Comment by NSX2 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by NSX2 | Hacker News Reader

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</more sarcasm>

I wouldn't dream of partnering with programmers because they're all so wise with deep experience from a wide range of experiences.

I tried partnering up with programmers before but they all informed me they're busy becoming billionaires by setting up their one-person companies to be sold to google on the basis of their awesome algorithms that load YouTube videos 1.23% faster, or their awesome multiplatform databases that connect my car garage opener via satellite to my blackberry, so I can know the instant my garage door opener's battery is running low, or a bluetooth enabled automatic public restroom toilet flusher that links to the ruby-based website they just built so I can know when all my friends are using the restroom, or any other such random multi-billion dollar ideas that lots of people are willing to pay for that every programmer I ever come across seems to secretly be working on.

I can't for the life of me figure out why I keep running into the same brilliant, wise, full-of perpsective programmers at the same parties/meetups/conferences and somehow the folks at google STILL haven't discovered the business value of their Ajax enabled fantasy poker/football/pokemom/Skoble stream mashup, but I refrain from commenting because I know that all programmers everywhere know a lot more about businesses and how to start one in a down, non-speculative economy than anybody anywhere.

</more sarcasm>

"...why I keep running into the same brilliant, wise, full-of perpsective programmers at the same parties/meetups... because I know that all programmers everywhere know a lot more about businesses... than anybody anywhere."

I could be wrong but have you ever thought that maybe since you had trouble convincing/selling your idea to the programmers themselves that they logically concluded that you'd probably have a hard time convincing/selling to other people too? or that since you have no track record, that its hard to prove your busines acumen... Knowing about textbook business is different from being able to execute it in real life...

"I could be wrong but have you ever thought that maybe since you had trouble convincing/selling your idea to the programmers themselves that they logically concluded that you'd probably have a hard time convincing/selling to other people too?

Well, since it usually never even GETS to my idea because they're busy showing me their brilliant technical features that few people would use and even fewer would pay money for ...

Plus, I don't trust the business acumen of most programmers. In 1999 I got turned down by Phil Greenspun because he was 100% convinced he could build a successful company building $1-5 million a pop corporate websites forever based on (1) Oracle costing a million per licence then (2) no other technologies existing to compete with Oracle (3) complete obvliviousness to offshore development trends (4) never-ending bubble enabling people to pay that much for a website forever and ever.

Guess he really showed me his business acumen when a year and a half later the VCs outmaneuvered him out of his startup.

So, since most programmers admire his business acumen, by transition most programmers in my mind have ... um ... not too much business acumen.

"or that since you have no track record, that its hard to prove your busines acumen...

See above.

Or my current experience this summer with a programmer who left my profitable business model and private equity relationships to work on his awesome idea which currently has a blog with ... um .. 3 subscribers (myself being one) and a never ending stream of posts with "o" comments.

" Knowing about textbook business is different from being able to execute it in real life...

I know nothing about textbooks. Just a market with a need and willingness to pay and a relationship to a CEO at a Dubai based equity firm willing to invest if I can build a "showable" example.

I would have thought in today's environment a profitable business model and people willing to invest would be of some value ...

But I could be wrong. Maybe bush is right and we're not coming into a recession/depression, but are merely in a "slowing down business time" as he put it that's due to reverse any second now, which will mean come this summer Ruby/Ajax based sites with no paying customers and no business model in the foreseeable future will be all the rage again.

<most sarcasm>

Where do you party/meetup/confer?

</most sarcasm>

<sarcasm to infinity plus plus plus>

Currently in the NYC metro area, although my experience with "Any day now my social network for ABBA lovers / fantasy soccer league / Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr/Myspace/Veoh/Youtube mashup will be worth millions" programmers has in the bast encompassed people from the Boston area (Harvard & MIT), Romania, Russia, and Denmark.

SIGH as much as I am reluctant to admit it, I'm starting to realize that what people say about S.V. is true - it is THE startup hub.

But IMHO, not because of the "infrastructure" but rather because of the more open, willing, "let's see if we can work together and if not, we fail - so what? Let's try something different" attitude.

Everywhere else nobody seems to understand that it takes a BALANCED team to create anything good. Programmer's think they're God's gift ... investment bankers think they're God's gift ... VCs think they're God's gift ... MBAs think they're God's gift ...

Only in S.V. is everyone seemingly willing to put ego aside and explore new possibilities with people different from them.

I would think based on the financial success they've achieve more people would be inclined to follow ... but ... apparently not.

</sarcasm to infinity plus plus plus>

<DFS>

Do you have a blog I can add to my favorites? If not, you should.

</DFS>

No, alas, no blog because blogging is against my code of ethics; I believe the phattic communication tendencies of modern society will soon cause it to be so distracted that all work will come to a grinding stop and collapse civilization.

Plus I have no friends so I can't imagine how I'd ever launch a blog.

But -- if you hook me up with some folks who can help me put together a demo for some investors I know, I promise you I'll start a blog just to entertain you :)

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