5 ms·

Was this meant to be funny or demonstrate a lot of personality? (as in: you will endure all this rough English because the message is so important). I am probab

Was this meant to be funny or demonstrate a lot of personality? (as in: you will endure all this rough English because the message is so important). I am probably not getting the humor but I found it an obnoxious read. All this to tell you "Don't be boring - do something different"? I could imagine a much better article on that topic.

morsch 15y ago
On the plus side, it has a cute drawing of a dog!
- mberning 15y ago
  I rather enjoyed the chicken with the mushroom cloud on the horizon.
  - paulkoer 15y ago
    Ok, the chicken was great, I admit..
  - callmeed 15y ago
    He/she made a shirt http://www.zazzle.com/no_one_eat_this_chicken_tshirt-235057778866059460 http://www.zazzle.com/no_one_eat_this_chicken_tshirt-2350577...
    - morsch 15y ago
      A pretty fantastic example of potentially generating money from stuff you've already got discussed in the How to make money while you're sleeping article earlier today. http://www.netmagazine.com/features/earn-money-your-sleep http://www.netmagazine.com/features/earn-money-your-sleep
brlewis 15y ago
If you read a "much better" article on that topic, you might forget who the author is. You won't forget the giant robot dinosaur.
Roboprog 15y ago
I am reminded of "Thag the Caveman" asking for help on network printing or some such thing, or perhaps of the "Hulk Feminist" tweeter. Sometimes, bad form is a form. Lighten up? I guess the point is to be memorable to at least a small group of people, rather than correct and bland and forgotten by all.
- code_duck 15y ago
  I'm reminded of http://twitter.com/#!/devops_borat http://twitter.com/#!/devops_borat - minus the extraneous words.
  - Roboprog 15y ago
    ROFLMAO
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
dhimes 15y ago
One thing this blog post highlights strongly, albeit accidentally, is that if you are going to have a personality it is important to have the right personality for your market. Having the wrong personality can set you back in ways ranging from not being taken seriously- and therefore having a greater hill to climb, to being offensive- and therefore being locked out of your market/audience. This blog post reads closer to something that I expect to see on a joke or casual chat forum than something I expect to see on a VC's blog. Having said that, I also think the message is spot-on. In particular, I thought the advice under "How not be boring" was clear, simple, and compelling.
- brlewis 15y ago
  I think you're right that the wrong personality can set you back, but disagree that this post is an illustration of it. Another of Fred's posts a few days also had spot-on advice relevant to the HN community. It never made it to the front page: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3025690 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3025690 This one being so much more successful illustrates one of three things: (1) the personality helped or (2) people think the content in this post is more interesting than that one was or (3) pg fixed the problem that makes it harder for items to reach the front page if they're submitted too early in the morning Pacific time.
  - dhimes 15y ago
    The reason it illustrated the hazards of a "wrong personality" not because it harmed Fred's particular brand, but because it was so startling that the reader can immediately see how having a "wrong personality" can have a lasting impact. This isn't a problem for Fred (except possibly for new readers), but could be for someone who is still trying to build his brand. In other words, if this were the personality of the blog (or, say, if Zed Shaw's online personality were the personality of the blog), online readers would have a different impression of Fred Wilson the VC. This one being so much more successful Only if the sole purpose of the blog was to get attention and create discussion as to the writing style of the blog.
    - 15y ago
dholowiski 15y ago
I think you missed the point. The "product" (the rough english) was terrible, but it had personality, it was enjoyable despite the rough english.
- morsch 15y ago
  Is it really enjoyable? You are begging the question. Things or people may have a distinct personality, but I don't enjoy bad personalities, even if I remember them.
  - dholowiski 15y ago
    I enjoyed it, so it was enjoyable for me.
  - runevault 15y ago
    It seems like most successful things will not be enjoyed by everyone, hence the common thought that if everyone likes what you are doing something is probably wrong.
AndrewGCook 15y ago
It's supposed to be an online version of Grimlock from Transformers. He's part of a clan or robots that all talk in third person and have broken English. That being said, I thought it was a thoughtful read with good points, and absolutely hilarious. I've spread it to 5 of my start-up friends who would get the Transformers reference already. People love personality in products, like the MailChimp helping you along when creating your email newsletter, or w00ts hilarious product descriptions. Wufoo even does this by having a t-rex be the log in button and a title tag that says "RARRR!" Apparently people really enjoy T-Rex's
darasen 15y ago
Try reading it like it is a caveman speaking.
- hnal943 15y ago
  NOT CAVEMAN. GIANT ROBOT DINOSAUR.
paulitex 15y ago
A demonstration of course: http://minimumviablepants.com/post/10813109434 http://minimumviablepants.com/post/10813109434
petercooper 15y ago
Seth Godin's new book, We Are All Weird, perhaps?
keithpeter 15y ago
Yup, I found the mock primitive a bit grating. However, I liked the chicken drawing enough that I'm going to print it and put it next to the computer.

morsch 15y ago

On the plus side, it has a cute drawing of a dog!

mberning 15y ago
I rather enjoyed the chicken with the mushroom cloud on the horizon.
- paulkoer 15y ago
  Ok, the chicken was great, I admit..
- callmeed 15y ago
  He/she made a shirt http://www.zazzle.com/no_one_eat_this_chicken_tshirt-235057778866059460 http://www.zazzle.com/no_one_eat_this_chicken_tshirt-2350577...
  - morsch 15y ago
    A pretty fantastic example of potentially generating money from stuff you've already got discussed in the How to make money while you're sleeping article earlier today. http://www.netmagazine.com/features/earn-money-your-sleep http://www.netmagazine.com/features/earn-money-your-sleep

brlewis 15y ago

If you read a "much better" article on that topic, you might forget who the author is. You won't forget the giant robot dinosaur.

Roboprog 15y ago

I am reminded of "Thag the Caveman" asking for help on network printing or some such thing, or perhaps of the "Hulk Feminist" tweeter. Sometimes, bad form is a form. Lighten up? I guess the point is to be memorable to at least a small group of people, rather than correct and bland and forgotten by all.

code_duck 15y ago
I'm reminded of http://twitter.com/#!/devops_borat http://twitter.com/#!/devops_borat - minus the extraneous words.
- Roboprog 15y ago
  ROFLMAO

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

dhimes 15y ago

One thing this blog post highlights strongly, albeit accidentally, is that if you are going to have a personality it is important to have the right personality for your market. Having the wrong personality can set you back in ways ranging from not being taken seriously- and therefore having a greater hill to climb, to being offensive- and therefore being locked out of your market/audience. This blog post reads closer to something that I expect to see on a joke or casual chat forum than something I expect to see on a VC's blog. Having said that, I also think the message is spot-on. In particular, I thought the advice under "How not be boring" was clear, simple, and compelling.

brlewis 15y ago
I think you're right that the wrong personality can set you back, but disagree that this post is an illustration of it. Another of Fred's posts a few days also had spot-on advice relevant to the HN community. It never made it to the front page: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3025690 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3025690 This one being so much more successful illustrates one of three things: (1) the personality helped or (2) people think the content in this post is more interesting than that one was or (3) pg fixed the problem that makes it harder for items to reach the front page if they're submitted too early in the morning Pacific time.
- dhimes 15y ago
  The reason it illustrated the hazards of a "wrong personality" not because it harmed Fred's particular brand, but because it was so startling that the reader can immediately see how having a "wrong personality" can have a lasting impact. This isn't a problem for Fred (except possibly for new readers), but could be for someone who is still trying to build his brand. In other words, if this were the personality of the blog (or, say, if Zed Shaw's online personality were the personality of the blog), online readers would have a different impression of Fred Wilson the VC. This one being so much more successful Only if the sole purpose of the blog was to get attention and create discussion as to the writing style of the blog.
  - 15y ago

dholowiski 15y ago

I think you missed the point. The "product" (the rough english) was terrible, but it had personality, it was enjoyable despite the rough english.

morsch 15y ago
Is it really enjoyable? You are begging the question. Things or people may have a distinct personality, but I don't enjoy bad personalities, even if I remember them.
- dholowiski 15y ago
  I enjoyed it, so it was enjoyable for me.
- runevault 15y ago
  It seems like most successful things will not be enjoyed by everyone, hence the common thought that if everyone likes what you are doing something is probably wrong.

AndrewGCook 15y ago

It's supposed to be an online version of Grimlock from Transformers. He's part of a clan or robots that all talk in third person and have broken English. That being said, I thought it was a thoughtful read with good points, and absolutely hilarious. I've spread it to 5 of my start-up friends who would get the Transformers reference already. People love personality in products, like the MailChimp helping you along when creating your email newsletter, or w00ts hilarious product descriptions. Wufoo even does this by having a t-rex be the log in button and a title tag that says "RARRR!" Apparently people really enjoy T-Rex's

darasen 15y ago

Try reading it like it is a caveman speaking.

hnal943 15y ago
NOT CAVEMAN. GIANT ROBOT DINOSAUR.

paulitex 15y ago

A demonstration of course: http://minimumviablepants.com/post/10813109434 http://minimumviablepants.com/post/10813109434

petercooper 15y ago

Seth Godin's new book, We Are All Weird, perhaps?

keithpeter 15y ago

Yup, I found the mock primitive a bit grating. However, I liked the chicken drawing enough that I'm going to print it and put it next to the computer.