How Startup Advice Is Flawed | Hacker News Reader

How Startup Advice Is Flawed

gigaom.com

21 pointsdabent16 comments

I know this might sound whiney or bitter, but I think the vast majority of successful entrepreneurs were in the right place at the right time.

If they weren't, how else would they have been successful?

I don't disagree with you, but being in the right place at the right time usually means putting yourself out there by constantly searching for opportunities and trying (and failing) many times. Once you find yourself in the right place at the right time, there is also the matter of recognizing a great opportunity and risking your own capital and reputation by pursuing it with full force. That is much harder than most people imagine.

If I recall the story of the "Hot or Not" founders, they suddenly found themselves with an experiment that went out of control. They had no immediate means to profit from it and more traffic than they could handle. Rather than just pull the plug on the site, they found ways to get servers and bridge the gap until they had money coming in.

I couldn't help but think I'd have given up on the site early on if no money was flowing. I wouldn't have seen the point in keeping it going with no immediate cash flow.

Users = Money. It might not be enough money to justify the costs, but there's almost always a way to make it work.

Now if I can only get those users. :-)

A lot of people were in the right place at the right time, but didn't do anything about it and let the opportunity slip away.

Ask yourself: why did Geocities not turn into Facebook?

Because it was publishing static content to an anonymous audience, not dynamic content tailored to each individual user?

When he said 'turn into', I think he's asking why Geocities didn't evolve from 'static content to an anonymous audience' into 'dynamic content tailored to each individual users'.

Geocities (Yahoo!), AOL, Xerox--the head of a long list of companies in the right place at the right time but lacking vision.

> a long list of companies in the right place at the right time but lacking vision.

Precisely my point!

Why didn't newspapers create Four Square or Yext or Craigslist or ____.

Comfort with the status quo and a lack of vision, perhaps?

Because Yahoo bought them for a whole ton of stock.

10. Maybe they have an agenda. Ask yourself: Does this person stand to benefit if I follow this advice? The VCs I know and trust are honest and very pro-entrepreneur, but I routinely hear others give advice that entrepreneurs should be suspicious of. Fundamentally, their incentives are based on having a portfolio of startups. As an entrepreneur, you have a portfolio of one. Think about that the next time a VC advises you to swing for the fences.

As a corollary to this, I think it's important to understand that only certain types of companies and entrepreneurs benefit from giving out business advice to the entire world. Generally, these are the types of businesses that greatly benefit from publicity. One of the main reasons social web companies pursue (and receive) so much press is that it's in their best interest for everyone to know about their product because their goal is to acquire as many users as possible. For many other companies, being in the limelight is a huge liability that can quickly erode their competitive advantage. You never hear about these businesses, but in many cases they are far more profitable than the Twitter/Facebook type companies constantly paraded around the business press.

"Next time you’re listening to a guru, ask yourself: How do I really know that they’re successful?"

An ironic item to include.

This advice is remarkable only in its obviousness. Link-bait.

As with a lot of blog posts, it can be summed up in one short, simple word: think.

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