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He's not telling people to do exactly what he did, that's obviously not going to work; it doesn't take a genius to realize that. He's saying that you can do in
by hasenj 15y ago
He's not telling people to do exactly what he did, that's obviously not going to work; it doesn't take a genius to realize that.
He's saying that you can do independent work (aka "indie") and still get a damn good income that may even surpass your "job" income (depends on how hard you work and how dedicated you are).
It's not really all that different from what PG writes in his essays. PG is just more specific "do a startup", this guy's post is more general "go indie".
I don't think he ever intended to imply it's some sort of "magic"; he clearly says it's hard work and there will be time where you'll want to quit, which is also something that PG says.
> While some level of motivation is necessary to kick start action, too much motivation is a crippling addiction that turns individuals into self-help cult members who follow every move of their marketing guru.
Same could be said about this community. A bunch of people who follow the PG cult of "quit your job and come to YC and get rich". While some of them do indeed succeed and get rich; the majority don't. (just playing the devil's advocate here)
- vertr 15y agoI think he is telling people to do exactly what he did. He has products talking about 'money making' and 'guest blogging', and the conclusions that he draws at the end tell you almost exactly what to do to be like him. Also if you read my comment you will notice I said the people who resonate with these posts are susceptible to magical thinking. I didn't directly say that there is magical thinking in the post, other than he seems to believe strongly in positivity being the key to success. I do agree about HN being very cult like. There is an ideology in play here, if you post things that agree with the ideology you are upvoted, if you disagree with it you are downvoted. The positive reinforcement is right there. Over time users learn what comments will lead to upvotes, and thus they change their thinking to match.
- Stormbringer 15y agoI don't think you even read the article properly, you just went into a knee jerk "OMG ADVERTISING!!! DIE DIE DIE!!!" mode. Quoted for truth: " Every day, I get emails from students who say my advice has changed their writing. Every day, I get emails from clients who say my strategies have changed the way they do business."
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- vertr 15y agoIn order for you to have an argument here you need to demonstrate how I 'read the article improperly'.