
The Uber of X: A translation of 47 startup one-liners - RobbieStats
https://unsupervisedmethods.com/the-uber-of-startup-lingo-a-translation-of-47-startup-one-liners-c5f21e255e74#dfkj34
======
nicklo
This article seems to be trying to disarm tech elitism by diving into the deep
end of it, but by and large the humor is pretty forced and the tone
condescending.

I'd also recommend that the author remove the attempt at being edgy at the end
with the snide reference to the reports of sexual harassment at Uber.
Especially the cheeky "too soon?", which simultaneously acknowledges the
gravity of the situation for the victims while also dismissing it entirely in
favor of an attempted joke.

~~~
imartin2k
So it is not only that you don't find it funny (which is a common thing about
jokes - many jokes are bad in the eyes of many people), but also that you want
someone else to therefore remove this part.

Where does this idea come from that just because one doesn't like something or
finds it stupid/silly/inappropriate/not funny, it has to disappear?

~~~
dreae
Before you get too defensive consider that they said they'd 'recommend' the
author remove the joke, not that it has to go. That's how constructive
criticism works.

I think the comment can be better interpreted as 'the tone of the article
could be improved, in my opinion, if the author would remove the joke about
sexual harassment at the end'

------
groby_b
Wherein our intrepid author discovers that

a) social groups develop jargon that is often impenetrable to outsiders

b) humor is really hard.

c) The in-group doesn't care for being made fun of, and the outgroup doesn't
care about the jargon - and so the article will be much less popular than
others they wrote

------
AndrewCHM
The translation of lean-startup means absolutely nothing, link tells me to buy
a book. No.

being told what I am thinking about things is really needlessly confusing,
because its often wrong, then I need to remind myself that those statements
arn't meant to teach me anything, but instead make me laugh? I don't know.

It'd be better to have like, 1 line of joke per 5-10 dotpoints, not 2-3+ lines
of joke per dotpoint, that is my opinion though

------
grabcocque
Uber but for X demonstrates how a lot of startups are trying to reinvent stuff
that already exists, but works around labour laws on a technicality.

~~~
shalmanese
It's a common misconception that startups are primarily about innovating
something new out of whole cloth. Once you gain a bit of experience, you
realize there are only M business models, N channels, O verticals, P org
structures etc. and most of those have existed for hundreds of years.

Most successful startups are about artfully cobbling together the right
combination of those factors into something that can be a viable business.

Genuine, real innovation tends to come from either large corporations or
governments, not startups because the risk is too large for a startup to bear.

------
ganeshkrishnan
>We are going to keep things simple and use a convertible note with 20%
discount and a $4M cap. > Normal’s response: That doesn’t sound simple at all.

Why is this not simple? I thought the point of convertible note/safe was to
make seed round as simple as possible. Is there something I am missing?

~~~
bshimmin
It's not simple if you don't know what a "convertible note" and a "cap" are.

~~~
jessmartin
Not to mention "20% discount." Discount on what?

------
fundabulousrIII
Always thought moving fast and breaking things was the least intelligent
approach to any problem..except when people can only learn things the hard way
and are in too much of a hurry to do anything but cash the check.

~~~
rockostrich
Start-ups move fast to see what works and what doesn't (from a product
perspective, not technology). Breaking things is just a byproduct of moving
fast. Once you realize something is worth the effort, e.g. a new feature is
loved by everyone but it's got a few problems and might be breaking things,
then you slow down and do it right. If you did it right to begin with, you
might've spent a ton of money and engineering hours on a feature that users
didn't even want.

~~~
fundabulousrIII
I see your point. What I was trying to get across is that there is a method to
a sustainable model and then there is everything else that just makes money
for a while. Nothing wrong with the latter except my personal opinion of it.

------
imartin2k
Just in this second I wanted to post this. You beat me by seconds :)

~~~
RobbieStats
First mover advantage ;)

------
majewsky
> We’re running out of dry powder so we asked our existings for a bridge.

> After not achieving product/market fit, we’ve decided to pivot into an
> adjacency.

> We started looking for a soft-landing and got an acquihire offer from an
> 800-pound gorilla.

> Did you see all the skeletons in their S-1? At least they are in the three
> commas club.

I'm honestly not sure if this is real or just clever satire.

