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There is a 0% chance you had a business idea that none of the tens of thousands of engineers, product managers, marketers, scientists, and inventors at big tech

by smt88 6y ago

There is a 0% chance you had a business idea that none of the tens of thousands of engineers, product managers, marketers, scientists, and inventors at big tech companies have had. The path you're describing (have an idea, get hired to build it) doesn't happen at big tech companies or any other companies that I've ever heard of. Having an idea says nothing about your ability to execute (or whether it's even a good idea). If you want to get hired as a product manager, either build something yourself and get acquired or go the conventional route of working for someone else.

Leherenn 6y ago
I disagree, that's a pretty pessimistic take, it's certainly possible to have an idea they didn't have. Not very likely, but possible. It's even more possible that they quickly entertained the idea but never pursued it, for a myriad of reasons. I do agree however that the idea alone is not going to get you anywhere.
- rahimnathwani 6y ago
  When someone says something has '0% chance', I interpret that as 'less than 0.5%', rounded to 1 significant figure. Taken this way, smt88's estimate seems reasonable.
  - 6510 6y ago
    For many thousands of years people argued that everything that can be invented has been invented and everything else had already been considered. Such a mind set can only be sustained by someone severely limited in creativity, inspiration and curiosity. With limited I mean 0%
    - smt88 6y ago
      "Everything has been invented or considered" is not even close to what I said. I literally do it for a living -- I only work on new products. I said that OP does not have a novel business idea for other people's companies that have (collectively) 500,000 people working for them. It's wrong to say that no one will invent anything again. It's also wrong to say that, without deep/insider knowledge of a company, that you are smarter and more creative than 100% of their employees. It's laughably arrogant and/or naive.
- smt88 6y ago
  > it's certainly possible to have an idea they didn't have No, it's not. It's possible to have an idea they didn't have, but not a good one. It's incredibly arrogant to think you, a random person who doesn't work for a company, has a good and novel idea that their 100,000 employees didn't think of. And what is the value of an idea with no understanding of their internal operations anyway? > that's a pretty pessimistic take OP is asking how to accomplish something that is so uncommon, I have never heard of it in 20 years in the software industry. Never. It doesn't even make logical sense for the company in question. It's not pessimistic to tell them it isn't going to happen. It's just basic reality. Reality is deflating sometimes -- sorry. > It's even more possible that they quickly entertained the idea but never pursued it, for a myriad of reasons. Yes, this is absolutely possible. If it's a good idea, it's actually likely. And that means it's even less likely that OP is going to be the magical key that opens the lock. No FAA(M)G-size company has ever said, "Well, this is a great idea, but we just don't have the one person we need to pursue it!" They have the people, and if it were a good idea, they'd pursue it.
  - Leherenn 6y ago
    And yet on the front page we have an article about how tech got so big through acquisitions. It seems likely that among the hundreds of companies that were acquired, there were at least some that had novel ideas those thousands of people didn't think of or didn't execute, and that's why they bought them. It can't be just to remove competitors or acquire talents. I would argue something like Instagram fits the bill. Now again, I'm not saying the idea of just going to a FAANG and saying "I've got a good idea, hire me and give me resources" is going to work. I agree with you on this, the chance here is 0. I'm just saying that it might be arrogant, it's likely the OP doesn't have such a brilliant idea, but history shows it is possible to have a good novel idea that matters to those companies.
    - smt88 6y ago
      An acquisition proves only that the acquirer needed to hire people, needed customers/users, wanted to kill a competitor, or didn't want to execute a business model. It doesn't say anything about whether, during the hundreds of millions of person-hours of work that they buy every year, those companies failed to come up with an idea. The startup world is mostly a oroving grouns for execution, not ideas. Successful companies are almost never novel. There is usually an earlier competitor that failed.
muzani 6y ago
Plus companies like Google, with their 20% Time policy, actually encourages their employees to try it out. And they understand their own problems better. So they're very likely to have a head start on anything that is easy and likely. The acquisitions are usually projects that have been better executed externally, like YouTube and Android.

by smt88 6y ago

Leherenn 6y ago

I disagree, that's a pretty pessimistic take, it's certainly possible to have an idea they didn't have. Not very likely, but possible. It's even more possible that they quickly entertained the idea but never pursued it, for a myriad of reasons. I do agree however that the idea alone is not going to get you anywhere.

rahimnathwani 6y ago
When someone says something has '0% chance', I interpret that as 'less than 0.5%', rounded to 1 significant figure. Taken this way, smt88's estimate seems reasonable.
- 6510 6y ago
  For many thousands of years people argued that everything that can be invented has been invented and everything else had already been considered. Such a mind set can only be sustained by someone severely limited in creativity, inspiration and curiosity. With limited I mean 0%
  - smt88 6y ago
    "Everything has been invented or considered" is not even close to what I said. I literally do it for a living -- I only work on new products. I said that OP does not have a novel business idea for other people's companies that have (collectively) 500,000 people working for them. It's wrong to say that no one will invent anything again. It's also wrong to say that, without deep/insider knowledge of a company, that you are smarter and more creative than 100% of their employees. It's laughably arrogant and/or naive.
smt88 6y ago
> it's certainly possible to have an idea they didn't have No, it's not. It's possible to have an idea they didn't have, but not a good one. It's incredibly arrogant to think you, a random person who doesn't work for a company, has a good and novel idea that their 100,000 employees didn't think of. And what is the value of an idea with no understanding of their internal operations anyway? > that's a pretty pessimistic take OP is asking how to accomplish something that is so uncommon, I have never heard of it in 20 years in the software industry. Never. It doesn't even make logical sense for the company in question. It's not pessimistic to tell them it isn't going to happen. It's just basic reality. Reality is deflating sometimes -- sorry. > It's even more possible that they quickly entertained the idea but never pursued it, for a myriad of reasons. Yes, this is absolutely possible. If it's a good idea, it's actually likely. And that means it's even less likely that OP is going to be the magical key that opens the lock. No FAA(M)G-size company has ever said, "Well, this is a great idea, but we just don't have the one person we need to pursue it!" They have the people, and if it were a good idea, they'd pursue it.
- Leherenn 6y ago
  And yet on the front page we have an article about how tech got so big through acquisitions. It seems likely that among the hundreds of companies that were acquired, there were at least some that had novel ideas those thousands of people didn't think of or didn't execute, and that's why they bought them. It can't be just to remove competitors or acquire talents. I would argue something like Instagram fits the bill. Now again, I'm not saying the idea of just going to a FAANG and saying "I've got a good idea, hire me and give me resources" is going to work. I agree with you on this, the chance here is 0. I'm just saying that it might be arrogant, it's likely the OP doesn't have such a brilliant idea, but history shows it is possible to have a good novel idea that matters to those companies.
  - smt88 6y ago
    An acquisition proves only that the acquirer needed to hire people, needed customers/users, wanted to kill a competitor, or didn't want to execute a business model. It doesn't say anything about whether, during the hundreds of millions of person-hours of work that they buy every year, those companies failed to come up with an idea. The startup world is mostly a oroving grouns for execution, not ideas. Successful companies are almost never novel. There is usually an earlier competitor that failed.

muzani 6y ago

Plus companies like Google, with their 20% Time policy, actually encourages their employees to try it out. And they understand their own problems better. So they're very likely to have a head start on anything that is easy and likely. The acquisitions are usually projects that have been better executed externally, like YouTube and Android.