

The Midwest Approach - Lessons from the CEO of Answers.com - dylanhassinger
http://dylanized.com/the-midwest-approach/

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bherms
I think people tend to get caught up in the hype and fluff of the Bay Area
startup scene and worry more about vanity metrics, raising money for "big
ideas", and all the bullshit that surrounds our industry. I think ultimately
those will be the contributing factors in the demise of SV. There's a lot to
be said for the "Midwest approach" (fyi, I am from Indiana originally, now
working in SF). 37Signals is the embodiment of what this article calls the
midwest way. Bootstrap, focus on profitability, be humble. I get tired of
listening to everyone out here talk about raising huge amounts of money for
web apps that require huge userbases to monetize or about changing the world
with their iPhone apps. It's all bs. Too many people out here, as I like to
say, are the type of people who love to smell their own farts. I'd like to see
more people work on the "Midwest approach".

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a5seo
Having done my time in the Valley, I am now almost allergic to bs-spewing self
promotors who are always "killing" whatever "it" is that constitutes their
latest pivot. These people are the cockroaches of the Valley, and they
especially stick out like a sore thumb when they wash out and move to the
midwest.

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bherms
Midwest startup meetups started to be flooded with business guys with an app
idea looking for a tech guy to build it for 5% equity and no cash... I hate to
use stupid teenage acronyms, but "smh" is appropriate here.

~~~
a5seo
At least their subtly isn't outpaced by their guile. Easy enough to steer
clear.

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james4k
While I think this is a great approach to startups and business in general, I
also think that Answers.com as a business is quite sad. Any website that makes
their money by using more than a quarter of their screen space for advertising
I consider to be the scummy salesmen of the internet. Sure, it might end up
giving you what you're looking for if you're lucky. But you also get bombarded
with much more than you were originally asking for.

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ahi
Do you consider google one of the scummy salesmen of the internet?

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james4k
Not at all. Google's ads are very reasonable, especially in comparison to
Answers.com. Google's ads are also clearly ads. Answers.com likes to mix ads
with content in the middle of the page.

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onetimeuse001
Hi James, [http://searchengineland.com/figz/wp-
content/seloads/2012/01/...](http://searchengineland.com/figz/wp-
content/seloads/2012/01/ads-on-google-600x517.png)
[http://www.torymcbroom.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/01/google...](http://www.torymcbroom.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/01/google-search.png)

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4476508>

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james4k
Yeah, it has gotten worse over the years. I suppose in most cases they do
probably make up more than 25% of the total page, and easily if you count just
above the fold. And yet, for me anyways, they aren't near as obnoxious as the
ads on Answers.com and other sites that put banner ads on every corner of the
page, and insert text ads between every paragraph. So, I don't know. Maybe
it's more than just how much real estate you use, but I think my original
point still stands.

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bpatrianakos
I live in Chicago and I can tell you for a fact that what he describes really
is the The Midwest Approach (though I like to call it the Chicago Style
because I love this city way too much). We say "show me the money" before all
else. We don't get users first and monetize later. We monetize first and stay
in business forever.

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vnchr
As a Missouri resident, I am going to call dibs on a blog post title of "'Show
Me' the Money" :-)

But more seriously, the lack of vision by some investors into the potential of
a new idea can be frustrating. However, the expectation of discipline to grow
a robust business is an attractive trait of many of the same investors. More
base hits than home runs can be a better investment strategy.

~~~
bpatrianakos
Right on. I like your Moneyball mentality (your last sentence reminded me of
it).

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codereview12414
A cute myth by the new CEO. Answers.com was founded in Israel (though by
American immigrants) by Bob Rosenschein who was from Pittsburgh.

Until it's purchase, the core operations were in Israel. Answers.com was later
sold and moved to the Midwest.

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dylanhassinger
Not really a myth. David shared how the company started as comparison shopping
engine and later bought the Answers.com site. He also talked about their
attempts to buy About.com over the last few months.

