Flailing Fast: A Startup Story | Hacker News Reader

Flailing Fast: A Startup Story

flailfast.com

123 pointsFlailFast20 comments

This story lacks a summary, so here goes...

Flailing Fast is an underground classic chronicaling the story of two young entrepreneurs. I got an earlier version a few months ago, though it may have been floating around the startup scene for longer. The entrepreneurs meet at a networking event, happen upon accidental success with an iPhone fart app, and finally are undone by a combination of ambition (a fart app platform!), investors, and group psychology. Written in business case style, it could only have been written by an MBA, a bitter entrepreneur, or both.

Though optimistic in the end, Flailing Fast seems to ask, are we really so different from these young accidental entrepreneurs?

(Also, the whole thing is free to read online.)

Please ghostwrite my next novel. That summary is way superior to anything I've ever done.

Are we really similar to them?

Probably not... closed a Series A yet?

I thought this was highly entertaining - made me laugh many times over. Ever consider shipping this off to This American Life or The Moth or something along those lines?

Really happy to hear it! I would, although so much of it is fiction that I doubt either would accept it. Perhaps some other publication would be better suited, although through this posting I managed to get my work out to the group that most appreciates it -- as I always say, "S3 buckets > buckets of unsold magazines." Why I say things in terms of inequalities -- and why I believe magazines are stored in buckets -- are probably subjects for another post.

Refreshingly cynical. It makes me want to just open a bar or something, rather than do battle with TOADs, JOCKs, Product Management Pirates and Social Media Ninjas.

If it helps, I would definitely patronize your bar sir.

I'm not sure I care for the style, but the point is still valid -- that it's hard to separate skill from luck. There's so much noise in the market. So many people are busy flipping coins, is it too hard to believe that successful people are simply good coin flippers (ie. lucky)? Of course, a certain minimum of skill is required. How much skill... very debatable.

I sat down and read this all the way through.

It was very sobering. I highly recommend it to would be entrepreneurs looking to raise funds. I found myself nodding my head at how accurately this story described some of my own experiences.

This is awesome because it pretends to be fiction, but it's true.

When does it come out as a movie, and who will you get to play Professor Bonhoeffer?

Ideally, I'd pull a "Shawshank Redemption" and get Morgan Freeman.

Pull a "Blow" and get Paul Rubens as Tim Thompson!

I wonder how much of this story is real? It certainly felt real. Still, a thoroughly enjoyable read.

I wish I could upvote this more than once.

I like the idea of this book ... I think.

But this writer sure speaks a lot without saying much. Distractingly so.

I'll admit: at times I go off the deep end, if only for literary flourish. But I hope those moments are at least entertaining, if not thoughtful (though my aim potentially f(l)ailed in that regard).

I thought it was hilarious, your take on the old lawyer-2-bullets joke made me laugh out loud on the train.

Thanks! That was one of my favorites to write too. As you probably gathered if you got that far -- and I'm happy to hear that you did! -- I have a predilection for hyperbole.

I came off as harsh, it was entertaining. But after five or so paragraphs of the introduction I was thinking "Ok, I am thoroughly entertained! But maybe there isn't enough content buried in the entertainment?"

Don't get me wrong, I love being entertained. But it's a delicate balancing act and, I guess, the balance is different for every reader and even for the same reader on different occasions :)

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