3 ms·

It's the classic line: "That's so simple, I could have built that" which warrants the classic response: "fuck you, you didn't".

echelon 6y ago
Why the hostility? Sure we have the benefit of hindsight to solutions that fit within the product demand fitness landscape. But by identifying areas we could have attacked, we shape our intuition and gain the confidence to exploit other areas of opportunity. That's valuable. I think this warrants a reframing - instead of focusing on missed opportunities, look ahead for new ones. There will be gradients for the foreseeable future. Learn to spot them, learn the skills you need, and then position yourself to solve the problems. With the knowledge I have now, I could have built Facebook, Twitter, Uber. But I didn't know to do it then. I'm trying to put myself in the right place to solve problems that matter to me that I also think could move the needle.
- therealdrag0 6y ago
  It’s faux/facetious hostility. And it’s I response to a naive/offensive/belittling comment. I’ve not worked in a company as big as Uber, but just in mid sized companies with also midsized markets and there is never an end to the work that needs done. I don’t see why it’s hard to believe it takes a lot of hands to build something like Uber. And I think you’re wrong that you could have built Uber/Twitter/facebook even with what you k ow after the fact. You could have built a toy simulacrum, but put it before millions of users and it’d fall apart, and not just from scale, but missing features; all the different OSs, regional controls, payment controls, mapping, pricing models, etc. If there was a spec for one of these companies it’d be thousands of thousands of pages long and most of it you don’t know about; no single person could. So a little faux hostility seems warranted.

3 ms·

It's the classic line: "That's so simple, I could have built that" which warrants the classic response: "fuck you, you didn't".

by kyleblarson 6y ago

echelon 6y ago
Why the hostility? Sure we have the benefit of hindsight to solutions that fit within the product demand fitness landscape. But by identifying areas we could have attacked, we shape our intuition and gain the confidence to exploit other areas of opportunity. That's valuable. I think this warrants a reframing - instead of focusing on missed opportunities, look ahead for new ones. There will be gradients for the foreseeable future. Learn to spot them, learn the skills you need, and then position yourself to solve the problems. With the knowledge I have now, I could have built Facebook, Twitter, Uber. But I didn't know to do it then. I'm trying to put myself in the right place to solve problems that matter to me that I also think could move the needle.
- therealdrag0 6y ago
  It’s faux/facetious hostility. And it’s I response to a naive/offensive/belittling comment. I’ve not worked in a company as big as Uber, but just in mid sized companies with also midsized markets and there is never an end to the work that needs done. I don’t see why it’s hard to believe it takes a lot of hands to build something like Uber. And I think you’re wrong that you could have built Uber/Twitter/facebook even with what you k ow after the fact. You could have built a toy simulacrum, but put it before millions of users and it’d fall apart, and not just from scale, but missing features; all the different OSs, regional controls, payment controls, mapping, pricing models, etc. If there was a spec for one of these companies it’d be thousands of thousands of pages long and most of it you don’t know about; no single person could. So a little faux hostility seems warranted.