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Reminds me of the last boss I worked for that works diligently since high school to build a hundred million dollar business in an unsexy industry with factories

Reminds me of the last boss I worked for that works diligently since high school to build a hundred million dollar business in an unsexy industry with factories across America. Aside from growing up in silicon valley, he's the only other inspiration that rich is attainable and accessible. Unflashy and unassuming, he doesn't try to draw press, hired older folks to be the faces. It's just like watching someone that's really good at playing this video game called spreadsheet. Patiently stacking and stacking day in and day out the same thing, but bigger and bigger. consistency and scalability... Leprino made himself indispensable That's all it is.

burntrelish1273 9y ago
Nolan Bushnell spoke in my physics class at Leland HS, trying to get students interested in entrepreneurship.
- tonydiv 9y ago
  I live down the street from Leland. First time I've seen it mentioned on HN, cool.
bitexploder 9y ago
Reminds me of commander Chris Hadfields philosophy of always aiming to be a Zero. He said in any environment you could be a -1 a 0 or a +1. You don't get to decide which of those your efforts end up being. He further observes coming into a new environment and doing too much or trying to overachieve can often just make a mess, making you a -1. Aim to be a zero. Stack those shelves, do the boring work you know you can do well until you are sure you can handle the more complex chores. Also sort of reminds me of Net Promoter Score; would you recommend X to friends and family? Just do the thing that is the point of the place and do the shit out of it, why wouldn't you? -- Louis CK There is wisdom in hard, but simple work that others value, even in tech. Don't be too clever in that MVP. Substance over style. Etc etc.
- kirykl 9y ago
  Every place I've worked those people get taken advantage of and are left to do the grunt work, boxed in to their jobs
  - bitexploder 9y ago
    There was a lot more to it, of course. I took that from his book "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth". Maybe this particular bit of philosophy wasn't the reason he became a commander on the ISS, but it seemed to work for him. It isn't to say you let people take advantage of you, or that you don't make hard decisions, or that you never attempt to innovate. It is just to say, don't be a minus one. It is sort of like comedy in that you can't decide to be funny and then everyone will think you are funny. The context is also important, he mostly used this to illustrate how he approached things as a new member of a team learning the ropes, even as the commander. He is thrust into a new environment, and he is the commander of the operation, but he didn't immediately impose his authority, he stacked and organized and learned how things were going before making executive decisions. So the whole -1, 0, +1 thing is as much a leadership style as it is his idea on how to be successful. I think also the environment of a fighter pilot then astronaut does not tolerate showmanship or overt "I am smart" cleverness. It likes consistent hard work and problem solving that is well thought out. Showmanship gets people killed in space. Endeavoring to be a +1 for any of the very numerous wrong reasons just ends up taking away from the mission. Anyhow, perhaps that adds some context to the idea.
- hobs 9y ago
  Just a note that NPS uses a scale with low predictive validity and you should probably tell people to stop using it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Promoter#Criticism_of_NPS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Promoter#Criticism_of_NPS
  - bitexploder 9y ago
    Interesting. I do like the question from a general 'do you like thing X' perspective, but as critics seem to rightly argue, you should not use it alone. Another question I like in the same vein, "Would you recommend other people to work here?". I think it is just one of many measures of "engagement" though. Also, I have to agree with the general sentiment against NPS. I have seen teams forced into UI enhancement death marches because their app got a low NPS. It was plastered on billboards and there was a huge push to get the NPS up. It became a bit of a running joke. That anecdotal experience made me really wary of it in general, even though I like the concept as a general engagement measure.... maybe you shouldn't base management decisions on just that :)
ihaveahadron 9y ago
Aside from growing up in silicon valley, he's the only other inspiration that rich is attainable and accessible. you mean growing up in the worlds best tech city isn't the reason he was able to be successful? i get your point but i think your point is about .5% as correct as you think it is. at the extreme end you could take the same person and have him grow up in a slum somewhere virtually no chance. he could have grown up even in like richmond cali just an hr. away from silicon valley and his chances of success would be like ten thousand (10,000) percent less. you have a point but it's such an insignificant point almost to the point of being completely fucking wrong and a show of extreme ignorance/dumbassness stupidass
technofiend 9y ago
If you ever read The Millionaire Next Door you'll read a lot of very similar stories about small business entrepeneurs who had a combination of drive and opportunity to succeed, but most of all (at least emphasized by the book) sound financial principles that kept them from losing it all once they made it. I've only spent time with one person like that - a distant uncle I acquired by marrying into my wife's family and he was exactly as described in the book. He had more money than he ever needed, but he still worked and tended to his business, he never moved out of his starter home, never bought flashy cars or did anything to display his wealth. He wasn't miserly but he just didn't see the need to waste money.
- seanp2k2 9y ago
  IMO, do you (not you you but theoretical "you") want a lot of money because you want to use it for something, or just to have a lot of money? The way I see it, there is no promise of tomorrow. This doesn't mean don't plan for tomorrow, but e.g. an ex of mine had grandparents who would live super frugally (up to and including using McDonalds napkins at their house and "stocking up" every time they went to get their free senior coffee...they also had exclusively sauce packets). They were super proud of how they were [single] millionaires, having saved almost every penny throughout both of their normal office job careers. They lived like they were poor for their whole lives to attain a number in their bank account. They had no plan for anything to actually do with their money, they just really wanted to be millionaires. I see absolutely zero point in this. Obviously, it's their money and theirs to do with what they want, but if all you can think to do with a large sum of money is keep it in the bank or in stocks / bonds with no actual purpose in mind (starting a business or non-profit, early retirement, world travel, owning a home, owning a helicopter, donating it, a few years of hospice care for someone in your family, whatever) it just strikes me as super boring and a waste. I don't actually see how people can work so hard to simply attain a certain number on their bank statement when that is the sole goal. To me, that is a total misunderstanding of what money is, and I feel somewhat bad for people who do this.
  - jjeaff 9y ago
    My guess is that people like that value financial security above all else. And financial security is a sweet sweet thing to have.
SpikeDad 9y ago
Funny how quality product is never in the metrics. Fortunately the pizza eating population has not real idea what a quality pizza tastes like so another win for billionaires.

burntrelish1273 9y ago

Nolan Bushnell spoke in my physics class at Leland HS, trying to get students interested in entrepreneurship.

tonydiv 9y ago
I live down the street from Leland. First time I've seen it mentioned on HN, cool.

bitexploder 9y ago

Reminds me of commander Chris Hadfields philosophy of always aiming to be a Zero. He said in any environment you could be a -1 a 0 or a +1. You don't get to decide which of those your efforts end up being. He further observes coming into a new environment and doing too much or trying to overachieve can often just make a mess, making you a -1. Aim to be a zero. Stack those shelves, do the boring work you know you can do well until you are sure you can handle the more complex chores. Also sort of reminds me of Net Promoter Score; would you recommend X to friends and family? Just do the thing that is the point of the place and do the shit out of it, why wouldn't you? -- Louis CK There is wisdom in hard, but simple work that others value, even in tech. Don't be too clever in that MVP. Substance over style. Etc etc.

kirykl 9y ago
Every place I've worked those people get taken advantage of and are left to do the grunt work, boxed in to their jobs
- bitexploder 9y ago
  There was a lot more to it, of course. I took that from his book "An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth". Maybe this particular bit of philosophy wasn't the reason he became a commander on the ISS, but it seemed to work for him. It isn't to say you let people take advantage of you, or that you don't make hard decisions, or that you never attempt to innovate. It is just to say, don't be a minus one. It is sort of like comedy in that you can't decide to be funny and then everyone will think you are funny. The context is also important, he mostly used this to illustrate how he approached things as a new member of a team learning the ropes, even as the commander. He is thrust into a new environment, and he is the commander of the operation, but he didn't immediately impose his authority, he stacked and organized and learned how things were going before making executive decisions. So the whole -1, 0, +1 thing is as much a leadership style as it is his idea on how to be successful. I think also the environment of a fighter pilot then astronaut does not tolerate showmanship or overt "I am smart" cleverness. It likes consistent hard work and problem solving that is well thought out. Showmanship gets people killed in space. Endeavoring to be a +1 for any of the very numerous wrong reasons just ends up taking away from the mission. Anyhow, perhaps that adds some context to the idea.
hobs 9y ago
Just a note that NPS uses a scale with low predictive validity and you should probably tell people to stop using it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Promoter#Criticism_of_NPS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Promoter#Criticism_of_NPS
- bitexploder 9y ago
  Interesting. I do like the question from a general 'do you like thing X' perspective, but as critics seem to rightly argue, you should not use it alone. Another question I like in the same vein, "Would you recommend other people to work here?". I think it is just one of many measures of "engagement" though. Also, I have to agree with the general sentiment against NPS. I have seen teams forced into UI enhancement death marches because their app got a low NPS. It was plastered on billboards and there was a huge push to get the NPS up. It became a bit of a running joke. That anecdotal experience made me really wary of it in general, even though I like the concept as a general engagement measure.... maybe you shouldn't base management decisions on just that :)

ihaveahadron 9y ago

Aside from growing up in silicon valley, he's the only other inspiration that rich is attainable and accessible. you mean growing up in the worlds best tech city isn't the reason he was able to be successful? i get your point but i think your point is about .5% as correct as you think it is. at the extreme end you could take the same person and have him grow up in a slum somewhere virtually no chance. he could have grown up even in like richmond cali just an hr. away from silicon valley and his chances of success would be like ten thousand (10,000) percent less. you have a point but it's such an insignificant point almost to the point of being completely fucking wrong and a show of extreme ignorance/dumbassness stupidass

technofiend 9y ago

If you ever read The Millionaire Next Door you'll read a lot of very similar stories about small business entrepeneurs who had a combination of drive and opportunity to succeed, but most of all (at least emphasized by the book) sound financial principles that kept them from losing it all once they made it. I've only spent time with one person like that - a distant uncle I acquired by marrying into my wife's family and he was exactly as described in the book. He had more money than he ever needed, but he still worked and tended to his business, he never moved out of his starter home, never bought flashy cars or did anything to display his wealth. He wasn't miserly but he just didn't see the need to waste money.

seanp2k2 9y ago
IMO, do you (not you you but theoretical "you") want a lot of money because you want to use it for something, or just to have a lot of money? The way I see it, there is no promise of tomorrow. This doesn't mean don't plan for tomorrow, but e.g. an ex of mine had grandparents who would live super frugally (up to and including using McDonalds napkins at their house and "stocking up" every time they went to get their free senior coffee...they also had exclusively sauce packets). They were super proud of how they were [single] millionaires, having saved almost every penny throughout both of their normal office job careers. They lived like they were poor for their whole lives to attain a number in their bank account. They had no plan for anything to actually do with their money, they just really wanted to be millionaires. I see absolutely zero point in this. Obviously, it's their money and theirs to do with what they want, but if all you can think to do with a large sum of money is keep it in the bank or in stocks / bonds with no actual purpose in mind (starting a business or non-profit, early retirement, world travel, owning a home, owning a helicopter, donating it, a few years of hospice care for someone in your family, whatever) it just strikes me as super boring and a waste. I don't actually see how people can work so hard to simply attain a certain number on their bank statement when that is the sole goal. To me, that is a total misunderstanding of what money is, and I feel somewhat bad for people who do this.
- jjeaff 9y ago
  My guess is that people like that value financial security above all else. And financial security is a sweet sweet thing to have.

SpikeDad 9y ago

Funny how quality product is never in the metrics. Fortunately the pizza eating population has not real idea what a quality pizza tastes like so another win for billionaires.