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"Create more value than you capture" was the swan song of Tim O'Reilly over a dozen years ago. https://youtu.be/y0CGT5AH7HE

Really hard for me to believe DHH wasn't aware of this, and quite unimpressed at his minor rephrase being uncredited. Seeing the value of this phrase captured & claimed so is quite against the spirit.

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It goes back much farther than that as it's a practice of successful business people since time began. One much older example of it in written form would Napoleon Hill 1928 "Lesson 9: The habit of doing more for than paid." What it comes down to is cultivating customer goodwill by offering additional value that doesn't cost a lot to encourage more sales via network effects as referrals, and in the modern era, 5-star ratings and shares on social media.

If anything, even if he’s aware, I’d say it’s pretty much in line with the spirit.

Albeit, I can’t speak for Tim O’Reilly, but just like I don’t expect to become a billionaire from writing an open source framework, I don’t go around crediting absolutely everything or tipping back. If I assume best intentions (in line with the spirit of HN), it doesn’t look like DHH is trying to make a claim to fame on the back of this phrase.

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