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The original intent of a startup doesn't matter much if your real goal is just to get a lot of users and sell them to advertisers. Then, who cares what you buil
by LnxPrgr3 14y ago
The original intent of a startup doesn't matter much if your real goal is just to get a lot of users and sell them to advertisers. Then, who cares what you build, as long as it attracts users? The original intent matters a lot more if your goal is to build something you want to see exist.
I, for one, am glad Stack Overflow is the site that it is today. There are plenty of other places on the Web for more open discussion… like here, for instance.
- wpietri 14y agoHow you make money is irrelevant for this. Original intent doesn't really matter if you intend to serve your users. What you want to do matters, and what they want to do matters. Startups are a learning process where you explore the intersection. If you hold on too tightly to original intent, exploration is impossible. You either end up frustrated that the people won't do what you want, or you end up trying to force them to do what you want. Both suck.
- LnxPrgr3 14y agoNothing will satisfy everyone. Stack Exchange is great at serving people who want to ask and answer well-formed questions with specific answers. It doesn't even pretend to be good at serving people who want to have long, open-ended discussions about fuzzier topics. What's wrong with that? Judging by the activity on the sites, they're serving plenty of users pretty well.
- wpietri 14y agoWhat's wrong with Friendster? It has millions of users and makes money, after all. Personally, I think Friendster could have been something more if they had been less arrogant, more willing to listen to their users. They only had to give up the belief that the users were Doing It Wrong. The problem I have with what Stack Overflow is similar. By your very metrics, these questions get plenty of activity, and many users feel very well served by them. What's wrong with that?