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Don't let it get to you, Dan. The day I launched Notifo, I got instant backlash on TC, HN, Quora (back in private beta days; had to beg for invite to defend my

Don't let it get to you, Dan. The day I launched Notifo, I got instant backlash on TC, HN, Quora (back in private beta days; had to beg for invite to defend my honor) and even IM. It caught me off guard, but eventually I noticed it happens to everyone. New and unique ideas are the hardest to gain traction because nobody understands them yet. Improved executions of existing ideas can gain traction a lot faster. There is hardly one version of anything out there... and if there is, there is something wrong about it. Haters gonna hate.

ramanujan 16y ago
> It caught me off guard, but eventually I noticed it happens to everyone. EXACTLY. What no one ever tells you is that as an entrepreneur one of two things will be true: 1. 100% of people will ignore you 2. OR, some nontrivial fraction of commenters, journalists, bloggers (often 10-20%) will HATE you It helps a lot to know that this happens to everyone.
- patio11 16y ago
  One more vote for "everyone gets this", and I do mean everyone. BCC received the following comment on July 17th, 2006: Am I the only one who is a little annoyed? Patrick, you spend 8 days, budget $60, spend most of your time blogging about what you did, and you call yourself a MicroISV? It's more like NanoISV to me. A real MicroISV pour a lot more energy and soul into the software they develop. If somehow, your blog gets popular and what you did is considered a "MicroISV", I will be very sad. There will be no more pride in being a MicroISV and I will stop calling myself that. Spend a few days, a few bucks, to get a few extra bucks is a MicroISV ? Shame on you man! You give those real MicroISV like Bob Walsh and few others a bad name! I should really get that framed.
  - bvi 16y ago
    I love comments like this, because if you truly believe in yourself (and your product), it will only spur you even more to prove everyone else wrong.
    - ahoyhere 16y ago
      Totally. Do it. Living well is the best revenge and haters are universal, so there's lots of opportunity to get the best revenge ;) My parents, circa 1999 when I was dropping out of high school to teach myself: "You'll end up working at 7-11!" (Our income from products this year will be 10x my father's salary from that year.)
      - jharrison 16y ago
        Thanks for sharing, Amy. It's been very educational watching your transition and hearing about your product success. I'm working on a new product and you've been a great motivator! Note to self: Stop using the 7-11 argument with your teenagers.
      - kirubakaran 16y ago
        What they most likely meant was: "This increases the probability that you may have to support yourself working at 7-11".
        ahoyhere 16y ago
        Naw. What they REALLY meant was, "We're adult children who are afraid of life, afraid to take risks, and because we don't bother to know who you really are, daughter, we're going to project our brokenness on you and destroy your dreams like other people destroyed ours."
cool-RR 16y ago
It's funny that the haters usually say some combination of "It's not going to work" and "Someone is already doing it". As Scott Adams put it: "Can the people saying it won't work please talk to the people who say it's already being done? Work it out and get back to me."
wheels 16y ago
"Pioneers get the arrows; settlers get the land."
- moe 16y ago
  "The early bird may get the worm; but the second mouse gets the cheese."
theli0nheart 16y ago
Thanks Chad, I really appreciate it. I'm just trying to have fun with this, and it's really distressing that these people who don't know me are calling me names, hating on me, etc. Seems like I need to grow a thicker skin and accept that it comes with the territory. :-/
- tzs 16y ago
  If you check out the profiles of most of the people who are calling you names, etc., you'll see that they have no history. They are probably sock puppets.

ramanujan 16y ago

> It caught me off guard, but eventually I noticed it happens to everyone. EXACTLY. What no one ever tells you is that as an entrepreneur one of two things will be true: 1. 100% of people will ignore you 2. OR, some nontrivial fraction of commenters, journalists, bloggers (often 10-20%) will HATE you It helps a lot to know that this happens to everyone.

patio11 16y ago
One more vote for "everyone gets this", and I do mean everyone. BCC received the following comment on July 17th, 2006: Am I the only one who is a little annoyed? Patrick, you spend 8 days, budget $60, spend most of your time blogging about what you did, and you call yourself a MicroISV? It's more like NanoISV to me. A real MicroISV pour a lot more energy and soul into the software they develop. If somehow, your blog gets popular and what you did is considered a "MicroISV", I will be very sad. There will be no more pride in being a MicroISV and I will stop calling myself that. Spend a few days, a few bucks, to get a few extra bucks is a MicroISV ? Shame on you man! You give those real MicroISV like Bob Walsh and few others a bad name! I should really get that framed.
- bvi 16y ago
  I love comments like this, because if you truly believe in yourself (and your product), it will only spur you even more to prove everyone else wrong.
  - ahoyhere 16y ago
    Totally. Do it. Living well is the best revenge and haters are universal, so there's lots of opportunity to get the best revenge ;) My parents, circa 1999 when I was dropping out of high school to teach myself: "You'll end up working at 7-11!" (Our income from products this year will be 10x my father's salary from that year.)
    - jharrison 16y ago
      Thanks for sharing, Amy. It's been very educational watching your transition and hearing about your product success. I'm working on a new product and you've been a great motivator! Note to self: Stop using the 7-11 argument with your teenagers.
    - kirubakaran 16y ago
      What they most likely meant was: "This increases the probability that you may have to support yourself working at 7-11".
      - ahoyhere 16y ago
        Naw. What they REALLY meant was, "We're adult children who are afraid of life, afraid to take risks, and because we don't bother to know who you really are, daughter, we're going to project our brokenness on you and destroy your dreams like other people destroyed ours."

cool-RR 16y ago

It's funny that the haters usually say some combination of "It's not going to work" and "Someone is already doing it". As Scott Adams put it: "Can the people saying it won't work please talk to the people who say it's already being done? Work it out and get back to me."

wheels 16y ago

"Pioneers get the arrows; settlers get the land."

moe 16y ago
"The early bird may get the worm; but the second mouse gets the cheese."

theli0nheart 16y ago

Thanks Chad, I really appreciate it. I'm just trying to have fun with this, and it's really distressing that these people who don't know me are calling me names, hating on me, etc. Seems like I need to grow a thicker skin and accept that it comes with the territory. :-/

tzs 16y ago
If you check out the profiles of most of the people who are calling you names, etc., you'll see that they have no history. They are probably sock puppets.