
Reconsider (2015) - albi_lander
https://m.signalvnoise.com/reconsider-41adf356857f#.nig7picg7
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Upvoter33
The article points out that there is room for many different models of
building companies. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. It's true, the
VC lure of dollars and fame is one that gets pushed by many; as such, this
type of counterpoint is useful to see and hear, and likely required reading
for those wishing to create something on their own. One should at least
consider whether building the thing of your dreams on your own is possible.

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saurabhjha
I thought about this article a lot since it was published. I might be going
off the tangent a bit here but it might be relevant here

I do think it is possible to make create a company with properties mentioned
in dhh's article that have novel technical challenges. I used to think that
only consumer startups can have it because only there you get users and
traffic. ITA software and Akamai comes to mind. In fact, scaling a consumer
product is fairly common knowledge (every app except Whatsapp and Facebook is
sharding databases, adding a cache line to it and going through roughly the
same steps).

If you can make a good product for businesses that requires solving a problem
only made soluble with recent technology advances (for example, multicores,
reduced latency gap of RAM and flash storage), then you never need to worry
about monetisations strategies, VCs, exits and other things. Maybe you need
but it will be like dessert after dinner rather than salt in Indian food.

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mshenfield
Ambitious, VC backed business has grown a few amazingly successful businesses,
while many more have hopelessly dashed on the rocks. Do consumers ultimately
win from this kind of king-making and gamesmanship? Within the ecosystem of a
company, we certainly receive lots of benefits:

* Services we don't pay money for - Github, Google Search, Facebook Messenger

* Services we receive a hefty discount on (for now) - Uber and Lyft rides

* Ambitious projects that require hefty upfront investment - SpaceX, Tesla (all of the above)

On the macro level, I'm not qualified to say whether we could end up getting
these benefits from self-funded or lifetime profitable businesses in the same
sphere. But I fundamentally agree that not every entrepreneur needs to take
over the world. Making your "dent in the universe" by providing a sustainable,
considerate and quality (paid) service is a meaningful achievement and worthy
goal.

~~~
bandrami
So, this isn't a popular view here, but I think things like Google Search and
Facebook Messenger are a large part of why the Web is a much worse place now
than it was fifteen years ago. If you don't see the past decade and a half as
a regression, then I could see agreeing with your argument. But I definitely
do see it as one.

~~~
piva00
Define what is "worse" in that context for you. Without a proper definition I
can't agree with you at all.

Worse regarding privacy concerns? Of course it is, I would never disagree with
that.

Worse as an end user? Hell the fucking no. Before Google it was terribly hard
to really find what you were looking for, I can't even imagine how many man-
years humanity would have lost without Google Search.

~~~
bandrami
It's absolutely worse as an end user, privacy issues aside. Everything loads
slowly. My cursor jumps around and I'm never clicking what I intend to click.
Things that should be paginated instead infini-scroll, and things that
shouldn't be paginated are ("These five amazing photos will translate into 15
page impressions for us because you have to click next three times for each!")

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grabcocque
He has a point, but this is Hacker News. VCs most certainly do not want to
invest in you if you just want to "make a dent". Everyone is searching for
that next unicorn. If you don't want to be a unicorn, the VCs have no use for
you.

~~~
rfrey
"but this is Hacker News."

I don't think I understand what that means. HN has always had a rich mixture
of VC-seeking entrepreneurs, spare-time hackers, software hackers, hardware
hackers, greyhair DB analysts, academics and PhD students, and curious 9-5
bystanders.

The community certainly provides good publicity for YC, but I never got the
impression that pg intended this board to be exclusively a place to talk about
VC investment or what it takes to get it. Exactly the opposite in fact, a wide
diversity of experience and subjects was (and still is) encouraged.

I have no way to gauge, but I'll bet HN members interested in surfing VC-
infested waters are a small minority of the people here. This article is right
on point for a large number in this community.

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tempodox
Great article, I love the uncompromising tone.

> They’ve trained the media like obedient puppies to celebrate their process
> and worship their vocabulary. Oh, Series A! Cap tables! Vesting cliffs!

And woe betide the disobedient! Peter Thiel made Gawker an example of that.

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mnemotronic
I'll have a different perspective next time I watch Shark Tank.

This article only increased my disdain for Texas Pacific Group and Silver Lake
Partners; who have fjnorked 2 different companies where I worked. I got RIFed
on both occasions.

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badcede
[https://twitter.com/gaberivera/status/839261595519737856](https://twitter.com/gaberivera/status/839261595519737856)

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lhnz
Title should be: Reconsider (2015)

~~~
Veen
The message seems just as relevant today as it did two years ago.

~~~
brudgers
Putting the year in the title of a submission is a convention on Hacker News.
Having it helps readers place the article in context. Sometimes it's just
"didn't I read this before." Sometimes it provides comments like "That was
true then, but now there is another option" (thinking about Javascript tools,
here). It might even avoid "bad experience on mobile" or "broken link"
comments in some cases.

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bambax
The only thing more upsetting than the omnipresent disruption talk, is DHH
trying to take it down.

"I built Basecamp! It's moderately successful! So here's another 5,000 words
essay on why everyone should do the same! In it, I say the exact same thing I
have been saying for the last 10 years!"

Dude, we get it. You're not a unicorn because you chose not to. Great. Can we
please move on.

