

Hyperbrain Owner's Manual - 4. The value accumulator - swombat
http://inter-sections.net/2008/09/11/hyperbrain-owners-manual-4-the-value-accumulator

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watmough
The real deal-breaker for someone like this working in a services firm, is
that you cannot be recognized unless you control projects end to end.

My few successes in my time working in services came about when I was poorly
supervised, and was able to rigorously control the eventual output.

In contrast, working on projects that other people controlled was often an
exercise in frustration and compromise.

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learninglisp
my gosh... that's where my best project is...

a total skunkworks that achieved viral adoption in my side of the company...

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hhm
_"On the other hand, a services business might not be ideal for a hyperbrain,
since clients naturally care about the work you’re doing for them now, rather
than the work you did for other clients in the past."_

Probably you're right that services aren't good for "hyperbrains", but I don't
think that's the cause. In a services business there is something you build,
and that's your reputation. As your reputation grows, your prizes grow too,
and also you get to be pickier about the kind of work you choose. So that's
the backlog of the services business.

So while you're right that a backlog is useful and needed, it can be derived
from the services business too.

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swombat
Absolutely, and I know some hyperbrains running services businesses, but they
all complain about it. The problem in the case of the services business is
that your backlist can evaporate quite quickly if you screw up in the future.
It's not really lasting value, because if you're on a down cycle when the
client needs you, they'll quickly change their mind and your reputation will
go back down.

It's doable, just not ideal.

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peregrine
I can say I am a proud owner of a Hyperbrain and I've done everything
successfully up to this point.

~~~
jonmc12
“If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing
anything very innovative.” - Woody Allen

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eru
Perhaps he includes occasional failure in his definition of success?

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peregrine
In the article he explains that you need failures and will have failures.

I fail a whole lot, but I am better for it.

~~~
learninglisp
In some domains, big failures are better than small failures: you learn more.

