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Biggie’s Crack Commandments Applied to Entrepreneurship

44 points by xutopia 16y ago

davidu 16y ago
This has been done many times before, even on HN. And while on the surface it sounds good, there are lots of things that don't actually apply to startups. Still, a great song from a great artist.
- coffee 16y ago
  I would like to hear some examples of why this only sounds good on the surface, but in reality don't actually apply to startups...
  - rdl 16y ago
    Generally, because startups are positive-sum, and your customers and competitors are not out to kill you (and in fact, in a lot of cases, other firms in the same field, even if they compete, will cooperate on standards, support each other incidentally by growing the market, and can coexist nicely). As well, while the government sometimes gets in the way of startups, and some things like IP law can be roadblocks, startups aren't generally doing something explicitly illegal, and your risk of being shot by the feds on a daily basis is a lot lower.
maxklein 16y ago
"Never sell no crack where you rest at": I think you misunderstand this one. What he means is that you should do the risky stuff somewhere else, where you can step away from. Your home is where your family is, where you are vulnerable as you sleep, you don't want to do something like having crack-heads around there or cops busting down the door. In technology terms, if you have something bringing in steady money, don't go do crazy experiments on it. If you have a project that needs to be delivered on a certain date, don't go using a brand new untested language on it. In essence, do the risky stuff at a spot where you can walk away with little consequence.
- taylorlb 16y ago
  Or to put it in the simplest terms, don't shit where you eat.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
weego 16y ago
That's Jay-Z and Biggie covered, the real question on everyone's lips is what Tupac had to say about it all. </cheeky comment I hope people don't take seriously>
- hugh3 16y ago
  I'd like to hear from Vanilla Ice. Stop, collaborate and listen Collaboration and listening are two of the most important aspects of entrepreneurship. Ice is back with a brand new invention Innovation is the key to launching a successful company Something that's got a hold of me tightly, flails like a harpoon daily and nightly ... on second thoughts, forget Vanilla Ice. Let's hear from Morris Minor & The Majors.
nanijoe 16y ago
"A strong word called consignment, strictly for live men, not for freshmen, if you aint got the clientele say hell no, cause they gon want they money rain sleet hail snow" - In other words, don't take outside money unless you are ready to deliver, cos the ANgels/VCs will want their money back.
- coffee 16y ago
  Yea that's a really good point. Make sure you have some traction (clientele) before takin' da chedda...
macournoyer 16y ago
Similarly, I'm reading 50th Law of Power (http://www.amazon.com/50th-Law-50-Cent/dp/006177460X http://www.amazon.com/50th-Law-50-Cent/dp/006177460X) How to be fearless, drawing some parallels w/ 50 cent life. Excellent book!
ladon86 16y ago
I think rule #10 is actually warning against scaling too quickly - don't go to the top of the supply chain, or overspend on inventory when you're still small and don't yet have the customer base.
DannoHung 16y ago
Never get high on your own supply could easily be taken to mean, "Don't believe your own hype." Which is probably important for both the pusher and the entrepreneur.
sethg 16y ago
“There are two industries which call their customers ‘users’...”
bryanh 16y ago
Believe it or not, I did something similar to this a while back: http://bryanhelmig.com/notorious-b-i-g-crack-commandments-in-business/ http://bryanhelmig.com/notorious-b-i-g-crack-commandments-in... In fact, I think this sort of abstraction is a useful way to internalize all that "business advice" you read everywhere. I tried to twist them to make them work with otherwise best practice business advice, because honestly, how could one possibly straight out disagree with Biggie? Either way, it is very cool to see someone come up with the same concept independently!
brianbreslin 16y ago
I like the idea of this post, any excuse to listen to biggie is a good one. However, I think the author misinterpreted a bunch of lyrics. Never hold weight on you. He means never keep anything incriminating on you. e.g. don't carry drugs on your person. in entrepreneurship, i'm at a loss for what the equivalent would be.
- ssharp 16y ago
  Maybe it should be taken literally. Ask Sean Parker.
btilly 16y ago
Who else was reminded of the classic Drug Dealers versus Software Developers? See http://home.xnet.com/~raven/Sysadmin/DrugSoftware.html http://home.xnet.com/~raven/Sysadmin/DrugSoftware.html.
taylorlb 16y ago
For further exploration of the parallels between the drug game and the rest of the game: check out the wonderful section of Freakonomics that's devoted to breaking down how successful crack dealing gangs conduct business.
eli 16y ago
"Rule #8: Never keep no weight on you" That doesn't mean don't get to close too your product. Biggie is saying you should not take large personal risks on behalf of your business.
- zackattack 16y ago
  I agree, this author knows nothing about rap. This lyrics is about dispatching the risk to your underlings.
delano 16y ago
This is an awesome track so it's great to see more discussion about it. For reference, here's the previous discussion from last year: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=752878 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=752878
maukdaddy 16y ago
Ain't nobody gonna hold me down.
- mahmud 16y ago
  That's an unhealthy attitude in business, thinking like a victim.

44 points by xutopia 16y ago

This has been done many times before, even on HN. And while on the surface it sounds good, there are lots of things that don't actually apply to startups. Still, a great song from a great artist.

coffee 16y ago
I would like to hear some examples of why this only sounds good on the surface, but in reality don't actually apply to startups...
- rdl 16y ago
  Generally, because startups are positive-sum, and your customers and competitors are not out to kill you (and in fact, in a lot of cases, other firms in the same field, even if they compete, will cooperate on standards, support each other incidentally by growing the market, and can coexist nicely). As well, while the government sometimes gets in the way of startups, and some things like IP law can be roadblocks, startups aren't generally doing something explicitly illegal, and your risk of being shot by the feds on a daily basis is a lot lower.

maxklein 16y ago

"Never sell no crack where you rest at": I think you misunderstand this one. What he means is that you should do the risky stuff somewhere else, where you can step away from. Your home is where your family is, where you are vulnerable as you sleep, you don't want to do something like having crack-heads around there or cops busting down the door. In technology terms, if you have something bringing in steady money, don't go do crazy experiments on it. If you have a project that needs to be delivered on a certain date, don't go using a brand new untested language on it. In essence, do the risky stuff at a spot where you can walk away with little consequence.

taylorlb 16y ago
Or to put it in the simplest terms, don't shit where you eat.
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]

weego 16y ago

That's Jay-Z and Biggie covered, the real question on everyone's lips is what Tupac had to say about it all. </cheeky comment I hope people don't take seriously>

hugh3 16y ago
I'd like to hear from Vanilla Ice. Stop, collaborate and listen Collaboration and listening are two of the most important aspects of entrepreneurship. Ice is back with a brand new invention Innovation is the key to launching a successful company Something that's got a hold of me tightly, flails like a harpoon daily and nightly ... on second thoughts, forget Vanilla Ice. Let's hear from Morris Minor & The Majors.

nanijoe 16y ago

"A strong word called consignment, strictly for live men, not for freshmen, if you aint got the clientele say hell no, cause they gon want they money rain sleet hail snow" - In other words, don't take outside money unless you are ready to deliver, cos the ANgels/VCs will want their money back.

coffee 16y ago
Yea that's a really good point. Make sure you have some traction (clientele) before takin' da chedda...

macournoyer 16y ago

Similarly, I'm reading 50th Law of Power (http://www.amazon.com/50th-Law-50-Cent/dp/006177460X http://www.amazon.com/50th-Law-50-Cent/dp/006177460X) How to be fearless, drawing some parallels w/ 50 cent life. Excellent book!

ladon86 16y ago

I think rule #10 is actually warning against scaling too quickly - don't go to the top of the supply chain, or overspend on inventory when you're still small and don't yet have the customer base.

DannoHung 16y ago

Never get high on your own supply could easily be taken to mean, "Don't believe your own hype." Which is probably important for both the pusher and the entrepreneur.

sethg 16y ago

“There are two industries which call their customers ‘users’...”

bryanh 16y ago

Believe it or not, I did something similar to this a while back: http://bryanhelmig.com/notorious-b-i-g-crack-commandments-in-business/ http://bryanhelmig.com/notorious-b-i-g-crack-commandments-in... In fact, I think this sort of abstraction is a useful way to internalize all that "business advice" you read everywhere. I tried to twist them to make them work with otherwise best practice business advice, because honestly, how could one possibly straight out disagree with Biggie? Either way, it is very cool to see someone come up with the same concept independently!

brianbreslin 16y ago

I like the idea of this post, any excuse to listen to biggie is a good one. However, I think the author misinterpreted a bunch of lyrics. Never hold weight on you. He means never keep anything incriminating on you. e.g. don't carry drugs on your person. in entrepreneurship, i'm at a loss for what the equivalent would be.

ssharp 16y ago
Maybe it should be taken literally. Ask Sean Parker.

btilly 16y ago

Who else was reminded of the classic Drug Dealers versus Software Developers? See http://home.xnet.com/~raven/Sysadmin/DrugSoftware.html http://home.xnet.com/~raven/Sysadmin/DrugSoftware.html.

taylorlb 16y ago

For further exploration of the parallels between the drug game and the rest of the game: check out the wonderful section of Freakonomics that's devoted to breaking down how successful crack dealing gangs conduct business.

eli 16y ago

"Rule #8: Never keep no weight on you" That doesn't mean don't get to close too your product. Biggie is saying you should not take large personal risks on behalf of your business.

zackattack 16y ago
I agree, this author knows nothing about rap. This lyrics is about dispatching the risk to your underlings.

delano 16y ago

This is an awesome track so it's great to see more discussion about it. For reference, here's the previous discussion from last year: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=752878 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=752878

maukdaddy 16y ago

Ain't nobody gonna hold me down.

mahmud 16y ago
That's an unhealthy attitude in business, thinking like a victim.