
The Moby Dick theory of big companies (2007) - mooreds
http://pmarchive.com/guide_to_startups_part5.html
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vonnik
Great article. For anyone who wants a book-length drama revolving around the
same pitfalls, read Jerry Kaplan's great account of GO Computing, published in
the mid 90s. Time is on their side, and so is the Koolaid.

[https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Silicon-Adventure-Jerry-
Kapla...](https://www.amazon.com/Startup-Silicon-Adventure-Jerry-
Kaplan/dp/0140257314)

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mathattack
Awesome book!

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btreesOfSpring
> Fourth, beware bad deals.

> I am thinking of one high-profile Internet startup in San Francisco right
> now

which specific startup is being referred to in this section of the article?

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mooreds
This was from @pmarca's old blog, so I am not sure the date on the post is
correct.

No idea.

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neil_s
Just shut down a company because we fell into some of these pitfalls. Such a
great article to remember next time.

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david927
The advice is sound but the analogy is ridiculous.

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jonnathanson
The analogy strains at times, but I don't find it completely ridiculous. In
the world of sales and BD, "whale" is a common name for a very big account or
target. Oftentimes this means a big company.

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Analemma_
I think what the parent meant was that "Moby Dick" as a metaphor for
"something alien and unknowable whose behavior you can't predict or
understand" is not how it's usually used, which can be confusing. Usually when
Moby Dick is used allegorically, it means "something very rare", or it's a
metaphor about being consumed by the pointless desire for vengeance. Neither
of those are the way the author used it here.

(More abstractly, if X is usually used in literature as a metaphor for Y, but
you use it as a metaphor for Z, and Z and Y are unrelated, readers will
sometimes find it hard to follow.)

A closer metaphor might've been Solaris, or some kind of Lovecraftian monster,
but that reference may have eluded readers. Oh well.

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jonnathanson
Gotcha.

I've usually heard Moby Dick referenced to mean something elusive or
borderline impossible to catch -- which is not necessarily the same thing as
rarity, but has a similar outcome I suppose.

Of course, as you point out, the ultimate point of most Moby Dick metaphors is
caution: chasing the white whale leads to your doom.

That latter point, even though it isn't the thrust of Andreesen's metaphor,
nevertheless comes through in the article. So the whole "Moby Dick =
unpredictable" thing doesn't quite hit its mark, but "Chasing Moby Dick =
fruitless and possibly self-destructive" still does.

I'd love to see someone reference Solaris in a post like this, but yeah, it's
just too obscure for most audiences.

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gumby
This is all excellent advice! The one about the startup that struck a deal
early and then was hamstrung in pursuing its business is, sadly, a classic.

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wildeswildes
Nice reading.

