Another point: we're actually talking about strategy (Stratechery/MBA worldview) vs. operations (build the best product, do things well -- HN view). This is a well-worn argument in business circles and it's funny to see it manifest here under a different name. http://www.davidralbrecht.com/notes/2018/09/strategy.html
Hackers are operators :)
I get the sense that strategy vs. operations matters differently depending on the characteristics of the business. I don't really have a coherent articulation of this point yet. It might change over time (something Ben suggests in today's post), or perhaps based on industry maturity or type of product, or market concentration. But it feels like something where people are arguing and are both right, because their arguments are insufficiently qualified/scoped (X is true vs. X is true when Y, Z are true).