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> I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. [...] and it probably never will suppor

> I'm doing a (free) operating system (__just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu__) for 386(486) AT clones. [...] and it probably never will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's all I have :-(. __just a hobby, won't be big and professional like X__ probably is how most of the startups get started.

nikanj 8y ago
Based on the pitches I’ve seen, it’s very much the opposite. ”We are about to completely upend the X industry, with a market potential of hundreds of billions”
- LeoNatan25 8y ago
  When I hear this, My instinct is to roll my eyes. So much hyperbole in startups, it’s one of the large reasons I don’t see myself working for a startup.
  - andyana 8y ago
    Exactly. It makes me cringe. A majority of the firms looking to hire in the "Who's Hiring" thread have inflated self-worth.
    - ohithereyou 8y ago
      As a developer the company can have whatever view of itself it cares to have as long as my paycheck clears.
      - andyana 8y ago
        I'm sure you can set whatever standard or lack thereof you'd like.
      - Hydraulix989 8y ago
        Most engineers care about equity potential. You don't make it in the Valley on base salary alone.
        ohithereyou 8y ago
        This is why I don't work in the Valley and am only listed in entries in the Who's Hiring list that are full time remote or outside of the Valley.
      - flukus 8y ago
        They expect their devs to be equally enthusiastic, the true believers are also gullible enough to work unpaid overtime.
- ganeshkrishnan 8y ago
  "We are disrupting the AI blockchain cannabis industry using state of the art AR/VR technology"
  - HippoBaro 8y ago
    You're onto something!
  - squarefoot 8y ago
    Obligatory link to one of the many corporate bullshit generators around, though this one creates entire documents and not just sentences. Just in case someone needs one :) https://lurkertech.com/corpspeak/ https://lurkertech.com/corpspeak/
    - alexis_fr 8y ago
      Does anyone know the video of an entrepreneur at a conf who nailed the startup pitch language and levers? I’ve been looking for it for quite some time, I don’t know the name, it was a 5-minute pitch between sessions.
  - rndgermandude 8y ago
    Only "state of the art"? Dropped.
  - achillesheels 8y ago
    You too?!
- jakoblorz 8y ago
  I think OP meant most successful companies
  - jakoblorz 8y ago
    And I meant all successful startups, lol
segmondy 8y ago
Not anymore. :-( Sell before you build a product! Don't build what you want, build what other's want! Build what other's are going to pay money for, hell, sell it, get a contract before you write a line of code! If you don't have a market size of multiple billions is not worth doing! Are you going to make billions upon billions? No? don't do it! Hobby? It's not even worth of a side project.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- adventured 8y ago
  I'm currently doing the opposite of every 'rule' and loving it. Building what I want, because I want it to exist. Showing it to nobody else to test or get feedback on; no focus groups, no beta testing, no external input. Solo founder effort. Not taking VC; not under any circumstances or terms. Not selling or promoting anything before it launches. It's commercially minimalist by design and ethos, ideally it takes in the least amount of money necessary to fund its own expansion. There's no exit, hopefully it lasts perpetually; I aim to at least guarantee and pursue its operation for the next decade (it'll take that long to really build it out). It's thin on both the front and back ends, inexpensive to run and scale. Something like it doesn't currently exist and it will benefit humanity very modestly if I get it up to scale. It's the first time in the last 20 years I've built something very large in scope that wasn't about making money in any manner. Something that is more important than my own ambitions in life. Going to launch it with a Show HN in the next two months or so. Hopefully it works out, either way it was a lot of fun to build (it will have likely taken seven or eight months of work from conception to kicking it out the door).
  - nimonian 8y ago
    This was probably your intention, but I really want to know what it is.
- yashap 8y ago
  It’s all about the context. That’s a list of things that VCs want to see - their business mode is all about funding companies that have a decent shot to make a TONNE of money, reasonably quickly, so they can have a huge exit in the funds timeframe. If you want VC money, it’s reasonable advice to follow. But if you just wanna build an open source passion project, or even a bootstrapped business, it doesn’t apply. I actually don’t see a conflict between that advice, which is aimed at people trying to start VC funded businesses, and what Linus did, which was an open source passion project that grew into something more.
excalibur 8y ago
Probably the best ones. The people who are convinced from the start that their product is revolutionary tend to be less flexible than those who are just fiddling around, and may as a result fail to develop it as effectively.
bluedino 8y ago
Was that a dog at GNU’s vapor ware OS?

> I'm doing a (free) operating system (__just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu__) for 386(486) AT clones. [...] and it probably never will suppor

nikanj 8y ago

Based on the pitches I’ve seen, it’s very much the opposite. ”We are about to completely upend the X industry, with a market potential of hundreds of billions”

LeoNatan25 8y ago
When I hear this, My instinct is to roll my eyes. So much hyperbole in startups, it’s one of the large reasons I don’t see myself working for a startup.
- andyana 8y ago
  Exactly. It makes me cringe. A majority of the firms looking to hire in the "Who's Hiring" thread have inflated self-worth.
  - ohithereyou 8y ago
    As a developer the company can have whatever view of itself it cares to have as long as my paycheck clears.
    - andyana 8y ago
      I'm sure you can set whatever standard or lack thereof you'd like.
    - Hydraulix989 8y ago
      Most engineers care about equity potential. You don't make it in the Valley on base salary alone.
      - ohithereyou 8y ago
        This is why I don't work in the Valley and am only listed in entries in the Who's Hiring list that are full time remote or outside of the Valley.
    - flukus 8y ago
      They expect their devs to be equally enthusiastic, the true believers are also gullible enough to work unpaid overtime.
ganeshkrishnan 8y ago
"We are disrupting the AI blockchain cannabis industry using state of the art AR/VR technology"
- HippoBaro 8y ago
  You're onto something!
- squarefoot 8y ago
  Obligatory link to one of the many corporate bullshit generators around, though this one creates entire documents and not just sentences. Just in case someone needs one :) https://lurkertech.com/corpspeak/ https://lurkertech.com/corpspeak/
  - alexis_fr 8y ago
    Does anyone know the video of an entrepreneur at a conf who nailed the startup pitch language and levers? I’ve been looking for it for quite some time, I don’t know the name, it was a 5-minute pitch between sessions.
- rndgermandude 8y ago
  Only "state of the art"? Dropped.
- achillesheels 8y ago
  You too?!
jakoblorz 8y ago
I think OP meant most successful companies
- jakoblorz 8y ago
  And I meant all successful startups, lol

segmondy 8y ago

Not anymore. :-( Sell before you build a product! Don't build what you want, build what other's want! Build what other's are going to pay money for, hell, sell it, get a contract before you write a line of code! If you don't have a market size of multiple billions is not worth doing! Are you going to make billions upon billions? No? don't do it! Hobby? It's not even worth of a side project.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
adventured 8y ago
I'm currently doing the opposite of every 'rule' and loving it. Building what I want, because I want it to exist. Showing it to nobody else to test or get feedback on; no focus groups, no beta testing, no external input. Solo founder effort. Not taking VC; not under any circumstances or terms. Not selling or promoting anything before it launches. It's commercially minimalist by design and ethos, ideally it takes in the least amount of money necessary to fund its own expansion. There's no exit, hopefully it lasts perpetually; I aim to at least guarantee and pursue its operation for the next decade (it'll take that long to really build it out). It's thin on both the front and back ends, inexpensive to run and scale. Something like it doesn't currently exist and it will benefit humanity very modestly if I get it up to scale. It's the first time in the last 20 years I've built something very large in scope that wasn't about making money in any manner. Something that is more important than my own ambitions in life. Going to launch it with a Show HN in the next two months or so. Hopefully it works out, either way it was a lot of fun to build (it will have likely taken seven or eight months of work from conception to kicking it out the door).
- nimonian 8y ago
  This was probably your intention, but I really want to know what it is.
yashap 8y ago
It’s all about the context. That’s a list of things that VCs want to see - their business mode is all about funding companies that have a decent shot to make a TONNE of money, reasonably quickly, so they can have a huge exit in the funds timeframe. If you want VC money, it’s reasonable advice to follow. But if you just wanna build an open source passion project, or even a bootstrapped business, it doesn’t apply. I actually don’t see a conflict between that advice, which is aimed at people trying to start VC funded businesses, and what Linus did, which was an open source passion project that grew into something more.

excalibur 8y ago

Probably the best ones. The people who are convinced from the start that their product is revolutionary tend to be less flexible than those who are just fiddling around, and may as a result fail to develop it as effectively.

bluedino 8y ago

Was that a dog at GNU’s vapor ware OS?