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Did anyone learn from that post or the comments on this page? I'm struggling to extract any value, everything is sensible, but a lot of it is opinions, open to

by throw14082020 5y ago

Did anyone learn from that post or the comments on this page? I'm struggling to extract any value, everything is sensible, but a lot of it is opinions, open to interpretation and high level "its a judgement calls". I don't think any of it is useful in practice. Not much was backed by evidence or science. My perspective: Always just do it. If you're good enough to succeed you'll succeed, and if you're not good enough, you never were gonna succeed anyway. Of course, you need to be scientific in your approach, but nothing on this page is scientific. Apart from my perspective ;)

sk5t 5y ago
> If you're good enough to succeed you'll succeed Luck and connections, too, friend.
fairity 5y ago
I did. As a founder, the idea I'm currently working on has required a decade of hard work to turn into a moderate success. It's a hunch of mine that the reason it's a moderate success and not a huge success is primarily due to market -- and, this article supports that hypothesis. Although Marc doesn't present the evidence that his claims are based on, I'm sure his thesis is based on the thousands of companies he's witnessed succeed and fail. Needless to say, next time (if there is a next), I'll spend a lot more time analyzing market before diving in head first.
pototo666 5y ago
My two cents. The first time I read this post was two years ago. I was working a problem: how to practice Japanese. I had users and revenue, but no growth. Simple maths told me my product would never grow as a startup, and I had no way out of the niche. This post helped me confirm my worry: my market is too small. What I learned: add a filter to the problem I want to solve. Is the problem big, or is it going to be big? This is expecially important when I am working on something I am passionate about. There is confirmation bias and wishful thinking when it comes to what I love. Now I am working on a problem I care about, and the problem is big. This post expresses an idea that I can easily relate to, given my experience. In this sense, it is useful.
breck 5y ago
I got a lot of value out of it. I have close to 40 angel investments now, and it rings true. The ones doing best (from a returns point of view anyway) are all in great markets. I have not had any great teams fail yet but a couple that were plodding along and then pivoted markets and that changed everything. One thing I'm curious to see: if you've got a great team and run a tight ship can you take your time and eventually wait for your market opportunity?

sk5t 5y ago

> If you're good enough to succeed you'll succeed Luck and connections, too, friend.

fairity 5y ago

I did. As a founder, the idea I'm currently working on has required a decade of hard work to turn into a moderate success. It's a hunch of mine that the reason it's a moderate success and not a huge success is primarily due to market -- and, this article supports that hypothesis. Although Marc doesn't present the evidence that his claims are based on, I'm sure his thesis is based on the thousands of companies he's witnessed succeed and fail. Needless to say, next time (if there is a next), I'll spend a lot more time analyzing market before diving in head first.

pototo666 5y ago

My two cents. The first time I read this post was two years ago. I was working a problem: how to practice Japanese. I had users and revenue, but no growth. Simple maths told me my product would never grow as a startup, and I had no way out of the niche. This post helped me confirm my worry: my market is too small. What I learned: add a filter to the problem I want to solve. Is the problem big, or is it going to be big? This is expecially important when I am working on something I am passionate about. There is confirmation bias and wishful thinking when it comes to what I love. Now I am working on a problem I care about, and the problem is big. This post expresses an idea that I can easily relate to, given my experience. In this sense, it is useful.

breck 5y ago

I got a lot of value out of it. I have close to 40 angel investments now, and it rings true. The ones doing best (from a returns point of view anyway) are all in great markets. I have not had any great teams fail yet but a couple that were plodding along and then pivoted markets and that changed everything. One thing I'm curious to see: if you've got a great team and run a tight ship can you take your time and eventually wait for your market opportunity?