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I am, of course, exaggerating when I talk about all startups being web apps and iPhone games. On the other hand, an awful lot of the startups you'll find floati

I am, of course, exaggerating when I talk about all startups being web apps and iPhone games. On the other hand, an awful lot of the startups you'll find floating around the HN ecosystem do seem to fall into one category or the other. Many startups do, indeed, work on bigger problems. Batteries, solar power, freaking space travel. But who starts these? Not people who picked startups over university, that's for sure. To work on big real-world problems, you generally need a pretty darn strong background in science and/or engineering before you can even get started.

mindcrime 14y ago
Ok, I can (and do) agree that many startups fall into your category of "a cafe, a laptop and a stack of "For Dummies" boooks." But isn't that sort of thing the very thing Thiel was railing against recently? He was the one talking about "Why don't we have flying cars yet," no? So it appears that he, at least, thinks that some of the kids are going to lead something that results in some breakthroughs. Note too, that these Thiel backed startups receive mentoring and advice and assistance from Peter and his network of connections. I'm sure some of them are able to put together teams of really talented people to complement the founder(s).
randomdata 14y ago
I'm not sure I agree with you assertion. John Carmack is a notable college dropout who has been working on space travel. Capital is the only thing holding anyone back from working on those things. The reason you may see more scientists and engineers having access to the necessary capital is because they generally have that extra special drive to focus on that subject matter which excites investors to bring forth the money to make it happen. Someone with the same drive, but without a degree, will probably go just as far – they are a very rare breed though. Any random person who wants to just start a business, any business, can go to the coffee shop and start working away. They don't need capital from anyone. That is why people working on big problems are few and far between. You have to really want to work on space travel, or whatever, to put forth the extra effort to find the already rare investors.

mindcrime 14y ago

Ok, I can (and do) agree that many startups fall into your category of "a cafe, a laptop and a stack of "For Dummies" boooks." But isn't that sort of thing the very thing Thiel was railing against recently? He was the one talking about "Why don't we have flying cars yet," no? So it appears that he, at least, thinks that some of the kids are going to lead something that results in some breakthroughs. Note too, that these Thiel backed startups receive mentoring and advice and assistance from Peter and his network of connections. I'm sure some of them are able to put together teams of really talented people to complement the founder(s).

randomdata 14y ago

I'm not sure I agree with you assertion. John Carmack is a notable college dropout who has been working on space travel. Capital is the only thing holding anyone back from working on those things. The reason you may see more scientists and engineers having access to the necessary capital is because they generally have that extra special drive to focus on that subject matter which excites investors to bring forth the money to make it happen. Someone with the same drive, but without a degree, will probably go just as far – they are a very rare breed though. Any random person who wants to just start a business, any business, can go to the coffee shop and start working away. They don't need capital from anyone. That is why people working on big problems are few and far between. You have to really want to work on space travel, or whatever, to put forth the extra effort to find the already rare investors.