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The author is criticizing a genre of narrative that I like to call "career porn." Consider the similarities between "how I started this company" type stories an

by jfasi 9y ago

The author is criticizing a genre of narrative that I like to call "career porn." Consider the similarities between "how I started this company" type stories and actual porn: * It depicts something everyone fantasizes about and offers a quick if ultimately unsatisfying release. Who doesn't imagine themselves building something amazing and being idolized by magazines and the general public? * It happens in an unrealistic sort of magical fairy land, often in the founder's own hazy, romanticized recollections of their past. * It only shows beautiful companies/people. You don't need to found a space exploration company to be happy just like you don't need to be with a model. * It offers no real guidance for how to achieve what it's depicting, leaving viewers confused at best and frustrated at worst. This article touches on the fact that people seem to think all they need is an idea, when that's not what it takes. * It's most popular with those who are either frustrated with their careers/romantic lives, or are otherwise trying to satisfy a need they feel isn't being met. This one is a little shaky because plenty of people enjoy actual porn in healthy ways, so forgive me for the stretch. The comparisons go on and on. How healthy your relationship with each is depends on how much exposure to the realities of each field you have had and how mature you are as a person/profession.

52-6F-62 9y ago
>It only shows beautiful companies/people. You don't need to found a space exploration company to be happy just like you don't need to be with a model. We certainly don't hear much about efforts or successes in anyone's effort to "disrupt" the toilet paper industry, yet it's something most people use daily. It's not sexy, but we all care a lot when it sucks.
- madeofpalk 9y ago
  But people are 'disrupting' the more 'boring' industries - all the mattress/pillow startups, Thinx period panties, etc.
  - ghaff 9y ago
    How much disruption has really happened in most of those cases though? And I'm not sure people on here are a reliable sample. Mind you some of these (e.g. Warby Parker) have had a lot of success. It's just not clear to what degree they've really disrupted the mainstream of their industries.
  - realworldview 9y ago
    I plan on disrupting the garage-based startup business, from my garage.
    - JBlue42 9y ago
      Like so? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gG56SCs5-E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gG56SCs5-E
      - realworldview 9y ago
        Exactly like that, and especially with plenty Ramen.
- nothrabannosir 9y ago
  I'll be honest with you: almost every single "SV success story" I can think of is boring. Advertisement, book shops, groceries, taxis, food delivery, none of this is particularly glamorous. I don't know where people get this apocryphal wave of "nobody ever talks about boring things". Space X is pretty much the only non-boring "hip" company I can think of!
  - ninly 9y ago
    Even if the Boring Company is hip, I guess no one can get away with saying they're not boring.
sh33mp 9y ago
On the other hand, these criteria seem like they would encompass a good deal of all fiction.
- coldtea 9y ago
  A good deal of all fiction is wish fulfillment (literary porn).
- jfasi 9y ago
  If someone builds their life and aspirations around what they read about in obvious works of fiction, we call them crazy. If someone builds their career expectations and aspirations around what they gathered from Forbes, Techcrunch, or a TED talk, we call them entrepreneurs.
lkrubner 9y ago
And the beautiful myths then contribute to the ways that other (perhaps less experienced) entrepreneurs engage in self-sabotage. See “self-sabotage via avoiding a boring success”: http://www.smashcompany.com/business/why-do-entrepreneurs-engage-in-self-sabotage http://www.smashcompany.com/business/why-do-entrepreneurs-en...
TheWrongGuy 9y ago
Maybe true, but the article is pretty much replacing what you'd call "career porn" with what I'd call "persistence porn." About the kid who walked in the snow wearing nothing but a t shirt every day to get his degree, yadda yadda.. ignore the fact that Sam Walton he had a rich stepdad who financed his businesses, that he was in a prestigious fraternity and secret society at UoM, and had a number of other benefits that are simply not available to your average hard-working chump.
- adventured 9y ago
  > benefits that are simply not available to your average hard-working chump What smart investor seeks out "average chumps" exactly? That's an excellent way to lose money. Your setup is a rather amusing contradiction. You think the $200,000 (Walton put in $50,000) - inflation adjusted - that his step-father put in, was unavailable to everyone else and it made all the difference in Walton's success? I grew up in an extremely poor part of the country, financing like that was available to a lot of business people. It's typically how most new small businesses that required any meaningful capital got started: other people in the community with money would invest, as banks would never risk their capital without collateral. $250,000 is about what it costs to open a small convenience store. The Ben Franklin store Walton opened and operated, was a very successful venture. His father-in-law made an extraordinarily smart investment. As it turns out, Walton wasn't an average chump.
  - TheWrongGuy 9y ago
    That's all fine, and you're right: Sam Walton was talented and it was a smart investment. You've interpreted my "average hard-working chump" to mean "not a talented businessman" which is not what I meant. I just think that if you got a bunch of money from your father in law and were part of prestigious society that needs to be part of the story. If it's omitted, I have to think that the author is intentionally pushing an alternate but equally-inaccurate view of how success happens.
- truedato 9y ago
  Reminds me of a few arrived-with-20-dollars-in-pocket-but-am-part-of-royal-family very successful high tech folks I know. Their success was still very very hard won. But being part of royalty doesn't often make it in the most inspiring stories.

by jfasi 9y ago

52-6F-62 9y ago

>It only shows beautiful companies/people. You don't need to found a space exploration company to be happy just like you don't need to be with a model. We certainly don't hear much about efforts or successes in anyone's effort to "disrupt" the toilet paper industry, yet it's something most people use daily. It's not sexy, but we all care a lot when it sucks.

madeofpalk 9y ago
But people are 'disrupting' the more 'boring' industries - all the mattress/pillow startups, Thinx period panties, etc.
- ghaff 9y ago
  How much disruption has really happened in most of those cases though? And I'm not sure people on here are a reliable sample. Mind you some of these (e.g. Warby Parker) have had a lot of success. It's just not clear to what degree they've really disrupted the mainstream of their industries.
- realworldview 9y ago
  I plan on disrupting the garage-based startup business, from my garage.
  - JBlue42 9y ago
    Like so? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gG56SCs5-E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gG56SCs5-E
    - realworldview 9y ago
      Exactly like that, and especially with plenty Ramen.
nothrabannosir 9y ago
I'll be honest with you: almost every single "SV success story" I can think of is boring. Advertisement, book shops, groceries, taxis, food delivery, none of this is particularly glamorous. I don't know where people get this apocryphal wave of "nobody ever talks about boring things". Space X is pretty much the only non-boring "hip" company I can think of!
- ninly 9y ago
  Even if the Boring Company is hip, I guess no one can get away with saying they're not boring.

sh33mp 9y ago

On the other hand, these criteria seem like they would encompass a good deal of all fiction.

coldtea 9y ago
A good deal of all fiction is wish fulfillment (literary porn).
jfasi 9y ago
If someone builds their life and aspirations around what they read about in obvious works of fiction, we call them crazy. If someone builds their career expectations and aspirations around what they gathered from Forbes, Techcrunch, or a TED talk, we call them entrepreneurs.

lkrubner 9y ago

And the beautiful myths then contribute to the ways that other (perhaps less experienced) entrepreneurs engage in self-sabotage. See “self-sabotage via avoiding a boring success”: http://www.smashcompany.com/business/why-do-entrepreneurs-engage-in-self-sabotage http://www.smashcompany.com/business/why-do-entrepreneurs-en...

TheWrongGuy 9y ago

Maybe true, but the article is pretty much replacing what you'd call "career porn" with what I'd call "persistence porn." About the kid who walked in the snow wearing nothing but a t shirt every day to get his degree, yadda yadda.. ignore the fact that Sam Walton he had a rich stepdad who financed his businesses, that he was in a prestigious fraternity and secret society at UoM, and had a number of other benefits that are simply not available to your average hard-working chump.

adventured 9y ago
> benefits that are simply not available to your average hard-working chump What smart investor seeks out "average chumps" exactly? That's an excellent way to lose money. Your setup is a rather amusing contradiction. You think the $200,000 (Walton put in $50,000) - inflation adjusted - that his step-father put in, was unavailable to everyone else and it made all the difference in Walton's success? I grew up in an extremely poor part of the country, financing like that was available to a lot of business people. It's typically how most new small businesses that required any meaningful capital got started: other people in the community with money would invest, as banks would never risk their capital without collateral. $250,000 is about what it costs to open a small convenience store. The Ben Franklin store Walton opened and operated, was a very successful venture. His father-in-law made an extraordinarily smart investment. As it turns out, Walton wasn't an average chump.
- TheWrongGuy 9y ago
  That's all fine, and you're right: Sam Walton was talented and it was a smart investment. You've interpreted my "average hard-working chump" to mean "not a talented businessman" which is not what I meant. I just think that if you got a bunch of money from your father in law and were part of prestigious society that needs to be part of the story. If it's omitted, I have to think that the author is intentionally pushing an alternate but equally-inaccurate view of how success happens.
truedato 9y ago
Reminds me of a few arrived-with-20-dollars-in-pocket-but-am-part-of-royal-family very successful high tech folks I know. Their success was still very very hard won. But being part of royalty doesn't often make it in the most inspiring stories.