Hacker News Reader

ruchin_kon How percentile approximation works and why it's more useful than averages

Spent several years in venture capital investing and averages were always misleading - as Nassim Taleb says "Never cross a river that is on average 4 feet deep"

ruchin_kon Software should convey a sense of calm

Absolutely agree. We probably spend more time looking at and interacting with software than the real world! Love apps like Superhuman which prioritize calmness and serenity in the user's experience

ruchin_kon After six months on Mars, NASA's tiny copter is still flying high

Saw this Veritasium youtube video a year ago and the technical complexity required to fly on Mars was shocking to me. Since the air density is super low the blades need to spin at a speed which nears the speed of sound at the blade tips. Crossing the speed of sound causes mini sonic booms which could disrupt the flight entirely. Kudos to NASA scientists for this technological breakthrough! Sharing the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhsZUZmJvaM

ruchin_kon Is China Uninvestable? (FT)

Although not uninvestable the risk appetite needed to invest in China has now readjusted to a higher threshold. How this will play out out with large investors (private equity, hedge funds etc) is that they will assume a higher "discount rate" in their financial models. Essentially a Chinese investment will need to meet a much higher expected return threshold (IRR - internal rate of return) than previously required.

ruchin_kon Notion Acquires Automate.io

The offices in Dublin and Tokyo are sales and customer success outposts. Hyderabad will be the first office outside the US with an engineering presence :)

ruchin_kon World’s Largest Carbon-Sucking Plant Starts Making Tiny Dent in Emissions

Its encouraging to see this. Efficient carbon markets are going to be a key aspect of solving global warming. Ultimately there are human needs (and corresponding industries) that will likely need to emit - packaged goods, meat production are a few examples. However, if there was a carbon market where they could offset what they emitted by paying someone to scrub >= what they emitted, that would make the world more carbon neutral than not letting anyone emit at all. Carbon scrubbing plants like the one in the article are one half of the solution to this problem! Thanks for sharing :)

ruchin_kon Notion Acquires Automate.io

As an Indian I'm super excited that Notion's first overseas engineering office would be located in Hyderabad, India as a consequence of this acquisition!

ruchin_kon If You’re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?

It's possible that the most self-made successful people see wealth / money as a means to pick what they want to spend 70 hours doing rather than whether to spend 70 hours doing anything. If they want to spend 70 hours a week playing tennis so be it. Or if they want to work on a new idea they had, equally fair. It is likely that success ultimately only buys the freedom to choose where to spend your time.

I know I've worked jobs and internships which required only couple of hours a day - and I was miserable. Working >70 hours a week on my own startup has felt more rewarding than any previous job :)