our economic system as we know it is no longer capable of delivering innovation, then something is seriously wrong and we should be reevaluating why we are still using that system.
What alternative system would you propose?
Re: I’m Done Pretending SF Tech Is Visionary
#20Every one of those entrepreneurs and VCs are working on something they believe in. Making themselves rich(er). That's all there is to it.
If our economic system as we know it is no longer capable of delivering innovation, then something is seriously wrong and we should be reevaluating why we are still using that system.
Has anyone actually made a serious case that innovation has stopped? The closest I've ever seen are people asserting that things they feel are obvious in retrospect aren't innovations, but that's just a silly bias.