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I like the sentiment that people who have built something are sympathetic to other builders. Other than that, there is no substance to this article. It's first

I like the sentiment that people who have built something are sympathetic to other builders. Other than that, there is no substance to this article. It's first place on HN because it give you a warm and fuzzy feeling. It's pandering, pure and simple.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
alextgordon 16y ago
How much "substance" is required to be #1 on HN? Two insightful points? Five? The article seeks to make a single point that perhaps some people, in their anger, have missed. That's all, and there's nothing wrong with that.
ihodes 16y ago
Generally I ignore comments like these; a downvote and a click away. Perhaps this isn't an appropriate response, But this article does interest hackers and entrepreneurs. This isn't off-topic. If the author had wanted to distill the post a little, or even expound, its thesis would have been more obvious. It's clear, though, that this is about builders, creators, hackers and inventors. The type of people who hang around here. It's about a common experience those who've launched a service, built a product or worked on an idea share. It's an affirmation of the culture of builders, and a recognition that mistakes are made in the process of creation; fix them and move on. Sure, it's not written as an article you'd read in Professional Entrepreneurs Monthly, but it's compelling. It's not a contentless rant, or a watery dribble of verbiage. It's interesting. It's nice, for me at least, to hear about what others go through when forming their ideas into product. I know I've stopped working on at least one close-to-MVP product because I was unsure about it. I didn't want to launch it and see it be ridiculed and mocked: if it was good enough for me, then maybe I should just keep it to myself. So seeing things like this are helpful. They're encouraging. I enjoy them from time to time: this isn't an epidemic that needs to be cracked down on. It is not pandering; why would you say that without justification? Why would you tear down this product of someone else's work without one, small, paragraph; the irony is tangible here. You like the sentiment, but you proceed to do what it damns. But it's not just you; in fact, you less than the other comments that provoked this response. It's so easy to dismiss and ridicule; I debate: I would know. But far too often, comments are spewed out that resemble little straw men; micro-points within an article that are attacked and decimated. I am probably responsible for a few such posts myself; that's something I need to work on. Context makes the work we live in; nothing lives in a vacuum. Arguments are no exception to this.
mechanical_fish 16y ago
Even if we neglect what I thought was the obvious subtext of this article, what we see here is not mere pandering. It's coaching. It took me far too long to understand how important coaching is. To the dispassionate observer, a coach sounds like someone repeating the very, very obvious over and over again. Why, really, do people like the Williams sisters need a coach? Don't they understand as much about tennis and tennis training and winning tennis as anyone on earth? And then you find yourself in the middle of the competition, and you're tired, and you're stressed, and you're at risk of losing your game, and you find that it's really good to hear the voice of a coach or a teammate, carefully drawing your attention to the specific very, very obvious thing that you need to remember right now.
c1sc0 16y ago
Sometimes those warm & fuzzy feelings are exactly the comfort an entrepeneur needs: just some positive vibes without substance.
jacquesm 16y ago
> I like the sentiment that people who have built something are sympathetic to other builders. That even goes for 'trivial' stuff like planing a piece of wood (try it!) and plumbing. It's amazing how much skill and knowledge goes in to many things that we simply take for granted.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

alextgordon 16y ago

How much "substance" is required to be #1 on HN? Two insightful points? Five? The article seeks to make a single point that perhaps some people, in their anger, have missed. That's all, and there's nothing wrong with that.

ihodes 16y ago

Generally I ignore comments like these; a downvote and a click away. Perhaps this isn't an appropriate response, But this article does interest hackers and entrepreneurs. This isn't off-topic. If the author had wanted to distill the post a little, or even expound, its thesis would have been more obvious. It's clear, though, that this is about builders, creators, hackers and inventors. The type of people who hang around here. It's about a common experience those who've launched a service, built a product or worked on an idea share. It's an affirmation of the culture of builders, and a recognition that mistakes are made in the process of creation; fix them and move on. Sure, it's not written as an article you'd read in Professional Entrepreneurs Monthly, but it's compelling. It's not a contentless rant, or a watery dribble of verbiage. It's interesting. It's nice, for me at least, to hear about what others go through when forming their ideas into product. I know I've stopped working on at least one close-to-MVP product because I was unsure about it. I didn't want to launch it and see it be ridiculed and mocked: if it was good enough for me, then maybe I should just keep it to myself. So seeing things like this are helpful. They're encouraging. I enjoy them from time to time: this isn't an epidemic that needs to be cracked down on. It is not pandering; why would you say that without justification? Why would you tear down this product of someone else's work without one, small, paragraph; the irony is tangible here. You like the sentiment, but you proceed to do what it damns. But it's not just you; in fact, you less than the other comments that provoked this response. It's so easy to dismiss and ridicule; I debate: I would know. But far too often, comments are spewed out that resemble little straw men; micro-points within an article that are attacked and decimated. I am probably responsible for a few such posts myself; that's something I need to work on. Context makes the work we live in; nothing lives in a vacuum. Arguments are no exception to this.

mechanical_fish 16y ago

Even if we neglect what I thought was the obvious subtext of this article, what we see here is not mere pandering. It's coaching. It took me far too long to understand how important coaching is. To the dispassionate observer, a coach sounds like someone repeating the very, very obvious over and over again. Why, really, do people like the Williams sisters need a coach? Don't they understand as much about tennis and tennis training and winning tennis as anyone on earth? And then you find yourself in the middle of the competition, and you're tired, and you're stressed, and you're at risk of losing your game, and you find that it's really good to hear the voice of a coach or a teammate, carefully drawing your attention to the specific very, very obvious thing that you need to remember right now.

c1sc0 16y ago

Sometimes those warm & fuzzy feelings are exactly the comfort an entrepeneur needs: just some positive vibes without substance.

jacquesm 16y ago

> I like the sentiment that people who have built something are sympathetic to other builders. That even goes for 'trivial' stuff like planing a piece of wood (try it!) and plumbing. It's amazing how much skill and knowledge goes in to many things that we simply take for granted.