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I don't really get your point. First of all, this isn't an "article." It's a story about one founder and one company. It's not supposed to be a middle-of-the-ro

by tempsy 7y ago

I don't really get your point. First of all, this isn't an "article." It's a story about one founder and one company. It's not supposed to be a middle-of-the-road case study on building startups. Nowhere in the story does he suggest that being poor would be better than being rich or that having financial security isn't objectively better than the opposite. He's basically saying that the downside of his wealth is living a life without purpose because he can afford to do nothing all day, and how he misses the feeling of having a purpose to wake up to. Even if you aren't extremely rich, I think most people can relate to that feeling. The reason why the story resonates is because it's a reminder that money does not buy purpose more than anything else.

dvt 7y ago
> First of all, this isn't an "article." It's a story about... I hate to be pedantic, but "article" and "story" are synonyms. > The reason why the story resonates is because it's a reminder that money does not buy purpose more than anything else. I think it resonates purely because it's a "human" story but, again, I really don't think anyone seriously thinks money brings happiness or purpose. Essentially, the story argues against a manufactured strawman. What the story does, imo, is minimize the hard work that went into his million-dollar venture while at the same time hinting that his small fortune might actually be a detriment, not a boon.
- tempsy 7y ago
  I mean, you criticized a human interest story for not being something like a business school case study for how to build startups. My counterpoint was that human interest stories aren't meant to do that. > I really don't think anyone seriously thinks money brings happiness or purpose. I was commenting on the purpose piece of the message not happiness, and no if this was another "money didn't bring me happiness" piece I don't think it would have resonated as much as it did. Maybe we've all finally learned that above a certain threshold of wealth you won't be any happier, but to see a man feeling a bit lost without purpose despite creating so much wealth for himself (and not having inherited it) is surprising, which is why this is resonating. Even Naval said a few weeks ago "Money does buy happiness, if you earned it," which is clearly not really true in this case. He missed the fact that money can actually remove purpose from your life, whether it was earned or not. Source: https://twitter.com/naval/status/1165866280181628928?lang=en https://twitter.com/naval/status/1165866280181628928?lang=en
  - dvt 7y ago
    > My counterpoint was that human interest stories aren't meant to do that. That's a fair point, maybe I'm looking at it from too much of a "startup-y" perspective.

by tempsy 7y ago

dvt 7y ago

> First of all, this isn't an "article." It's a story about... I hate to be pedantic, but "article" and "story" are synonyms. > The reason why the story resonates is because it's a reminder that money does not buy purpose more than anything else. I think it resonates purely because it's a "human" story but, again, I really don't think anyone seriously thinks money brings happiness or purpose. Essentially, the story argues against a manufactured strawman. What the story does, imo, is minimize the hard work that went into his million-dollar venture while at the same time hinting that his small fortune might actually be a detriment, not a boon.

tempsy 7y ago
I mean, you criticized a human interest story for not being something like a business school case study for how to build startups. My counterpoint was that human interest stories aren't meant to do that. > I really don't think anyone seriously thinks money brings happiness or purpose. I was commenting on the purpose piece of the message not happiness, and no if this was another "money didn't bring me happiness" piece I don't think it would have resonated as much as it did. Maybe we've all finally learned that above a certain threshold of wealth you won't be any happier, but to see a man feeling a bit lost without purpose despite creating so much wealth for himself (and not having inherited it) is surprising, which is why this is resonating. Even Naval said a few weeks ago "Money does buy happiness, if you earned it," which is clearly not really true in this case. He missed the fact that money can actually remove purpose from your life, whether it was earned or not. Source: https://twitter.com/naval/status/1165866280181628928?lang=en https://twitter.com/naval/status/1165866280181628928?lang=en
- dvt 7y ago
  > My counterpoint was that human interest stories aren't meant to do that. That's a fair point, maybe I'm looking at it from too much of a "startup-y" perspective.