Tell HN: Four (hopefully) unique and useful start-up tips

Post by apu » Wed, Nov 25, 2009, 6:25 AM UTC

aneesh wrote: post #40

wvl wrote: post #13

Start checking your stats only once a day, at most. That way, you’ll be alerted to any potentially significant changes (i.e. your ecommerce engine is down) I agree with this advice, however I would sincerely hope that it doesn't take reviewing your stats at the end of the day to notice that your ecommerce engine is down! Monitoring should be in place to achieve this.

True story I heard from some Amazon engineers. Amazon doesn't (directly) monitor whether their servers are up. They just look at the revenue graph in real-time, and if there's a noticeable dip, something's wrong.

Post by aw3c2 » Wed, Nov 25, 2009, 10:43 AM UTC

shmichael wrote: post #42

jbond wrote: post #14

I, too, negotiate everything. You would be surprised at how much wiggle room there is at a national retailer like Best Buy for big-ticket items. Here are some ground rules and the steps I use to haggle: Haggling works better if you can pay in cash. Know how much you are willing to spend and do not exceed it! Never, ever reveal to the salesperson how much you are willing to spend. 1. Express a casual and not too focus…

Is it truly beneficial to negotiate everything ? What about peace of mind? Negotiation sometimes does not justify the time invested in it. It is also an extra something to occupy space in your consciousness. It might blind you to other considerations, not price-oriented. That said, a healthy chutzpa is indeed an important skill many people lack.