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Ok, so I am having a hard time buying the idea that just make a fun project if you want to create a something like 'Google'. Startup 101 teaches us that you nee

by suyash 3y ago

Ok, so I am having a hard time buying the idea that just make a fun project if you want to create a something like 'Google'. Startup 101 teaches us that you need to solve a painful problem that lot of people have, that is the best way to create 'Google', so isn't the advise contradictory?

tomhoward 3y ago
His advice is: - Work on a personal project that is motivating to you (obviously you won't work on it if it's not motivating to you) - It's a good sign if the project you're motivated to work on solves a problem that you and your friends care a lot about, because there's a good chance many more people will also want that problem solved and will buy/use your product. Sure, plenty of big companies were started via different paths, but not many were founded by kids barely out of high school.
- suyash 3y ago
  I didn't see the 2nd point but yes overall this clarifies.
- daveguy 3y ago
  > Sure, plenty of big companies were started via different paths, but not many were founded by kids barely out of high school. And neither was Google. Sergey Brin and Larry Page both hold masters degrees in Computer Science from Stanford.
  - tomhoward 3y ago
    He's giving advice to school kids on what to do during their remaining school years or early college years.
    - tomhoward 3y ago
      Also, Larry was 23 when PageRank was first published - that's not much older than "barely out of high school", even if we have to be so literal about everything :)
      - fragmede 3y ago
        "not much". at that age it's material! who I was at 18 and who I was at 23 is way different than the difference between 35 and 40
    - makerdiety 3y ago
      As long as Paul Graham doesn't tell the truth that most if not all school kids won't ever make the next Google, then I'm okay with influencers (like Paul Graham, for instance) lying about the possibility of enormous opportunities being available to people.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
      - sandspar 3y ago
        I think high schoolers are smart enough to know that he's not literally saying "do this and you'll start the next Google".
    - daveguy 3y ago
      Yes. I was reinforcing your point. Not even the example he uses is directly applicable to the audience. Just out of highschool and 6 years in one of the most rigorous CS programs are very different.
lordswork 3y ago
I don't think there is a contradiction. The argument is that building fun projects helps you gain expertise to the point where you can more easily recognize painful problems to solve.
etothepii 3y ago
This advice is for 14/15 year olds. I think the advice would be different for 22-year-olds. It would be different still for 35-year-olds. 22-year-olds have a hard time selling to enterprises, 14-year-olds will find it impossible. Whereas if they build something cool that they and their friends love they will gain many of the skills that might be useful later on. PG has made the point many times that the superpower 22-year-olds have is that they can live on ramen and work 16 hours a day. The superpower that 14-year-olds have is that (in many cases) they don't even need to find the $1,000 a month to survive.
- batshit_beaver 3y ago
  What's the super power of 35-year-olds? Arthritis?
  - xyzelement 3y ago
    Compared to my 25 and 15 year old self, my 35 (now 40) self is a lot wiser in terms of dealing with people, applying humility and being crisp on the wide gulf between "what I find is worth doing at the moment" and "what's valuable." I think these are all hugely valuable and serve me well.
    - Solvency 3y ago
      LLMs are increasingly good at your 40 year old soft social skills like humility, so don't bank on that being worth much very long.
      - xyzelement 3y ago
        I don't think of humility as a soft skill, it's an internal assumption about where the ultimate truth resides based on which you reason and engage with reality.
      - sandspar 3y ago
        Man even once AI takes all our jobs or whatever there's still gonna be 8 billion people wandering around. We're still gonna need to talk to each other.
mindwok 3y ago
I think the message is more about not getting caught up in external sources of what to build. Basically, don't follow the hype, follow your nose.
onthecanposting 3y ago
I am not seeing any mention of a certain US security state 'investor'that gave them a bunch of money and PR, either in the article or in comments. I suppose it's uncouth within polite company to speak of such things. We now have a single organization shaping the information access patterns of the people all over the world ostensibly paid by ads. Right.
Tabular-Iceberg 3y ago
Trying to solve people’s painful problems is an exercise in futility unless you’re already very good at solving problems. And you don’t get good at solving problems by sitting and twiddling your thumbs until a sufficiently worthy problem drops into your lap.
wepple 3y ago
He never uses “fun” He says you have to be interested in it, it should excite you, and it should be your own project. That’s absolutely not at odds with solving a problem. In fact, there’s a good chance that people are interested in solving a problem, likely one that is painful to you.

by suyash 3y ago

tomhoward 3y ago

His advice is: - Work on a personal project that is motivating to you (obviously you won't work on it if it's not motivating to you) - It's a good sign if the project you're motivated to work on solves a problem that you and your friends care a lot about, because there's a good chance many more people will also want that problem solved and will buy/use your product. Sure, plenty of big companies were started via different paths, but not many were founded by kids barely out of high school.

suyash 3y ago
I didn't see the 2nd point but yes overall this clarifies.
daveguy 3y ago
> Sure, plenty of big companies were started via different paths, but not many were founded by kids barely out of high school. And neither was Google. Sergey Brin and Larry Page both hold masters degrees in Computer Science from Stanford.
- tomhoward 3y ago
  He's giving advice to school kids on what to do during their remaining school years or early college years.
  - tomhoward 3y ago
    Also, Larry was 23 when PageRank was first published - that's not much older than "barely out of high school", even if we have to be so literal about everything :)
    - fragmede 3y ago
      "not much". at that age it's material! who I was at 18 and who I was at 23 is way different than the difference between 35 and 40
  - makerdiety 3y ago
    As long as Paul Graham doesn't tell the truth that most if not all school kids won't ever make the next Google, then I'm okay with influencers (like Paul Graham, for instance) lying about the possibility of enormous opportunities being available to people.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - sandspar 3y ago
      I think high schoolers are smart enough to know that he's not literally saying "do this and you'll start the next Google".
  - daveguy 3y ago
    Yes. I was reinforcing your point. Not even the example he uses is directly applicable to the audience. Just out of highschool and 6 years in one of the most rigorous CS programs are very different.

lordswork 3y ago

I don't think there is a contradiction. The argument is that building fun projects helps you gain expertise to the point where you can more easily recognize painful problems to solve.

etothepii 3y ago

This advice is for 14/15 year olds. I think the advice would be different for 22-year-olds. It would be different still for 35-year-olds. 22-year-olds have a hard time selling to enterprises, 14-year-olds will find it impossible. Whereas if they build something cool that they and their friends love they will gain many of the skills that might be useful later on. PG has made the point many times that the superpower 22-year-olds have is that they can live on ramen and work 16 hours a day. The superpower that 14-year-olds have is that (in many cases) they don't even need to find the $1,000 a month to survive.

batshit_beaver 3y ago
What's the super power of 35-year-olds? Arthritis?
- xyzelement 3y ago
  Compared to my 25 and 15 year old self, my 35 (now 40) self is a lot wiser in terms of dealing with people, applying humility and being crisp on the wide gulf between "what I find is worth doing at the moment" and "what's valuable." I think these are all hugely valuable and serve me well.
  - Solvency 3y ago
    LLMs are increasingly good at your 40 year old soft social skills like humility, so don't bank on that being worth much very long.
    - xyzelement 3y ago
      I don't think of humility as a soft skill, it's an internal assumption about where the ultimate truth resides based on which you reason and engage with reality.
    - sandspar 3y ago
      Man even once AI takes all our jobs or whatever there's still gonna be 8 billion people wandering around. We're still gonna need to talk to each other.

mindwok 3y ago

I think the message is more about not getting caught up in external sources of what to build. Basically, don't follow the hype, follow your nose.

onthecanposting 3y ago

I am not seeing any mention of a certain US security state 'investor'that gave them a bunch of money and PR, either in the article or in comments. I suppose it's uncouth within polite company to speak of such things. We now have a single organization shaping the information access patterns of the people all over the world ostensibly paid by ads. Right.

Tabular-Iceberg 3y ago

Trying to solve people’s painful problems is an exercise in futility unless you’re already very good at solving problems. And you don’t get good at solving problems by sitting and twiddling your thumbs until a sufficiently worthy problem drops into your lap.

wepple 3y ago

He never uses “fun” He says you have to be interested in it, it should excite you, and it should be your own project. That’s absolutely not at odds with solving a problem. In fact, there’s a good chance that people are interested in solving a problem, likely one that is painful to you.