I don't disagree with the sentiment here but I object to the idea that "anti-hucksterism can be seen every day on HackerNews" A startup, by definition, is an a

I don't disagree with the sentiment here but I object to the idea that "anti-hucksterism can be seen every day on HackerNews" A startup, by definition, is an act of hope. It's a bunch of people agreeing to be underpaid and overworked for the chance at doing something great. Even though they know the odds of them actually doing something great are next to 0 (the majority of startups fail). So the type of Bu--sh--ting or Hucksterism he refers to absolutely MUST be present by definition. And I think everyone knows that. In fact I think it's celebrated here more than any place else. Look at all the "ASK HN: REVIEW MY STARTUP" threads and you'll see a lot of support. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone tell a budding entrepreneur not to reach for $100-a-share. When criticism is present it's almost always to help the person achieve that goal not reprimand them for having it.