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It's often hard to look back and attribute success to the things that one did not do. I think this more than anything is Marissa Mayer's problem here on HN - it
by samt 16y ago
It's often hard to look back and attribute success to the things that one did not do. I think this more than anything is Marissa Mayer's problem here on HN - it's tough to publicly point to anything she did, except play the totally critical role of saying no a million times over. Few people can do that, fewer still are right.
- derefr 16y agoIt seems that people who say no for a living—designers, directors, critics, even big-league VCs—all fare poorly on HN. I wonder why that is?
- nostrademons 16y agoBecause HN is filled with prospective entrepreneurs and innovative software engineers, and these people need to say "Yes" in order to do their job. Startups would never get off the ground if their founders said "No" to everything. The next great idea would be killed long before it could be developed enough to prove its worth. The critical piece is being able to say "Yes" to everything early on, and then critically look at everything you've said "Yes" to once they're on the table and say "No, no, and no" to the vast majority of them.