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Comment by ABrandt | Hacker News Reader

Except far more accurate IMHO. Alright sure you could be a rockstar developer (you could be a rockstar anything I guess), but being a expert programmer has nothing do with being a 'ninja'. They're just geeky terms that stuck.

A hustler, on the other hand, is exactly what business people must be in a startup. Far from having a well defined role, you must do whatever it takes to make it happen (whatever 'it' may be). Further, a hustler must operate outside the status quo whether they're in a startup or on the streets. While most programmers I know hate the ninja and rockstar labels, I find hustler to be quite endearing.

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I know that languages evolve naturally, and words get repurposed all the time, but hustler? Really?.

hustler

  n 1: a prostitute who attracts customers by walking the streets
    2: a shrewd or __unscrupulous__ person who knows how to circumvent difficulties

It also happens to be the title of a porn magazine that would make Hugh Hefner blush, while you won't often hear the term 'hustler' used in reference to a female prostitute, you will find it heavily used among gay men to refer to male prostitutes.

Perhaps repurposing 'hustler' without negative connotations will work, but this is a word with a lot of ugly baggage, and the first thing I thought of when I saw it used in reference to startups: dishonest businessmen.

[Addendum] For completeness, a dip into the modern lexicon:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hustler_(disambiguation)

  Hustler is a monthly pornographic men's magazine
  and general brand of Larry Flynt Publications.

  Hustler or hustlers also commonly refers to:
    - A practitioner of confidence tricks
    - Someone who deceives others by hustling, usually in sports
    - An American hip hop slang word for a pimp,
      drug dealer or male prostitute

You're missing one definition:

  an aggressively enterprising person; a go-getter

I think it depends on audience, but I hear this quite often in these circles.

I agree that it depends on your dictionary.

If a locally repurposed word like hustler has a very strong meaning outside your circles, chances are good that when you start talking about hustling in relation to business, a fair number of people are going to think swindler or worse.

It seems that a number of people like to use it as a self-description because it does have negative, edgy traits -- in the same sense of 'ninja'. Unlike 'ninja', however, 'hustler' can easily lie a bit too close to the truth.

I think "hustler" is exactly what it is and isn't hyperbole at all. Come on - who amongst us haven't played Rick Ross - "Hustlin'" after closing a deal. I'm guilty and so are many fellow foundas - er, founders... ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU9TouRnO84

I admit to playing "We are the champions" and "Eye of the Tiger" a few times after signing large contracts, but I never have had the feeling I was, well, hustlin' anyone:

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rickross/hustlin.html

I think it's a minor but telling difference of perspective of what we, respectively, do in business.

Hustlin' doesn't mean "trying to make a quick buck", it means moving quickly towards your goal.

In this timeless piece, Ross discusses his fortunes in the trans-Atlantic pharmaceutical trade, at one point managing over 100 employees and reaping the fruits of his labor - all the while trying to maintain proprietary knowledge and head-off new entrants.

[Is there really much of a difference other than him being unlicensed to do this?]

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