Ask HN: Hasn't the startup world become far too serious and dull?

[ttsemih]

Just look at this video recorded only in 2013 and see how relaxed people were back then. Okay, I'm not defending that image either, but now everything is so serious. Did you get into YC? Are you a Harvard graduate? Do you have a PhD in AI? Do you have amazing traction? No? Then get out.

Genius Co-founders at TechCrunch Disrupt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NAzQPll7Lo&t=1489s

Travis Kalanick's Presentation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQDlqOVxUqA

[wslh]

I would say that the startup world is now a business itself alike Hollywood. There are script writers, producers, director, actors, and at the end you have a list of thousand people who created the movie.

Probably, this is a natural evolution that ends up in a "mass media" phenomenon, and we need to find a new space or branch that is different and more realistic (for the benefit of the market AND the people).

IMHO, startups are ill-defined (e.g. "infinite" scaling) and the use of "life-style business" is derogatory if we try to define a startup that doesn't want to scale at inifinitum or is wise to wait for the real opportunity. I always use the example of Nintendo, or even Intel. Nintendo started selling playing cards and Intel business were RAM memories.

I would say, like in a Zen koan [1], that we need "alternative startups" or "underground startup culture" more than "indy startups". It sounds weird because the use of "alternative" and "underground" is against a system but startups are in the system but koans are good for thinking on this.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koan

[gardenhedge]

Looks like the founder of rap genius passed away very recently. He attributed the way he acted to a brain tumor.

"In March 2024, Moghadam died at the age of 41 due to complications from his recurrent brain tumor." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahbod_Moghadam

[gitgud → gardenhedge]

That’s honestly a bit heart-breaking I remember he was on some programming podcast years ago and is how I heard of genius.com

He seemed like such an interesting founder, with a lot of technical knowledge and big opinions…

[kingkongjaffa]

In the serious video Kalanick is uninspiring.

But IDK how you look at the 2013 one and be anything but repulsed by a bunch of man children on stage.

And genius was sold for a shadow of what it was valued at https://trapital.co/2021/09/20/why-genius-sold-for-less-mone...

[FearNotDaniel]

Still waiting for Erlich Bachman to come back from his vision quest. Any day now. Until then, it's Gavin Belson's town...

[leros]

In a lot of ways, tech is just another business industry now. It's not the cool frontier it used to be.

[wildrhythms → leros]

We let the rentseeking businesspeople step in and control what used to be driven by passionate engineers in their garage.

[leet_thow]

Yes, the Bay Area used to be a place where innovative young people could thrive.

[f0e4c2f7]

Nah it's just as goofy now if not goofier. What's hard to remember is that back in 2013 nobody really knew or cared who Travis was yet. You can never predict the successes. I guarantee around that time there were much more "serious" people who looked more likely to succeed.

Likewise, now some people may seem really adept at startups. Perhaps they know all the right VCs, have a PhD, maybe they grew up in SF instead of moving there.

At the end of the day that stuff matters very little. The next big startup will be from someone, and something no one sees coming.

For example, I can think of one AI founder who is growing his company almost entirely on the back of using his product to make and post completely unhinged memes.

Harder to imagine in 2013, even then it might have seemed a little too unserious.

[sp332]

Money is more expensive now. Inflation was over 4% for a while.

[muzani → sp332]

Exactly! Humor dies when exposed to inflation levels above 2.5%.

[datascienced]

It is a music industry startup (I think)? So they are in the role (maybe LARPing, maybe genuine) but definitely on brand. I don’t think it is “2013ish” that caused it.

[greyzor7]

I really hope it has not. I'm actually growing https://microlaunch.net, an innovative & gamified platform for startups, exactly for this same goal: create a product maker-friendly environment and redefine the link between startups, innovation, and makers.

[marco_ftw]

Totally, gotta watchout for the echo chamber.