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This kind of comes off as thinly veiled marketing for Ramit. I subscribe to his emails and I'm a fan but I didn't expect to see this here I'm the front page. T
by billpatrianakos 15y ago
This kind of comes off as thinly veiled marketing for Ramit. I subscribe to his emails and I'm a fan but I didn't expect to see this here I'm the front page.
That didn't bother me as much as something else in the post. The article assumes you should want to make it in SV. I'd say ask yourself why you want to make it SV? Do you really need to go there to make it? I have a lot of respect for silicon valley and the things that come from there but there are too many people who want to make it in SV because it's trendy. They read HN and want to be just like the cool hip startup founders.
We should be doing what's right for us and our companies. Not all of us even belong in the entrepreneurship game. I briefly dreamed of coming to SV and trying to make it with a cool tech startup. Then I realized that I had no business there right now. It would be far better to get some momentum here in Chicago, build up some success, and grow my companies to the size they are meant to be while avoiding VCs on purpose.
There's too much hype around Silicon Valley and I'm afraid it's trendiness will be the death of its reputation for innovation. If things continue this way I fear that SV will be known for hollow, get rich quick types. Like Wall Street on the west coast. Do what's right for you. You might not want to make it in SV after all. Try to make it in Salt Lake or St. Louis, Hickville Alabama or Chicago or wherever it is you find yourself. I doubt anyone could succeed in a new location without the skills to make connections to succeed in their original location.
- weston 15y agoI didn't mean for it to come off as marketing for Ramit. He has written some good stuff and I got something out of it, so I thought I would share to "pay it forward" so to speak to other people. While I specifically was writing about Silicon Valley, I think many of the lessons could be applied to other cities and other industries. If you can build your startup in Chicago and can be successful, like Groupon or 37signals, I applaud that as well!
- billpatrianakos 15y agoWell then I stand corrected. I trust you're not a paid shill for Ramit so I'm not so concerned about the marketing anymore. Like I said, I like Ramit, I'm a subscriber, and I once had a brief back and forth exchange with him over email. He's a nice guy. I get that you were speaking specifically about Silicon Valley. My criticism has more to do with the general trend I see of people advocating that you should rush out to SV and try to strike it rich in Startupland. This post just got me thinking of that so please don't think I was being critical of you. I was just reminded of something related and was speaking about that. The Ramit thing was critical of you but I trust you're sincere so, like I said, I stand corrected on that point.
- itmag 15y agoIf I can make it in Scandinavia, I am all for that. But I don't know if the "mental climate" is very suitable for doing so. People just don't grok disruptive startup ideas. I need to be on the same wavelength as my environment. Well, there are some examples I guess (Minecraft, Skype, Spotify, TAT).