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I think you're acting just the slightest bit rude here, frankly. "Entrepreneurial ambition" != "Silicon Valley/Ponzi scheme/unicorn". Starting a business doesn'

I think you're acting just the slightest bit rude here, frankly. "Entrepreneurial ambition" != "Silicon Valley/Ponzi scheme/unicorn". Starting a business doesn't mean you have to join the VC/SV/startup treadmill. You can get away with doing the same thing that the vast majority of entrepreneurs have done throughout history: take a skill you know, strike out on your own, and start offering to make things or perform a service in exchange for money. It wasn't until the internet came along that you could become a billionaire in under a decade doing it. That's a distortion that recent history has introduced. The vast majority of entrepreneurs are not SV titans - they're small businesses. I don't have much respect for folks who denigrate those sorts of ambitions, especially on HN. On top of helping to continue to distort the overall shape of entrepreneurship, it's awfully close to a personal attack, as it's basically saying "Your dreams are stupid".

astazangasta 11y ago
I feel bad about being rude, but I stand by my position. You are right, entrepreneurial ambition is not the same as the Valley Ponzi scheme, but SV is exactly about funneling that ambition into a wealth-generating machine for the investor class, and most of the ambition in the Valley is captured and squandered this way. I would rather err by calling this out.
- cushychicken 11y ago
  I tend to agree with your view of Silicon Valley, but it's not flattering to your intelligence to jump to a conclusion and subsequently get on someone's case due to a false premise.
bigsteve78 11y ago
What if for the most part, having entrepreneurial dreams whilst not having access to capital is in fact, stupid? Just because you perceive something as denigrating doesn't make the premise untrue. Stop advocating a safe space; instead have a real counterargument that refutes the claim. For example, we are assaulted with stories like "Theranos" all the time which is the story of yet another ultra-privileged, ultra 1% founding semi-fraudster riding nepotism to the bank whilst the employees are told to "dream" as the co. falls apart...

astazangasta 11y ago

I feel bad about being rude, but I stand by my position. You are right, entrepreneurial ambition is not the same as the Valley Ponzi scheme, but SV is exactly about funneling that ambition into a wealth-generating machine for the investor class, and most of the ambition in the Valley is captured and squandered this way. I would rather err by calling this out.

cushychicken 11y ago
I tend to agree with your view of Silicon Valley, but it's not flattering to your intelligence to jump to a conclusion and subsequently get on someone's case due to a false premise.

bigsteve78 11y ago

What if for the most part, having entrepreneurial dreams whilst not having access to capital is in fact, stupid? Just because you perceive something as denigrating doesn't make the premise untrue. Stop advocating a safe space; instead have a real counterargument that refutes the claim. For example, we are assaulted with stories like "Theranos" all the time which is the story of yet another ultra-privileged, ultra 1% founding semi-fraudster riding nepotism to the bank whilst the employees are told to "dream" as the co. falls apart...