Comment by ColinWright | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ColinWright | Hacker News Reader

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I'm really confused by some of the comments in this thread. People think the comedian - you know, the one telling the joke - is somehow supposed to be the entrepreneur. (edit: and now, thanks to a response to this comment, I realise that the author of the blog post thinks so too.)

He's not.

The person representing the entrepreneur in this parable is the show host, or the audience. The comedian is playing the role of the potential customer.

The lesson is to listen to the customer, because sometimes there's a huge payoff that can't be obtained in any other way.

That's the lesson I took away from this - anything else doesn't seem to make sense, but if you have a different opinion, I'm listening.

Edit - so I took away a completely different lesson.

You read the article wrong. The comedian represents the entrepreneur.

"Watching the joke, you can see Norm adjust based on what is resonating with the audience (you know, like moth names). You can't figure out what matters and course-correct if you rush through your pitch as a monologue"

You're right. After going back and re-reading, that's what the author of the article is saying. So now I simply think he's got a really bad example, and is drawing the wrong lesson.

There are several lessons to learn, and to my way of thinking, it's all completely screwed, and I've learned something else.

Above all - be clear.

I'll just chime in and say I quite like your reading of it and think it's a great point.

Regarding my intent: that video is the example to zoom in on the uncomfortable feeling of allowing someone to misunderstand you while you get to where you're going (which in the comedian's case is the punchline, the entrepreneur's case is better customer understanding).

To be fair, the first paragraph after the video is pretty straight forward and very clear as to the point.

That being said, your interpretation of the video is an equally interesting look.

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For some reason you are really working hard to insult the author. Why is this?

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