How To Make A Million Dollars | Hacker News Reader

How To Make A Million Dollars

danshipper.com

45 pointsrevorad18 comments

The article is really no better than its link-bait title would suggest. If you read it, you'll have a nagging feeling all along that you're not going to learn anything, and that feeling will be confirmed when you get to the end:

“The ability to ask for advice, and assimilate it correctly is the single most important thing you’ll have to do in your business life.”

“I can tell you how I made a million dollars. The real question is: how are you going to?”

“And that, you’re going to have to figure out for yourself.”

Really sorry that you feel that way. I tried to write it in a way that would speak to some of the things I've learned over the last few years. That advice may seem obvious, but I'm continually surprised at how many people don't think about things that way.

I know a lot of entrepreneurs that refuse to think they ever need help, or who do the "flip-flop" I described where they change their opinions every time they talk to someone new. Sorry again that you felt like you didn't get much out of it, I'll think about how I might be able to change that.

Re: People who think they never need help.

Zeus, I hate dealing with these people. Its just a waste of time. One of the key lessons about business is to learn to delegate.

"But orange, I don't have money to hire someone to help!" - is what I often hear. My answer is:

"Money is just a trading tool. There are always other options available. Always ask and explore those other options." You would not believe the amount of things I get from doing trades. You don't need money to get what you want. Money is more convenient, but its not the end.

Have to disagree with you on that one. I didn't expect a post on how to generate a million bucks (the same way I wouldn't expect to find a 100% guaranteed success way to SEDUCE DA LADEEZ if I clicked an ad on one of those more, ahem, personal sites).

It's a well written article that explains why, as you highlighted:

"The ability to ask for advice, and assimilate it correctly is the single most important thing you’ll have to do in your business life."

I'm fairly well-read in startup business methods and techniques and hadn't come across this lesson, specified this clearly, before.

There are good and bad titles but I don't see what's wrong with this one. It draws you in and the article goes on to provide valuable information. The author doesn't use it to sell viagra or help you add an inch. He's just selling a point which he makes admirably so.

And from the article:

“When you understand this, what you’ll start doing is listening to advice in a different way. You won’t think about what people are saying to you. You’ll start thinking about what people are saying about themselves and how they think.”

The article speaks more about your post than your post speaks about the article.

Dan, great post. Its a reality that few people ever realize. Learning how to listen, but also how to figure out what people are saying is a game changer. Its the difference between being broke and having money.

That is one of the most brilliant things I ever read in a while.

Specially the part of the elephant.

Why there are so many conflicting opinions? Because they are all right at the same time, but only for a part of the problem.

Things are constantly in flux, I saw a talk last week, 7 startups that had exits, talked about how they did it, one thing was a constant: the economic scenario greatly influenced each of their paths.

One, was in a economy ready to bust (early 2008), and he knew it, and what he did was take the first good offer.

Other, was in a bustling economy, he just made buyers compete to buy his company.

Other, had his 2 year of development product, get made obsolete at launch because of political shifts, requiring some emergency pivoting.

You cannot copy other people, because you are not them, you are not in the same situation, you did not had the same parents, you don't have the same skillset!

The thing I hate most about people giving advice from the point of view of "I got rich, here's how you can too," is that they never realize the statistical anomaly that they are.

Some things are controllable, of course. Some advice is good. But some of it is sheer luck and timing. Would you listen to advice on how to win the lottery from someone who has? Of course not.

So what do you do instead? Listen to the science and math of it. Look at your market with a microscope, and your product like a scientific machine. Look at it like an artist and study social trends and psychology. Even then there will be some luck and chance in it, but at least you'll know how much.

Don't listen to people who won the lottery—listen to the ones with reproducible results who can tell you exactly why. And I guarantee you it wasn't only because they listened to other people's advice.

Watch this video instead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0...

That was really great, thanks.

As someone who is always fighting off an avalanche of emails asking of for business advice, I can definitely identify with this. Everyone wants to hear what they think is the right choice, but no one is ever paying attention when I tell them that they have to figure it out themselves. Seems people (specially programmers) are obsessed with finding the correct path to riches, but few ever manage to go out and follow along the path. Success is more about perspiration that about planification.

People make a million dollars by succeeding at something else. It's a shame how often one sees articles that focus on the outcome rather than the process.

I made millions in software development, but that wasn't my reason for writing software, it was an unintended side effect. If I had set out to make a million dollars (the sort of person articles like this appeal to), I would still be waiting at the door.

Your anecdote actually illustrates the problem this article addresses with the blind men and elephant analogy.

Just because you made a million dollars by accident does not mean one can't make a million dollars intentionally.

> Just because you made a million dollars by accident does not mean one can't make a million dollars intentionally.

The point I was making is that setting out to make a million dollars shouldn't be the goal. There needs to be a more substantive goal, something people might find useful.

And my point is that setting out to make a million dollars is a perfectly legitimate goal. Making something people find useful is one way to achieve that goal.

Great article. It seems very simplistic and shallow but if you really think about the points being made they are spot on. I've always said that success is not repeatable, however, the habits to success are. This article does a good job of supporting that theory.

Simply the hokey-ist article I have read in a long time.

tl;dr: "you’re going to have to figure out for yourself"

Reply on news.ycombinator.com