

When the rules prevented Kenneth Cole from launching, he broke the rules - DanLivesHere
http://dlewis.net/nik-archives/the-birth-of-a-shoe-company/

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jpadvo
What is so impressive about the story is that he didn't break the rules, he
found a clever way to work within them. He was confronted with a brick wall
most people would have seen as non-negotiable, and he found a way around it.
This required subtlety and cleverness.

Outright breaking the rules is a shortcut that will often be morally wrong and
will also carry practical ramifications that you probably don't want to deal
with. I.e. you'll be a jerk and get nailed for it.

It takes nothing but shallow bravado and sociopathy to "break the rules." It
takes a lot of smarts to work with / around them, and will work out a lot
better for you.

~~~
0x12
It's shallow bravado and sociopathy if you think the rules don't apply to you.

The fine line is right at the point where if everybody did what you just did,
would it work or would we all fail?

The rules are there for a reason, your ability to cheat your way to the top
notwithstanding and there is nothing impressive at all about a lack of respect
for a common resource.

~~~
jamesbritt
_It's shallow bravado and sociopathy if you think the rules don't apply to
you._

That's total bullshit. Sociopathy? Really? Think maybe there's some hyperbole
here?

Lots of rules were created simply to make life easier for some at the expense
of others. Other rules are place long after they make any sense.

 _The fine line is right at the point where if everybody did what you just
did, would it work or would we all fail?_

That's only true in a broad view. Also "everybody did what you just did" may
point out just why a rule is foolish. Or not, but blind obedience is no
virtue.

* ... and there is nothing impressive at all about a lack of respect for a common resource.*

So it's OK for one business (film) to tie up traffic and inconvenience the
locals, but not another (apparel)? And this is based on some objective
assessment of the common good and not back-room deals, tax breaks, and
cronyism?

I'm skeptical.

~~~
0x12
Typically movie making permits are given under the assumption that there will
be no abuse of such permits (after all, only a limited number of movies will
be made) and because cities like the exposure.

Selling apparel is so common that if everybody that sold apparel would get a
movie permit that no traffic could use the road anymore.

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rada
This is nothing more than a bricks-and-mortar version of spam. Misleading
subject? Check. Message scrambled so it can pass through the spam filter?
Check. Exacerbating traffic congestion at pipe owner's expense? Check.
Millions of people's time wasted? Check.

Ok, spam is not genocide, and ok, it moves product. But to make it into an
inspiring Young-Entrepreneur-Breaking-The-Rules story? Give me a break.

~~~
georgieporgie
What is it spam for? The newsletter link at the bottom?

~~~
DanLivesHere
No, he's saying that Kenneth Cole was a spammer. Just a brick-and-mortar one.

~~~
georgieporgie
That seems like a heavily stretched metaphor.

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cbs
Yeah, great for him. This law is in place prevent the tragedy of the commons
from killing NYC traffic because "well, its ok for _ME_ to block traffic
selling my shit".

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parfe
If he never closed shop he was selling over 11 pairs of shoes a minute for 2.5
days straight. I assume he was actually doing bulk sales to distributors.

The article doesn't make it clear. Was Market Week a retail event or a
business to business event?

~~~
dabent
I'm pretty sure this is the kind of event where purchasers make deals with
manufacturers. You're right, it would be logistically impossible for that many
shoes to be sold one at a time...

[http://nycfashioninfo.com/wholesale/market-
weeks/Calendar.as...](http://nycfashioninfo.com/wholesale/market-
weeks/Calendar.aspx)

------
DanLivesHere
... and he embraces it. I learned this from one of his trucks (see
<http://i.imgur.com/UClZP.jpg>) which told the story.

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joezydeco
Millions of people work around stifling bureaucracies daily.

Anyone working for a large corporation probably has a dozen or more arrows in
their quiver when it comes to working around stupid rules, inefficient
procedures, or stupid/inefficient coworkers.

------
yason
It's easy to break the rules if you just see them as rules, like kids do: they
interpret rules literally.

If, instead, you have learned to see some sort of an authority or greater
justification issued behind the rules, rules become bearly impossible to bend
because you'd be not only mucking with the rules but challenging something
much greater.

For an example, if you bump into a locked door of an abandoned old house, most
people shy away because they _assume_ the whole premises are off limits. While
that is a safe assumption, a hacker mind would just consider the locked door
as one particular blocked entry to the house and hop in through the basement
window that was left slightly open. It might not be too relevant for him
whether the premises themselves are, or are not, off limits: the hacker mind
would realize that him looking around the house doesn't cause any tangential
damage to anything, but at least he would satisfy his endless curiosity about
what's inside.

Similarly this shoe guy realized it does no harm to anyone and nobody would
actually care if he posed as a film crew even if they weren't filming
anything. Well, it seems nobody did care!

~~~
wisty
I find the whole "rules are made to be broken" thing a little creepy.

But you seem to have a more interesting take - unjust rules are meant to be
sidestepped.

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nickpinkston
True hustlers make it happen - great story.

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americandesi333
He did break the rules, but these rules were irrational and he didn't hurt
anyone in the process. Thats the ethical and moral dilemma that hustlers have
to deal with every day.

This is an inspiring story, but when I hear about founders cheating,
backstabbing and hurting others in the process, that is not inspiring... and
there is a fine line between the two.

~~~
cbs
>but these rules were irrational

Yeah, lets just let anyone who wants to set up shop in the middle of NYC
roads. Won't impact traffic in the city at all.

~~~
americandesi333
I am not propagating that anyone should be allowed to have a truck on the NYC
road, but why is it restricted only for movie studios and utility companies?
Why not look at other industries that might value from such a permit. Even the
author seems to agree with that evaluation.

~~~
kstenerud
Utility companies need to block traffic in order to service the public
infrastructure. Film studios need to block traffic because traditionally it's
been the only way to get street shots, especially when large film crews and
big name actors are involved. Both are special cases that require special
consideration.

What is the special needs use case for a shoe manufacturer?

~~~
fragsworth
I think the movie studios get permits more for the fact that it ends up
becoming free advertising and good publicity for the city.

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mathattack
He would have a great answer for The YC application question of "how did you
hack the system?"

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aneth
The lesson to be learned here is to make things happen - to find a way from A
to B - to not take no for an answer.

It is not that breaking the rules is a good thing, only that sometimes it is
acceptable.

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jonathanmoore
Fun fact... Their legal name to date is still Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc.
as a reminder to resourcefulness and innovative problem solving.

Source:
[http://www.kennethcole.com/content/index.jsp?page=our_story&...](http://www.kennethcole.com/content/index.jsp?page=our_story&h=1150&w=898)

~~~
DanLivesHere
This is also noted in the submitted link

~~~
jonathanmoore
My mistake. I must have missed that.

The version of the story that is told on Kenneth Cole's website is still worth
checking out.

~~~
kgermino
Except its flash only...

