Hundreds of Start-Ups Hope to Be a Copycat Start-Up • Hacker News Board

Re: Hundreds of Start-Ups Hope to Be a Copycat Start-Up

#51

Post by pg » Mon, Dec 09, 2013, 12:26 AM UTC

bchjam wrote: post #22

pg wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, but there are wannabees in every field where the people who succeed become rich or famous. There's nothing newsworthy about that sort of background radiation lameness. Or more precisely, it's one of the recipes for an Onion article.

I thought I had read something you wrote once (5. Most investors are momentum investors. from http://paulgraham.com/guidetoinvestors.html ) implied that investor demand increases the volume of the more shallow type of copycat.

A momentum investor is one who wants to invest in companies that are doing well, not one who wants to invest in imitators of companies that are doing well.

Investors are herd animals, but they're not the reason mediocre founders copy existing ideas. Mediocre founders copy existing ideas for the same reason mediocre people in so many other fields do: they're insufficiently imaginative.

Re: Hundreds of Start-Ups Hope to Be a Copycat Start-Up

#52

Post by 6cxs2hd6 » Mon, Dec 09, 2013, 1:03 PM UTC

001sky wrote: post #50

6cxs2hd6 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well I also disagree that the New York Times writes trash, either. Yes we're all primates. Yes you can usefully analyze a lot of behavior in terms of tribes and regions, and who is the current or former alpha male, etc. At the same time, you can make an effort to transcend that, with at least partial success. An organization like the NYT exists to try. They can never be 100% successful. But I think it's missing the p…

Well I also disagree that the New York Times writes trash Odd that someone who thinks the NYT is a 'transcendental' organization is wedded to a literal interpretaion of word.

> someone who thinks the NYT is a 'transcendental' organization

I didn't say "transcendental". And I'm not saying let's worship the NYT like a sparkly unicorn.

I said news organizations like the NYT exist to try to transcend us/them tribe/region primate thinking, and try to be objective. I admitted they don't always succeed, but said I think it's unfair to presume they don't even try.

p.s. My comments above got a few upvotes... then voted back down again. I thought HN is supposed to be different, and people aren't supposed to downvote solely because they disagree.

p.p.s. I'm not implying you downvoted me. I doubt that you did.

Re: Hundreds of Start-Ups Hope to Be a Copycat Start-Up

#53

Post by pc » Mon, Dec 09, 2013, 2:41 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #2

It's a common misconception that a startup describing itself as x of/for y is a sign of lack of originality. A lot of original ideas-- perhaps most good original ideas-- are initially conceived of as x of/for y. Plus it is a good tactic, which we actively encourage, for startups to describe themselves in those terms initially. It may not describe a startup perfectly, but it's the the most information you can convey i…

When we were starting out, John and I described Stripe to each other as "Slicehost for payments".

Re: Hundreds of Start-Ups Hope to Be a Copycat Start-Up

#54

Post by gress » Mon, Dec 09, 2013, 6:11 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #51

bchjam wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought I had read something you wrote once (5. Most investors are momentum investors. from http://paulgraham.com/guidetoinvestors.html ) implied that investor demand increases the volume of the more shallow type of copycat.

A momentum investor is one who wants to invest in companies that are doing well, not one who wants to invest in imitators of companies that are doing well. Investors are herd animals, but they're not the reason mediocre founders copy existing ideas. Mediocre founders copy existing ideas for the same reason mediocre people in so many other fields do: they're insufficiently imaginative.

With all due respect I think you're underestimating the effect of investors.

Insufficiently imaginative people do exist everywhere but they don't get to become founders and hire people to copy existing ideas unless someone funds them.