5 ms·

Where is the evidence the fellow did what he says he did? What's the company name? Who is he? What product did he sell? Who uses it? We all love to read succes

Where is the evidence the fellow did what he says he did? What's the company name? Who is he? What product did he sell? Who uses it? We all love to read success stories but shouldn't we ask that the provenance of such stories be provided? Here we jump into discussing the advice of a total stranger - an unknow with no credentials. "Nukemanbill" could be sitting inside a mental institution or another teenager playing mind games. Or maybe he just read the book "All Marketers Are Liars" by Seth Godin and is testing Godin's ideas. Hell, maybe he's a SPAMmer selling Godin's book and thus this post. The only URL on the site that has any provenance whatsoever is the one to JoelOnSoftware. Heck, I question even Joel's BS ofttimes because his is a private company and we don't know whether he's floating on his past Microsoft earnings or really makes money. Should I read someone's writings because he posts a known URL? Taleb's right - humans are natural-born suckers. We're too trusting even here on HN. IMO if you own a company and want to give advice then you should be willing to name yourself and the company. Without that it's just SPAM. To it's credit the advice given is worth every cent I paid for it.

rob 18y ago
You must have pretty high standards if you consider his blog spam.
- giardini 18y ago
  To me, his posts can't be validated. His ideas aren't "grounded". How many blogs do you read that have anonymous authors? Of those, how many do you consider authoritative in their field and which give advice? Of those, how many give advice truly informative and worth following? Anonymous blogging is useful for hiding a source. Why trust anonymously-posted content, my own included? You can waste a lot of time on the Internet reading what? - Unbeknownst SPAM? - Mental garbage? - The thoughts of institutionalized programmers? - Good advice from seasoned veterans? - funny stories from young developers? The answer is "All the above." Think for yourself. Know your sources. Seek provenance before accepting advice. Beware of Greeks (and Geeks) bearing gifts.
marijn 18y ago
Ah, yes, but how do we know you weren't traumatically teased by the author in high school and are now stalking him online and trying to discredit him with vague insinuations? Huh?
- giardini 18y ago
  Don't be silly. I'm picking on his blog because he is _anonymous_. Nobody knows who he is except himself. Unless you believe that I have some superhuman power to scan the Internet's tubes with my super-neuro-alien-brainprobe. And that's the point - except in very unusual circumstances, do you read (and accept as authoritative) blogs whose authors don't reveal their identity? I think not.
  - narag 18y ago
    The comment you are responding to is clearly tonge-in-cheek. On the other hand, how is compatible to be both anonymous (thus unreachable) and a spammer? I believe what this guy says because it's also my experience. I haven't set up a company like his, but I did see niche applications and know a little about this kind of markets. What he says is nothing really new, he just says it well.
    - giardini 18y ago
      Most spammers are anonymous. Consider Amazon book reviews. On most Internet social groups (e.g., reddit, HN, google, amazon) spammers are omnipresent. What an ideal medium HN is should you desire to capture the eyeballs of nerds and technoweenies: then you could sell them books, sell them ideas, direct them to other websites, sell them seminars, BS, etc. Indeed, what communications channels are _not_ replete with spammers? And if, as you say, he says "nothing really new", why bother? Shouldn't you be reading something else, something that is more informative to you, something that possibly contradicts your experience, surprises you and adds to your knowledge? Reading what you already "know" is a waste of time IMO.
      - jamongkad 18y ago
lapenne 18y ago
Why would you consider this suspicious of being made up? I think his path to success is far more realistic than almost all of the web 2.0 stuff out there.
- giardini 18y ago
  I hate to point out the obvious, but - I haven't read "almost all of the web 2.0 stuff out there." - How would you know (that is personally)? Perhaps you've already done what he describes and can confirm it? If so, please post it on a blog, along with your name and your company's name. Unveil your product (not some imaginary "parking lot software"). - How would you know (that is, objectively whether what he's saying is true or BS)? - Because "On the Internet no one knows you're a dog."
sutro 18y ago
Who are you? If you held yourself to your own standards you'd link to your full contact info and biography in your HN profile. Otherwise you're just, by your own criteria, another anonymous spammer with no credentials, not to mention a hypocrite. This blogger explains that he wants to be as honest as possible with his blog, hence the anonymity. In one of his posts he details the deterioration of a previously close friendship due to differences of understanding about business risk and reward. In that context his anonymity can be seen as a form of consideration. This guy's blog is one of the best reads I've come across on HN for quite some time. I look forward to reading his future posts, and ignoring your future objections.
- giardini 18y ago
  Gasp! Such logic! Such wisdom! Such overwhelming intellect! FWIW I'm not the one claiming I you can "sell your software for $20,000." I'm the one telling you, just like your mother did 20 years ago, "Don't be a fool: be careful what you accept as truth." But if you must know: I _also_ remain anonymous because of the deterioration of a previously close friendship due to differences of understanding about business risk and reward. Since that satisfied you in his case I am certain that you will find it acceptable in mine. Or not. Bugger off.
  - jamongkad 18y ago
    My I haven't seen such trollish behavior in HN for a long time.
  - pg 18y ago
    Please stop this.
    - dcurtis 18y ago
      Do you have any criteria for determining when to just ban someone from the site? Do you ever do that?
      - allenbrunson 18y ago
Bill355 18y ago
Hi giardini, I'm Bill from the blog (tracking back why my daily visitor stats suddenly went 2,4,0,1, then 7000...) Honestly I'm just doing that blog as something to do and share some ideas about what I've experienced. I don't really care who reads it, so if it doesn't ring true with your experiences you can just move on. But posting my identity and company would mean my employees, competitors and customers would be reading every word, and I couldn't be truthful about anything. So I'm anonymous. I don't really care though, read it or not. I guess I'm just giving back a little to the anonymous cloud of internet people I've gotten advice from over the years, both good and bad.
- jamongkad 18y ago
  Well there you have it I guess. Anyways thank you so much for giving time to share your experiences with us.

rob 18y ago

You must have pretty high standards if you consider his blog spam.

giardini 18y ago
To me, his posts can't be validated. His ideas aren't "grounded". How many blogs do you read that have anonymous authors? Of those, how many do you consider authoritative in their field and which give advice? Of those, how many give advice truly informative and worth following? Anonymous blogging is useful for hiding a source. Why trust anonymously-posted content, my own included? You can waste a lot of time on the Internet reading what? - Unbeknownst SPAM? - Mental garbage? - The thoughts of institutionalized programmers? - Good advice from seasoned veterans? - funny stories from young developers? The answer is "All the above." Think for yourself. Know your sources. Seek provenance before accepting advice. Beware of Greeks (and Geeks) bearing gifts.

marijn 18y ago

Ah, yes, but how do we know you weren't traumatically teased by the author in high school and are now stalking him online and trying to discredit him with vague insinuations? Huh?

giardini 18y ago
Don't be silly. I'm picking on his blog because he is _anonymous_. Nobody knows who he is except himself. Unless you believe that I have some superhuman power to scan the Internet's tubes with my super-neuro-alien-brainprobe. And that's the point - except in very unusual circumstances, do you read (and accept as authoritative) blogs whose authors don't reveal their identity? I think not.
- narag 18y ago
  The comment you are responding to is clearly tonge-in-cheek. On the other hand, how is compatible to be both anonymous (thus unreachable) and a spammer? I believe what this guy says because it's also my experience. I haven't set up a company like his, but I did see niche applications and know a little about this kind of markets. What he says is nothing really new, he just says it well.
  - giardini 18y ago
    Most spammers are anonymous. Consider Amazon book reviews. On most Internet social groups (e.g., reddit, HN, google, amazon) spammers are omnipresent. What an ideal medium HN is should you desire to capture the eyeballs of nerds and technoweenies: then you could sell them books, sell them ideas, direct them to other websites, sell them seminars, BS, etc. Indeed, what communications channels are _not_ replete with spammers? And if, as you say, he says "nothing really new", why bother? Shouldn't you be reading something else, something that is more informative to you, something that possibly contradicts your experience, surprises you and adds to your knowledge? Reading what you already "know" is a waste of time IMO.
    - jamongkad 18y ago

lapenne 18y ago

Why would you consider this suspicious of being made up? I think his path to success is far more realistic than almost all of the web 2.0 stuff out there.

giardini 18y ago
I hate to point out the obvious, but - I haven't read "almost all of the web 2.0 stuff out there." - How would you know (that is personally)? Perhaps you've already done what he describes and can confirm it? If so, please post it on a blog, along with your name and your company's name. Unveil your product (not some imaginary "parking lot software"). - How would you know (that is, objectively whether what he's saying is true or BS)? - Because "On the Internet no one knows you're a dog."

sutro 18y ago

Who are you? If you held yourself to your own standards you'd link to your full contact info and biography in your HN profile. Otherwise you're just, by your own criteria, another anonymous spammer with no credentials, not to mention a hypocrite. This blogger explains that he wants to be as honest as possible with his blog, hence the anonymity. In one of his posts he details the deterioration of a previously close friendship due to differences of understanding about business risk and reward. In that context his anonymity can be seen as a form of consideration. This guy's blog is one of the best reads I've come across on HN for quite some time. I look forward to reading his future posts, and ignoring your future objections.

giardini 18y ago
Gasp! Such logic! Such wisdom! Such overwhelming intellect! FWIW I'm not the one claiming I you can "sell your software for $20,000." I'm the one telling you, just like your mother did 20 years ago, "Don't be a fool: be careful what you accept as truth." But if you must know: I _also_ remain anonymous because of the deterioration of a previously close friendship due to differences of understanding about business risk and reward. Since that satisfied you in his case I am certain that you will find it acceptable in mine. Or not. Bugger off.
- jamongkad 18y ago
  My I haven't seen such trollish behavior in HN for a long time.
- pg 18y ago
  Please stop this.
  - dcurtis 18y ago
    Do you have any criteria for determining when to just ban someone from the site? Do you ever do that?
    - allenbrunson 18y ago

Bill355 18y ago

Hi giardini, I'm Bill from the blog (tracking back why my daily visitor stats suddenly went 2,4,0,1, then 7000...) Honestly I'm just doing that blog as something to do and share some ideas about what I've experienced. I don't really care who reads it, so if it doesn't ring true with your experiences you can just move on. But posting my identity and company would mean my employees, competitors and customers would be reading every word, and I couldn't be truthful about anything. So I'm anonymous. I don't really care though, read it or not. I guess I'm just giving back a little to the anonymous cloud of internet people I've gotten advice from over the years, both good and bad.

jamongkad 18y ago
Well there you have it I guess. Anyways thank you so much for giving time to share your experiences with us.