Founding Stories Are Myths • Hacker News Board

Re: Founding Stories Are Myths

#31

Post by mmsimanga » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 7:10 PM UTC

sharno wrote: post #18

It doesn't just stop at the successful startup stories. It's the same style of stories we face in products successful stories, job offers and love stories. examples: REGAINE (hair loss treatment) only works for some people, not everyone and if you use it consistently twice a day for the rest of your life. A job at Google/Facebook/haskell job requires you to study day and night for algorithms/functional programming/im…

Paraphrasing a quote on social media I once heard, "People forget social media is like a highlights reel. It doesn't show the full game"

Re: Founding Stories Are Myths

#32

Post by tc » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 7:18 PM UTC

Just as there's only one hero story, at a high level, there's only one founder story.

TLB described this archetype some years ago:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16523609

Re: Founding Stories Are Myths

#33

Post by CPLX » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 7:19 PM UTC

ronilan wrote: post #12

Froyoh wrote: post #6

I got drawn in by the clickbait title

Title does a disservice to the writing. It is a good read.

The title is actually incredibly descriptive. The word myth has a fairly specific and precise meaning, which the author argues is a good match for typical founding stories. The title is a matter of fact and insightful observation.

Re: Founding Stories Are Myths

#34

Post by cortesoft » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 7:25 PM UTC

I think it is a bit unfair to call them myths; they are narratives. All stories are narratives, you can't simply dump EVERY fact about a situation. There are infinite facts and details about how a company came to be, and telling the full story is impossible. Instead, we look at the story, pick a narrative we want to tell, and tell it.

You HAVE to do this when telling a story, and all stories do this. While it is true that believing the narrative tells the full story is incorrect, it is also incorrect to say these stories are 'myths'. They are just one part of the full story.

Re: Founding Stories Are Myths

#35

Post by rossdavidh » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 7:37 PM UTC

cortesoft wrote: post #34

I think it is a bit unfair to call them myths; they are narratives. All stories are narratives, you can't simply dump EVERY fact about a situation. There are infinite facts and details about how a company came to be, and telling the full story is impossible. Instead, we look at the story, pick a narrative we want to tell, and tell it. You HAVE to do this when telling a story, and all stories do this. While it is true…

I don't know the truth of the matter, but the author of this article seems to be saying that the core idea at the heart of the Netflix founding narrative is, in fact, a myth. Whether that is the case or not, I don't know.

Re: Founding Stories Are Myths

#36

Post by sh33mp » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 7:48 PM UTC

jfasi wrote: post #13

The author is criticizing a genre of narrative that I like to call "career porn." Consider the similarities between "how I started this company" type stories and actual porn: * It depicts something everyone fantasizes about and offers a quick if ultimately unsatisfying release. Who doesn't imagine themselves building something amazing and being idolized by magazines and the general public? * It happens in an unrealis…

On the other hand, these criteria seem like they would encompass a good deal of all fiction.

Re: Founding Stories Are Myths

#37

Post by coldtea » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 7:57 PM UTC

sh33mp wrote: post #36

jfasi wrote: post #13

The author is criticizing a genre of narrative that I like to call "career porn." Consider the similarities between "how I started this company" type stories and actual porn: * It depicts something everyone fantasizes about and offers a quick if ultimately unsatisfying release. Who doesn't imagine themselves building something amazing and being idolized by magazines and the general public? * It happens in an unrealis…

On the other hand, these criteria seem like they would encompass a good deal of all fiction.

A good deal of all fiction is wish fulfillment (literary porn).

Re: Founding Stories Are Myths

#38

Post by lkrubner » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 8:02 PM UTC

jfasi wrote: post #13

The author is criticizing a genre of narrative that I like to call "career porn." Consider the similarities between "how I started this company" type stories and actual porn: * It depicts something everyone fantasizes about and offers a quick if ultimately unsatisfying release. Who doesn't imagine themselves building something amazing and being idolized by magazines and the general public? * It happens in an unrealis…

And the beautiful myths then contribute to the ways that other (perhaps less experienced) entrepreneurs engage in self-sabotage. See “self-sabotage via avoiding a boring success”:

http://www.smashcompany.com/business/why-do-entrepreneurs-en...

Re: Founding Stories Are Myths

#39

Post by realworldview » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 8:11 PM UTC

madeofpalk wrote: post #22

52-6F-62 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It only shows beautiful companies/people. You don't need to found a space exploration company to be happy just like you don't need to be with a model. We certainly don't hear much about efforts or successes in anyone's effort to "disrupt" the toilet paper industry, yet it's something most people use daily. It's not sexy, but we all care a lot when it sucks.

But people are 'disrupting' the more 'boring' industries - all the mattress/pillow startups, Thinx period panties, etc.

I plan on disrupting the garage-based startup business, from my garage.

Re: Founding Stories Are Myths

#40

Post by jfasi » Mon, Mar 05, 2018, 8:15 PM UTC

sh33mp wrote: post #36

jfasi wrote: post #13

The author is criticizing a genre of narrative that I like to call "career porn." Consider the similarities between "how I started this company" type stories and actual porn: * It depicts something everyone fantasizes about and offers a quick if ultimately unsatisfying release. Who doesn't imagine themselves building something amazing and being idolized by magazines and the general public? * It happens in an unrealis…

On the other hand, these criteria seem like they would encompass a good deal of all fiction.

If someone builds their life and aspirations around what they read about in obvious works of fiction, we call them crazy.

If someone builds their career expectations and aspirations around what they gathered from Forbes, Techcrunch, or a TED talk, we call them entrepreneurs.