

Ask HN: Taking the Long View - matt1

I've been thinking a lot about the future and what type of nights-and-weekends project I want to work on next. Probably not the next project and probably not the one after that, but eventually I want to turn one of them into a company that I can work on full time.<p>There's a lot of great guidance out there on how to come up with a killer business idea. YC's "Make something people want" stands out among them. By adhering to that maxim alone you could probably do very well, but I feel like its missing something.<p>There recently was a discussion about a site called Parrot Secrets, which sells an eBook about raising and owning parrots. According to one site, the owner makes a few hundred thousand dollars a year from the site and he doesn't even own a parrot. He made something people want and has become very rich because of it. I don't want to start a site like that.<p>"But why not?" I kept asking myself. Indeed, if the goal is to make money, there's a lot of easier ways to do it other than a Y Combinator-type startup.<p>I realized that I very much want to build a long term company. Something that I can still be running 20-30 years from now. Not some fish-widget-flashy-url-shortener-social-network-thingy.<p>My question boils down to this: <i>How do you identify an idea that has the potential to become a long term business?</i><p>I think the key is founding a company with a <i>vision</i> and not simply focusing on acquisition. Bonus question: How does YC feel about companies who say they are not interested in getting acquired?
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noodle
_How do you identify an idea that has the potential to become a long term
business?_

if you can answer that with accuracy, let me know :)

i think the best way to make it happen, though, is to do exactly what you said
you don't want to do -- build some widget thingeys. work on things that
interest you in the short term, that are meaningless and you could throw away
for something new. maybe these individual meaningless things can morph into
something meaningful. if they don't, you can ignore/trash and move on.

if you sit and wait for the perfect thing you might wait forever. don't just
spin your wheels, pick a direction you want to go and start driving.

just my $0.02.

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matt1
Maybe you're right; I'm thinking there are some fundamental priciples which
can increase your chances of success. I'm not just sure what they are yet.

Thanks for the response.

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dmv
Consider "Built to Last"

[http://www.amazon.com/Built-Last-Successful-Visionary-
Compan...](http://www.amazon.com/Built-Last-Successful-Visionary-
Companies/dp/0887306713)

by Jim Collins

<http://www.jimcollins.com/lib/books.html>

and Jerry Porras, which is an analysis of companies that did that. Vision, of
course, but not visionary products. Vision that leads a sustainable, cohesive
culture.

~~~
matt1
Thanks for the pointers -- looks like exactly what I'm looking for.

