4 ms·

I don't know if you're aware of this, but American markets are hyper competitive. I'd be extremely wary of any instinct to discount the skill level of any top-2

I don't know if you're aware of this, but American markets are hyper competitive. I'd be extremely wary of any instinct to discount the skill level of any top-20 self-made billionaire industrialist, really anywhere in the world, but in the US at least, that skillset is likely heavily skewed toward business excellence.

afavour 9mo ago
> American markets are hyper competitive Eh. Brand new markets, perhaps. But established markets in the US favor incumbents and encourage monopoly.
- vessenes 9mo ago
  Monopoly - so easy everyone can do it. We should give it a go! I would include managing your way into monopoly status and steering clear of being broken up as business skills; no?
SimianSci 9mo ago
> self-made billionaire industrialist We've reached levels of billionaire worship that would make any court jester of the 1400's blush
- vessenes 9mo ago
  Well jesters are supposed to call out the BS, yes? That said, How do you (accurately) describe Ellison?
  - danparsonson 9mo ago
    Greedy, ruthless and well-connected? These people are hardly genuises.
    - quesera 9mo ago
      > Greedy, ruthless and well-connected? Sure, but that's not enough. > These people are hardly genuises. You're quite wrong about this. I know it's tempting to look at a damaged person and assume that they possess no actual extraordinary capabilities, but these people are very very smart. Surely they'd be top-tier HN. :) (Defining "genius" is a whole nother thing, but using any common vernacular meaning, my statement will apply.) Not all billionaires, of course. In context, we're talking about Ellison and Musk. There may be others implied. These people are in fact extremely intelligent. What's missing is not horsepower.
      - danparsonson 9mo ago
        > Sure, but that's not enough. You're right - a healthy dose of luck, 'right place, right time', is also needed. Plus the arrogance to assume that they deserve everything they want. > You're quite wrong about this. I know it's tempting to look at a damaged person and assume that they possess no actual extraordinary capabilities, but these people are very very smart. Surely they'd be top-tier HN. :) Maybe you and I disagree on the definition of a genius; Ellison and Musk are of course smart, but there are very many smart people - that is also not sufficient, and 'genius' is not required. Elon Musk spends a lot of time arguing with random people on Twitter, and espouses some very dumb, and sometimes racist views. He's a good salesman (principally of himself), and possessed of huge self-confidence, but I don't see any evidence of genius. More like being born 3-0 up and convinced he'd scored a hat-trick, amplified by survivor bias; for every billionaire, there are thousands like them who just didn't get the right breaks. Compare Elon and 'lawnmower' Larry to everyone's favourite genius, Einstein, and they're not even in the same league.
        quesera 9mo ago
        Underestimation is a mistake with at least equal consequences as anthropomorphization. I recommend neither.
  - ginsider_oaks 9mo ago
    lawnmower
  - XorNot 9mo ago
    Why does he need a description? If Larry Ellison thinks something is true he can argue the case for it using the same universal logical principles which we all have access to. Who he is is irrelevant.
- fragmede 9mo ago
  An off-the-cuff four word description on an Internet forum definitely exceeds the level of worship from a court jester in the 1400s that had to dress up in costume and dance at the command of a king, lest their head get cut off.

afavour 9mo ago

> American markets are hyper competitive Eh. Brand new markets, perhaps. But established markets in the US favor incumbents and encourage monopoly.

vessenes 9mo ago
Monopoly - so easy everyone can do it. We should give it a go! I would include managing your way into monopoly status and steering clear of being broken up as business skills; no?

SimianSci 9mo ago

> self-made billionaire industrialist We've reached levels of billionaire worship that would make any court jester of the 1400's blush

vessenes 9mo ago
Well jesters are supposed to call out the BS, yes? That said, How do you (accurately) describe Ellison?
- danparsonson 9mo ago
  Greedy, ruthless and well-connected? These people are hardly genuises.
  - quesera 9mo ago
    > Greedy, ruthless and well-connected? Sure, but that's not enough. > These people are hardly genuises. You're quite wrong about this. I know it's tempting to look at a damaged person and assume that they possess no actual extraordinary capabilities, but these people are very very smart. Surely they'd be top-tier HN. :) (Defining "genius" is a whole nother thing, but using any common vernacular meaning, my statement will apply.) Not all billionaires, of course. In context, we're talking about Ellison and Musk. There may be others implied. These people are in fact extremely intelligent. What's missing is not horsepower.
    - danparsonson 9mo ago
      > Sure, but that's not enough. You're right - a healthy dose of luck, 'right place, right time', is also needed. Plus the arrogance to assume that they deserve everything they want. > You're quite wrong about this. I know it's tempting to look at a damaged person and assume that they possess no actual extraordinary capabilities, but these people are very very smart. Surely they'd be top-tier HN. :) Maybe you and I disagree on the definition of a genius; Ellison and Musk are of course smart, but there are very many smart people - that is also not sufficient, and 'genius' is not required. Elon Musk spends a lot of time arguing with random people on Twitter, and espouses some very dumb, and sometimes racist views. He's a good salesman (principally of himself), and possessed of huge self-confidence, but I don't see any evidence of genius. More like being born 3-0 up and convinced he'd scored a hat-trick, amplified by survivor bias; for every billionaire, there are thousands like them who just didn't get the right breaks. Compare Elon and 'lawnmower' Larry to everyone's favourite genius, Einstein, and they're not even in the same league.
      - quesera 9mo ago
        Underestimation is a mistake with at least equal consequences as anthropomorphization. I recommend neither.
- ginsider_oaks 9mo ago
  lawnmower
- XorNot 9mo ago
  Why does he need a description? If Larry Ellison thinks something is true he can argue the case for it using the same universal logical principles which we all have access to. Who he is is irrelevant.
fragmede 9mo ago
An off-the-cuff four word description on an Internet forum definitely exceeds the level of worship from a court jester in the 1400s that had to dress up in costume and dance at the command of a king, lest their head get cut off.