4 ms·

You're already in one of the best communities there is: Hacker News. Don't underestimate what you can learn just by carefully reading the threads here. I went

by nugget 6y ago

You're already in one of the best communities there is: Hacker News. Don't underestimate what you can learn just by carefully reading the threads here. I went from "idea in my dorm room" to interviewing and hiring executives in their 40s and 50s within 24 months. The best lesson I learned is that there are way fewer "rules" than you think, and smart, disciplined, focused entrepreneurs can accomplish way more than they assume. It's reasonable to reflect on your inexperience in order to prevent mistakes, but you should never feel intimidated by it, or let other people intimidate you. The world (and YC's portfolio) is full of "inexperienced" people like you who have built billion dollar companies that disrupted industries and became pillars of the economy. If you post contact information in your profile, I'm sure at least a few people with relevant experience would reach out and offer to be a resource for more specific advice. I've done that a few times here with mostly successful results.

snerual 6y ago
Thanks, yeah I discovered HN about a year ago and it is a wonderful source of entertainment and valuable information
- sjg007 6y ago
  One thing I noticed is that the YC batch tend not to post or comment much here. Except for hiring and show posts. My guess is that they are heads down working!
  - redis_mlc 6y ago
    > One thing I noticed is that the YC batch tend not to post or comment much here. They're on BookFace, YC's private forums. HN is just YC's public ad server.
    - dang 6y ago
      That's not accurate. BF is great but it's not a parallel HN where a secret world of similar discussion is going on. To overgeneralize a bit, topics there tend to be narrower and oriented around specific concrete situations. A lot of it is about hiring, offices, things like that. There are a lot of Launch posts, especially by startups in the current batch who don't feel ready to go to a bigger format yet. Actually I think YC would probably like BF to become more HN-like and may find ways to encourage intellectually richer discussion (I've been asked a few times to advise about that). But if YC founders aren't posting to HN, it's not because they're busy participating in an alternative-universe HN. It's more likely as the GP said, that they're busy working—as they should be.
tensor 6y ago
I would caution that Hacker News is both fairly biased towards a developers view of the world, and also often unrealistic when it comes to things outside of technology. As the technical founder the best thing you can do to grow is actually to spend time learning about management and also the non-technical aspects of running a business. I wouldn't rely on Hacker News for these things. Instead look for local entrepreneur round tables or social groups and hang out with the non-technical roles.
- nugget 6y ago
  Maybe there's been a positive drift in that aspect of the community over the last couple years. Take this thread from last week about GlacierMD: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25825917 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25825917 IMO the discussion was at least as insightful as I'd expect from a top level MBA classroom.
  - tmpz22 6y ago
    Counterpoint, the threads about parler were a dumpsterfire as HN users around the world tried to create 1:1 comparisons between US current events and BLM protests in the Summer in order to support Parler's complete contempt for both moderation and open debate.
jamiequint 6y ago
HN is pretty relentlessly negative, and compared to the market in general overindexes on technology/security/privacy and underindexes on distribution/marketing. Some of the top upvoted advice on certain threads (not all) is just bad, usually because it's not pragmatic enough, and should be taken with a large grain of salt.
RicoElectrico 6y ago
> The best lesson I learned is that there are way fewer "rules" than you think, and smart, disciplined, focused entrepreneurs can accomplish way more than they assume. Isn't it like this? * A great idea can succeed despite mediocre execution * A mediocre idea can succeed if the execution is great * A bad idea can succeed (for a while) if you're a con artist (WeWork, Solar Roadways etc.)
- aarbor989 6y ago
  Curious as to why you think WeWork is a bad idea?

by nugget 6y ago

snerual 6y ago

Thanks, yeah I discovered HN about a year ago and it is a wonderful source of entertainment and valuable information

sjg007 6y ago
One thing I noticed is that the YC batch tend not to post or comment much here. Except for hiring and show posts. My guess is that they are heads down working!
- redis_mlc 6y ago
  > One thing I noticed is that the YC batch tend not to post or comment much here. They're on BookFace, YC's private forums. HN is just YC's public ad server.
  - dang 6y ago
    That's not accurate. BF is great but it's not a parallel HN where a secret world of similar discussion is going on. To overgeneralize a bit, topics there tend to be narrower and oriented around specific concrete situations. A lot of it is about hiring, offices, things like that. There are a lot of Launch posts, especially by startups in the current batch who don't feel ready to go to a bigger format yet. Actually I think YC would probably like BF to become more HN-like and may find ways to encourage intellectually richer discussion (I've been asked a few times to advise about that). But if YC founders aren't posting to HN, it's not because they're busy participating in an alternative-universe HN. It's more likely as the GP said, that they're busy working—as they should be.

tensor 6y ago

I would caution that Hacker News is both fairly biased towards a developers view of the world, and also often unrealistic when it comes to things outside of technology. As the technical founder the best thing you can do to grow is actually to spend time learning about management and also the non-technical aspects of running a business. I wouldn't rely on Hacker News for these things. Instead look for local entrepreneur round tables or social groups and hang out with the non-technical roles.

nugget 6y ago
Maybe there's been a positive drift in that aspect of the community over the last couple years. Take this thread from last week about GlacierMD: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25825917 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25825917 IMO the discussion was at least as insightful as I'd expect from a top level MBA classroom.
- tmpz22 6y ago
  Counterpoint, the threads about parler were a dumpsterfire as HN users around the world tried to create 1:1 comparisons between US current events and BLM protests in the Summer in order to support Parler's complete contempt for both moderation and open debate.

jamiequint 6y ago

HN is pretty relentlessly negative, and compared to the market in general overindexes on technology/security/privacy and underindexes on distribution/marketing. Some of the top upvoted advice on certain threads (not all) is just bad, usually because it's not pragmatic enough, and should be taken with a large grain of salt.

RicoElectrico 6y ago

> The best lesson I learned is that there are way fewer "rules" than you think, and smart, disciplined, focused entrepreneurs can accomplish way more than they assume. Isn't it like this? * A great idea can succeed despite mediocre execution * A mediocre idea can succeed if the execution is great * A bad idea can succeed (for a while) if you're a con artist (WeWork, Solar Roadways etc.)

aarbor989 6y ago
Curious as to why you think WeWork is a bad idea?