The Midwest Approach - Lessons from the CEO of Answers.com | Hacker News Reader

The Midwest Approach - Lessons from the CEO of Answers.com

dylanized.com

I think people tend to get caught up in the hype and fluff of the Bay Area startup scene and worry more about vanity metrics, raising money for "big ideas", and all the bullshit that surrounds our industry. I think ultimately those will be the contributing factors in the demise of SV. There's a lot to be said for the "Midwest approach" (fyi, I am from Indiana originally, now working in SF). 37Signals is the embodiment of what this article calls the midwest way. Bootstrap, focus on profitability, be humble. I get tired of listening to everyone out here talk about raising huge amounts of money for web apps that require huge userbases to monetize or about changing the world with their iPhone apps. It's all bs. Too many people out here, as I like to say, are the type of people who love to smell their own farts. I'd like to see more people work on the "Midwest approach".

lol. too much smug

I agree, 37signals really are the godfathers of the movement!

Having done my time in the Valley, I am now almost allergic to bs-spewing self promotors who are always "killing" whatever "it" is that constitutes their latest pivot. These people are the cockroaches of the Valley, and they especially stick out like a sore thumb when they wash out and move to the midwest.

Midwest startup meetups started to be flooded with business guys with an app idea looking for a tech guy to build it for 5% equity and no cash... I hate to use stupid teenage acronyms, but "smh" is appropriate here.

At least their subtly isn't outpaced by their guile. Easy enough to steer clear.

It's really kind of laughable that commonsensical, self-evident entrepreneurship, in the form of sustainable, organic development and focus on dependable profitability, is a "movement", as if it were something new, or that 37 Signals has managed to appoint itself the spiritual steward of this "innovation."

Fundamentals-based small business is how business has been done since the beginning of commerce. It's been around for thousands of years. It's rather telling about our world that advocating a return to that in the web economy brands one with a distinct ethos and allows one to earn speaking fees going around talking about it as if it were some radical gospel.

I love the Startup School talk DHH did a few years ago where he talks about having a product and charging money for it... Pretty hilarious delivery.

While I think this is a great approach to startups and business in general, I also think that Answers.com as a business is quite sad. Any website that makes their money by using more than a quarter of their screen space for advertising I consider to be the scummy salesmen of the internet. Sure, it might end up giving you what you're looking for if you're lucky. But you also get bombarded with much more than you were originally asking for.

Do you consider google one of the scummy salesmen of the internet?

Not at all. Google's ads are very reasonable, especially in comparison to Answers.com. Google's ads are also clearly ads. Answers.com likes to mix ads with content in the middle of the page.

Hi James, http://searchengineland.com/figz/wp-content/seloads/2012/01/... http://www.torymcbroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/google...

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4476508

Yeah, it has gotten worse over the years. I suppose in most cases they do probably make up more than 25% of the total page, and easily if you count just above the fold. And yet, for me anyways, they aren't near as obnoxious as the ads on Answers.com and other sites that put banner ads on every corner of the page, and insert text ads between every paragraph. So, I don't know. Maybe it's more than just how much real estate you use, but I think my original point still stands.

I live in Chicago and I can tell you for a fact that what he describes really is the The Midwest Approach (though I like to call it the Chicago Style because I love this city way too much). We say "show me the money" before all else. We don't get users first and monetize later. We monetize first and stay in business forever.

As a Missouri resident, I am going to call dibs on a blog post title of "'Show Me' the Money" :-)

But more seriously, the lack of vision by some investors into the potential of a new idea can be frustrating. However, the expectation of discipline to grow a robust business is an attractive trait of many of the same investors. More base hits than home runs can be a better investment strategy.

Right on. I like your Moneyball mentality (your last sentence reminded me of it).

A cute myth by the new CEO. Answers.com was founded in Israel (though by American immigrants) by Bob Rosenschein who was from Pittsburgh.

Until it's purchase, the core operations were in Israel. Answers.com was later sold and moved to the Midwest.

Not really a myth. David shared how the company started as comparison shopping engine and later bought the Answers.com site. He also talked about their attempts to buy About.com over the last few months.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com