

But… I could have written that in a week  - cinbun8
http://deepakbala.me/2013/06/27/but-i-could-have-written-that-in-a-week/

======
wikwocket
Reminds me of a blog post about Stack Overflow[0], which references a HN
discussion[1] where people were guesstimating that they could reproduce all of
SO in a weekend.

We're tinkerers - when we see something, we immediately think about how it
works under the hood. And because we're too clever by half, we're dogged
optimists, thinking there is always a way to accomplish something.

As we mature, we realize that things are often more complicated than they seem
on the surface, that often a lot of engineering goes into making something
appear simple and easy, and especially, that there is more to the value of
something than the effort it would take to build a copy of it.

[0] [http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/07/code-its-
trivial.ht...](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/07/code-its-trivial.html)
[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=678501](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=678501)

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blowski
This argument is very similar to that about the 'value' of modern art. We
traditionally place all the value on the amount of effort that goes directly
into producing the item, and discount any of the other effort involved in
making it a success.

Perhaps the cliche `success = perspiration + inspiration` needs to be updated
to include `marketing`.

~~~
srikrishnan
maybe it needs to be more generic than 'marketing'. Sometimes its about making
the right connections and getting distribution right. Sometimes its about
creating barriers to entry that are not via the core product itself.

~~~
blowski
Yeah, I wasn't happy with my choice of word, but couldn't think of anything
else. I guess the key point is that if you pour 100% of your effort directly
into development of the product then there's a good chance you'll fail.

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vicky_dec8th
I think it also matters where you eventually want to be. Is the problem you
are solving help a million users? Is it repeatable business?

Not judging on what is wrong approach or right approach. But startups tend to
go after ideas which can get a few million users or generate a few million
dollars in revenue.

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quaunaut
It's a good lesson to learn. After all- most web apps aren't that complicated
in the first place. To steal a quote, they're just "skins over databases".
Yet, they have immense value.

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jrs99
Crappy, rip-off products can make money. That's hard to accept.

------
grimtrigger
Do you have a week? You can be their first competitor!

~~~
gryn010
i'm pretty sure that once you start making it you'll discover that in fact it
takes way more than a week ^^

