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I agree. You can force diversity in gender and race (eg. require 1 woman on your board), but they can all still think the same. When I asked a few tech friends

I agree. You can force diversity in gender and race (eg. require 1 woman on your board), but they can all still think the same. When I asked a few tech friends about launching my business, it was this: create a minimum viable product (MVP), apply to a start-up accelerator, get funding, eat ramen, do things that scale, do things that don't scale, move fast break things. That is "the way". The instant my wife (business partner, computer illiterate, masters degree in marketing) heard of the MVP idea, she went on a mini-rant: "huh? what? Advertising is sooo expensive. No way are we spending all that money at launch to bring in people to see a minimum product. When customers come to our website, we'll have 5 seconds to hook them, so we better have all the features right in their face. If they don't see what they like, they're never coming back"... Her perspective is so far from the tech scene that this happens repeatedly. Tech guys repeat what they read in some blog which then boggles my wife's mind. In a different HN discussion regarding MBA degrees, it was stated a couple times that you could just read 2 books and get the MBA curriculum. They don't realize all the different perspectives that you get from business school discussions. It's not about the hard skills. In business school we spent a lot of time doing Harvard Business Cases and hearing from a diversity of opinions.

bilbo0s 8y ago
That's a really good example. I bet there are plenty of hispanics, asians, men, women, christians, hindus, liberals, conservatives, and homosexuals, all spouting "The Startup Way" so to speak. What diversity benefit is there in having any of those people around when you, yourself, already have the perspective? (Because you already read all the same books and blogs.) Having your wife take a look could certainly provide a more fresh perspective than having yet another tech monoculture drone look at it.
ummonk 8y ago
I agree that the prevalent culture tends to result in poorly fleshed out products, and your wife is right on this. I should note though, that technically, such a product is not actually an MVP. If customers come to the website and don't get hooked, it means it doesn't have enough features to be Viable.

bilbo0s 8y ago

That's a really good example. I bet there are plenty of hispanics, asians, men, women, christians, hindus, liberals, conservatives, and homosexuals, all spouting "The Startup Way" so to speak. What diversity benefit is there in having any of those people around when you, yourself, already have the perspective? (Because you already read all the same books and blogs.) Having your wife take a look could certainly provide a more fresh perspective than having yet another tech monoculture drone look at it.

ummonk 8y ago

I agree that the prevalent culture tends to result in poorly fleshed out products, and your wife is right on this. I should note though, that technically, such a product is not actually an MVP. If customers come to the website and don't get hooked, it means it doesn't have enough features to be Viable.