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The bigness itself causes dysfunction, apart from just having more employees and more chances to have a disaster. It's the whole Dunbar's number thing, we reall

The bigness itself causes dysfunction, apart from just having more employees and more chances to have a disaster. It's the whole Dunbar's number thing, we really haven't figured out a great way to work effectively in huge groups yet. But... some things can only be done with huge groups, so even working ineffectively can be worth it. And in a competitive setting, your competition also has these problems, so you can win in the market despite them.

blablabla123 3y ago
The problem with tiny startups is often that people are really inexperienced with people problems. Large corps somewhat fix that by having HR departments and all. But ultimately I'm starting to think today's business often relies on some sort of hype train.
- fallingknife 3y ago
  I tend to think of HR departments as a people problem, not the solution to one.
  - atq2119 3y ago
    HR is often awful, sure. But it helps get the basics right. My brother works at a small (<100 people) startup in the material sciences, and the amount of times that his and his co-workers pay statements got messed up in creative ways is incredible. Meanwhile I'm working at a decades old big company and never had any problems like that.
    - fallingknife 3y ago
      Yeah if HR would stick to benefits administration / support and nothing else, I would have no issues with them.
- WJW 3y ago
  There are plenty of businesses that don't rely on hype, you just won't find them on HN. The average supermarket chain, steel mill or insurance company just produce valuable goods or services that people and/or businesses want to buy, and they can be stable businesses for decades or even centuries. Hacker news is a forum hosted by a VC that predominantly invests in software startups however, and so you won't find a lot of stories here about companies that don't fit that mold.
P_I_Staker 3y ago
Seems to attract broken people searching for greatness.
TulliusCicero 3y ago
> The bigness itself causes dysfunction It does, but the flip side is that the bigness also causes some greater efficiencies due to economies of scale or specialization.

blablabla123 3y ago

The problem with tiny startups is often that people are really inexperienced with people problems. Large corps somewhat fix that by having HR departments and all. But ultimately I'm starting to think today's business often relies on some sort of hype train.

fallingknife 3y ago
I tend to think of HR departments as a people problem, not the solution to one.
- atq2119 3y ago
  HR is often awful, sure. But it helps get the basics right. My brother works at a small (<100 people) startup in the material sciences, and the amount of times that his and his co-workers pay statements got messed up in creative ways is incredible. Meanwhile I'm working at a decades old big company and never had any problems like that.
  - fallingknife 3y ago
    Yeah if HR would stick to benefits administration / support and nothing else, I would have no issues with them.
WJW 3y ago
There are plenty of businesses that don't rely on hype, you just won't find them on HN. The average supermarket chain, steel mill or insurance company just produce valuable goods or services that people and/or businesses want to buy, and they can be stable businesses for decades or even centuries. Hacker news is a forum hosted by a VC that predominantly invests in software startups however, and so you won't find a lot of stories here about companies that don't fit that mold.

P_I_Staker 3y ago

Seems to attract broken people searching for greatness.

TulliusCicero 3y ago

> The bigness itself causes dysfunction It does, but the flip side is that the bigness also causes some greater efficiencies due to economies of scale or specialization.