151–160 of 173 posts
"Then the effects of being measured by performance would propagate all the way back to high school, flushing out all the arbitrary stuff people are measured by now. That is the future of web startups." What an impressive conclusion - I hope it happens.
I'm not quite with you on universities.
I haven't been to US education system, but I don't think you get to know stuff like Fourier series or why inverting a matrix is unstable, etc., until you get through a university. And such stuff is important in high tech. Unless you're into web sites that host user generated videos. Being in video hosting pays off, for some, but it's not what I'd call high tech. I mean, it isn't a new UNIX, or a new Internet, or a new CPU design.
Those bigger, more interesting things were done by people who'd been to universities, and I think there's a reason to it.
Those startups started by undergrads, they may very well make money and produce cool apps and products, but I doubt they will drive technology.
I recently found I wasn't keeping up with new languages any more. Not because I've become too lazy, but because there aren't any new concepts in all those Pythons. Those are products of smart hackers, and new concepts are done by scientific kind, who seem to be out of fashion today.
Thanks for your writing anyway.
Alexander
That's just a bunch of bunk. Nothing was funnier during Web 1.0 than guys saying we were "rewriting" the rules of business - like, profits didn't matter. Truth is, from a business point of view, starting a web service is no different than starting a dry cleaners: give people what they want, at a reasonable price (in our business, that usually means ad-supported)... and they'll come back (and click on ads in the process).
Yes, it may take some technical innovation... but it doesn't take any business innovation. Everything you say in your essay is true; so seriously, why do I need you? You expect me to go through this whole dance to come to Cambridge for, what, the possibility of five-thousand bucks? And then move to SilCon for three months so you can keep tabs on us once a week? Like, are you serious?!
Your essay is particularly prescient because you might have inadvertently predicted the ultimate demise of your current business - i.e., venture funding. No, I won't fill out your form; no, I won't travel to Cambridge for the possibility for you to give me five-thousand bucks. No, I won't move to the Valley so you can keep tabs on what I'm doing. I'm a big boy, and I can take care of this end myself, thanks. Good luck with giving away your cash.
James Touchi-Peters, Founder/CEO CONK!/Arrow Media Minneapolis USA conkhead@conk.com http://conk.com
Hmm. I find the argument for unlimited concentration of startups in startup hubs somewhat unconvincing. If the number of startups founded goes up by an order of magnitude or two, then the need to move to Silicon Valley in order to be in a startup-rich environment goes down. Now, I do think that startups will still move, but I think that the number of hubs they can choose among to move to will be increasing as well. I…
It depends on how the new startups are distributed. If it's a lot more places with just one startup, no new hubs will be created. Doubling from one to two increases the odds that another startup will come along, but the odds don't get especially favorable until you hit a critial mass, and that mass probably depends on local conditions. Lots of folks have tried to create startup hubs. What will be different this time?
Look out, oldsters with all your real world money and stuff, Reality 2.0 is on its way, and it doesn't look good for slow-moving dinosaurs. I, for one, welcome our new 20-something overlords. I cross-posted on your piece to http://blog.innovators-network.org The Innovators Network is a non-profit dedicated to bringing technology to startups, small businesses, non-profits, venture capitalists and intellectual property experts. Please visit us and help grown our community!
Best wishes for continued success,
Anthony Kuhn Innovators Network
"Then the effects of being measured by performance would propagate all the way back to high school, flushing out all the arbitrary stuff people are measured by now. That is the future of web startups." What an impressive conclusion - I hope it happens.
...because we've inspired everyone to do startups. There will be nobody else to hire :)
We're back to the pre-industrial revolution era. Where everyone didn't hire anyone and had their own backyard industry.
Woohoo!