owens99

This should be the motto for almost everything.

Forget X vs. Y. Cognitive load is what matters.

#4, 5, 6 are very dubious.

Elephants have huge brains yet they don’t rule the world.

Projects from Google 120, to my understanding can/are spun-out as separate entities. Therefore it can’t be shut down by Google management.

Yes, or "Can disease lead to disease resistance?"

Thanks for sharing. Key point:

> Yes, debt is on the rise in the developing world, and Chinese overseas lending is, for the first time, a part of the story. But a number of us academics who have studied China’s practices in detail have found scant evidence of a pattern indicating that Chinese banks, acting at the government’s behest, are deliberately over-lending or funding loss-making projects to secure strategic advantages for China.

> The main example of these purported ploys is the Hambantota Port in southern Sri Lanka: The government handed control over the port to a Chinese company in 2017 after struggling to make its loan payments to China. But that’s a special case, and it is widely misunderstood.

> China does not publish details about its overseas lending, but the China-Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University (which I direct) has collected information on more than 1,000 Chinese loans in Africa between 2000 and 2017, totaling more than $143 billion. Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center has identified and tracked more than $140 billion in Chinese loans to Latin America and the Caribbean since 2005.

> Based on the findings of both institutes, it seems that the risks of B.R.I. are often overstated or mischaracterized.

Whether an idea is a dead VC-backed one or not doesn't matter. You should try applying Lean Startup method to validate an idea with customers, test the market channels, pricing, etc. and that will tell you about the potential it has more than anything else.

Medium is also blocked in China. Meaning 1.4B people can’t access your content.

Tencent has already created a successful app ecosystem with WeChat mini-apps. I don't believe it will be too hard for Huawei to do the same (although it won't be easy either).

Have you tried Devise? It’s not default but it’s one of the best Auth tools I’ve seen in any stack. I love it and use it in tons of apps.

Earning more revenue =/= maximizing company value

The benefit of cofounders has a doing more with fewer resources and having more diversity of opinion (making fewer long-term mistakes).

Looks cool, really like the name. It’s always interesting to me to see other developers who are good at branding, despite no obvious marketing background.

You don’t seem to think bias is reproducible.

Nice work! This is close to what I do with most new Rails app when I want more Asynchronous functionality.

The problem is not that this looks like a stupid business. The problem is it deliberately misleads and fools people.

Your points do not counter what I am saying.

Infact, I agree with both of your points.

The problem is, supply chains are not as entrenched as you claim.

Given a long enough time horizon and advanced enough automation, robots will move back to USA. Especially consider the IP risks and political concerns WRT China.

It will take a long time for all industries, some will happen before others, but there will be more vertical integration through automation and it will become more cost effective to have factories (not jobs, there will be no jobs from this) for products next to the markets they serve.

This is what most economists believe, and what the Chinese government believes, which is why they are pushing to develop AI and innovation.

This argument is old, and pretty lazy.

Basically, they are saying that AI both creates and destroys jobs. Well no shit.

The problem is, the average truck driver isn't going to retrain and relocate to San Francisco. He will just be out of a job.

The economy is not bigger in China yet. Also, the competition in China will be more fierce for US companies than in domestic markets, meaning they will have less market share.

Labor? We are talking about automation.

What I am saying, in your words, is automation will shift the "economies of proximity" equation to make more sense back in the USA.

Automation will bring the robots back to USA, actually.

Since robots cost the same to operate in US and they do in China, factories will shift location closer to the markets they supply.

EDIT: my point was not clear enough. I'm saying in the long-term automation will reduce the cost of labor close to zero, leaving only the cost of inputs and distribution (supply chain). Not to mention the IP risks of locating tech in China, advanced automation will make it more cost effective to shift production to be located next to the markets where those products are sold to consumers. China is well aware of this, which is why the current government policy is focused on boosting the local innovation and technology economy.

That CEO sounds horrible. Don’t let a bad apple ruin angel investing for you.

Nice work! Will give it a try.

Because you are clearly wrong.

Forgive me for being blunt, I just think it’s a bit obvious: they have grown through means other than someone going to google.com and typing “Pinterest.”

I can think of a dozen reasons why that would be the case. Google Trends does not match 1:1 popularity, usage, or growth of all products.

Personally, I’m only a casual Pinterest user and have no stake in this, but the service has gotten a lot better over the last couple years.

Not equating them, they are two separate things and the two most important parts of success IMO.

I don’t think this says anything about teaching quality in US, to be honest. It says more about wealth. We are a much wealthier country and the smartest and wealthiest of the other countries study here. Teaching quality at many elite universities is notoriously horrible. The quality of outcomes of their students is more related to their selection of the top individuals.

Edit: for those who haven’t seen this before (talking to you idea guys), I was shared this formula by one of the top VCs in New York almost 10 years ago.

https://sivers.org/multiply

“ The most brilliant idea, with no execution, is worth $20.

The most brilliant idea takes great execution to be worth $20,000,000.

That’s why I don’t want to hear people’s ideas.

I’m not interested until I see their execution. “

I’ve since heard this referenced and repeated by numerous successful entrepreneurs.

Let me know if you disagree.

Very cool. Just too bad ideas don’t matter and execution is everything!

I wish the world has more people with technical chops and less “idea guys.” Knowledge of customer and ability to build the minimum viable product is worth more than 100k ideas.

What do you use now?

Great post, thanks for sharing! If you are in Shanghai in the future, would love to get a coffee. We are running a new incubator here. Seems we might have a lot in common!

There are counter examples to everything, that doesn’t make it bad advice.

Some people smoke cigarettes their whole life and live until old age without ever getting cancer. Should we conclude smoking does not cause cancer just because there are counter examples?

As you said, the advice is meant to maximize the chance of success. It is still not sufficient or without exceptions.

In the end, advice is only valuable if you put it through your own filter and use your own judgement to make the best decision.

Can someone explain to me what I am looking at? :)