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What a stupid idea

dcurt.is

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Re: What a stupid idea

#211

Post by npsimons »

ryguytilidie wrote: post #130
jdietrich wrote: post #104

Success is not validation of an idea and we should be ashamed to think so. Cigarettes are one of the most successful consumer products on earth. Inhaling a lungful of carcinogenic smoke several hundred times a day is undoubtedly a stupid idea. Tobacco has made a small number of people incomprehensibly rich, to the great detriment of humanity. Personally, I think nearly all of these 'social' startups are bad news. Not…

This is one of the best comments I've seen on HN in awhile. I think once you spend enough time in the valley, you see how many hacks are trying to "change the world" right until their startup is about to fail and then they adapt the exact same behaviors they were trying to disrupt. It's about survival and once a company becomes your baby you will do anything to survive. It's not a terrible thing, but it is something…

It's not a terrible thing,

I was right there with you until this. What do you mean "it's not a terrible thing"? Someone trying to change the world for the better, and they fail, that's not terrible? Someone giving up on their dreams, is that not terrible? Sure, sure, everyone has to pay the bills, and I'm not going to fault anyone who tries and fails, but it still (at a minimum) disappoints me every time I see someone with talent and/or skill waste it on something of no lasting value or meaning.

Re: What a stupid idea

#212

Post by joering2 »

timr wrote: post #75

I first met the AirBnB guys in 2007, at their "unofficial Startup School after party" . It was my first ever San Francisco startup party. At the time, they were in the depths of their existential struggle. The "party" consisted of a few guys, a couple of liters of soda, and a few half-empty bottles of booze. I remember talking to Joe and Brian, and hearing their pitch, and thinking: "oh, so it's like couchsurfing, bu…

The only reason why people are willing to pay AirBnB is because of their audience (classic chicken&egg dilemma). But that audience was initially captured/harvested mostly through illegal or semi-legal ways (at least the ways that a decent human being wouldn't do that).

Lookup my previous posts I rant enough about AirBnB owners and their criminal past.

Re: What a stupid idea

#213

Post by justinhj »

nollidge wrote: post #207
justinhj wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You mean, you couldn't care less, right? :P (Sorry, that particular Americanism is a pet peeve of mine.) "I could care less" is an American idiom, and this is a US site. Ad hominem.

There's plenty of Americans that are annoyed by it, too. Also please go learn what "ad hominem" actually means. It does not simply mean "insult".

I know what it means. Why add it to the end of an argument out of the blue if it's not intended that way? Still it was late at night and I should have added my own smiley. ;)

Re: What a stupid idea

#215

Post by DucktourDreams »

green7ea wrote: post #124
jdietrich wrote: post #104

Success is not validation of an idea and we should be ashamed to think so. Cigarettes are one of the most successful consumer products on earth. Inhaling a lungful of carcinogenic smoke several hundred times a day is undoubtedly a stupid idea. Tobacco has made a small number of people incomprehensibly rich, to the great detriment of humanity. Personally, I think nearly all of these 'social' startups are bad news. Not…

The part that got to me was: "They saw the future and they built it." These applications are toys, not the future. They may be well built, popular, amusing but they are still toys. When I think of someone who sees the future and tries to build it, the first name that comes up is Elon Musk with SpaceX. There are others. Saying an iPhone exclusive application that lets you share 4 second videos is the future is simply…

I definitely agree that not every web/social app is valuable, and I believe in treating the Earth like a campsite - leave it in better condition that you found it.

I also want to point out that having fun and celebrating the discovery of electricity, electronics and computing is okay. Our ancestors worked hard to get us to the point where we no longer have to constantly hunt, to the point where we can live longer. Mine is mainly an argument for moderation...

Yet the mention of Skinner boxes, cigarettes and dopamine makes for interesting discussion: If we believe, as I do, that we should be allowed and free to say, smoke a few cigarettes now and then, is it sensible/logical/smart/worthwhile/ethical to start a cigarette company with relentless marketing?

Re: What a stupid idea

#216

Post by enraged_camel »

goblin89 wrote: post #206
tomhoward wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, ok. But none of this is what Dustin's post was about. The post was about people asking him if he thought their product could be successful, and how he mistakenly dismissed them as being destined to fail. Your views maybe valid, but your commentary is off topic.

OP talks about successful products and stupid ideas, and jdietrich questions OP's definition of these terms. I don't see how this is off-topic.

It isn't off-topic. User 'tomhoward' just has a very narrow view of the world.

Re: What a stupid idea

#217

Post by charlieok »

nashequilibrium wrote: post #177
ryguytilidie wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the best comments I've seen on HN in awhile. I think once you spend enough time in the valley, you see how many hacks are trying to "change the world" right until their startup is about to fail and then they adapt the exact same behaviors they were trying to disrupt. It's about survival and once a company becomes your baby you will do anything to survive. It's not a terrible thing, but it is something…

You really hit the nail on the head and i agree 100% with this line " This isn't all the peak of innovation, many times it's just people working on a CRUD site trying to "disrupt big industry player x" until they run out of money and then resort to the same cheap tactics as everyone else." I have to ask myself is it worth it to start a web or mobile phone startup right now or wait a few yrs. The reason why i am think…

I agree that Svbtle and Medium have a similar look and overall design sensibility. But in the interest of giving credit where it is due...

Svbtle's announcement is dated March 22, 2012

  http://dcurt.is/codename-svbtle
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3742314
Medium's announcement is dated October 29, 2012

  https://medium.com/about/9e53ca408c48
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4383283
(not to mention Obtvse)

So, I think Dustin deserves some credit for originality on this one.

Re: What a stupid idea

#218

Post by wtvanhest »

jdietrich wrote: post #197
wtvanhest wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going to say it first, I'm sure others will be thinking it. This is the WORST type of comment on HN. Tobacco was invented in 5000 BC according to wikipedia. At that point in time it had basically none of the bad side effects you mention due to shorter life spans. It probably had numerous positive side effects. Now you don't like facebook??? Well, honestly, I do. I like it to keep in touch with people and it had r…

Tobacco was not a particularly great cause of morbidity and mortality until the invention of the cigarette rolling machine. The cheap, mass-produced cigarette offered an instant hit of nicotine which was more convenient than pipes and more affordable than cigars. Tobacco is a natural leaf that became a mass killer because it was packaged in small, easy to consume units that provided an instant dopamine hit, then rele…

I disagree primarily with your first statement:

>Success is not validation of an idea and we should be ashamed to think so.

To me, it is the very definition of success. If you think that a product is harmful you can state that, but belittling its success because you don't feel like it is best allocation of resources sounds very similar to what the governments of both China and Russia did prior to the cold war and some might even go as far as to say it is a somewhat communist view.

I admit, when I read your comment, I skipped over this by accident:

>It has hardly occurred to Curtis or anyone in these comments that an idea could be both successful and stupid.

There is probably an interesting debate here from a finance perspective on what should and shouldn't be invested in at the early stage. (or what should or shouldn't be worked on). I'm not smart enough to know what is stupid or not stupid, but it is still an interesting concept.

Re: What a stupid idea

#219

Post by justinhj »

zimpenfish wrote: post #193
justinhj wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You mean, you couldn't care less, right? :P (Sorry, that particular Americanism is a pet peeve of mine.) "I could care less" is an American idiom, and this is a US site. Ad hominem.

I always read "I could care less" as "I could care less ... but that would require expending actual effort and no." Then again, I'm not a knee-jerking grammarian prescriptivist.

I should get that on a t-shirt thanks. Actually I'm British and don't have strong feelings about the phrase either way. If I did, I still don't criticize people for using idioms of their own culture.

Re: What a stupid idea

#220

Post by nymt2theone »

jdietrich wrote: post #104

Success is not validation of an idea and we should be ashamed to think so. Cigarettes are one of the most successful consumer products on earth. Inhaling a lungful of carcinogenic smoke several hundred times a day is undoubtedly a stupid idea. Tobacco has made a small number of people incomprehensibly rich, to the great detriment of humanity. Personally, I think nearly all of these 'social' startups are bad news. Not…

I gave up the idea of a start up and long time passion of building LED Displays, purely because I thought it would do no good to people than only encouraging more of capitalism. And it has been 5 years since I finished my studies and am still struggling in my career because most of the Cos don't excite me as all of them are more interested in making money rather than impacting the lives of people. This attitude of mine has been highly criticized by people around me, but I am proud of it. I would rather be working on a technology that impacts a villager or poor under privileged rather than designing a gizmo for the wealthiers. -Niral
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