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You may as well be reading about a rock band here. This story does not and will not apply to you. This is the one in a thousand/million fairy-tale of the frivol

by SandB0x 13y ago

You may as well be reading about a rock band here. This story does not and will not apply to you. This is the one in a thousand/million fairy-tale of the frivolous app dreamed up in coffee shops, fuelled by rapid investment and sold for vast sums to a tech giant without so much as a whiff of a business model.

Gepsens 13y ago
Yes, but I like fairy tales.
Kiro 13y ago
What's with the negativity? Are you telling inspiring musicians to stop trying as well?
- SandB0x 13y ago
  Aspiring musicians appreciate the vast odds against them becoming the Next Big Thing. It takes an extremely young or naive person to believe that they will become a wild success off the back of some unpaid gigs or their YouTube channel. In fact, most musicians that I know are rightly insistent on being paid for their performances and are suspicious of promoters and agents who are eager for them to gain exposure by playing for free. Edit: Essentially there is a continuum of risk/reward between * Consulting or creating a small and stable business (or, say, playing as a session musician) * Buying lottery tickets. I just don't think that people are always aware of where they are on that scale and it doesn't seem right to give people false impressions of where they and their ideas stand. Yeah I do sound like a grumpy sod :)
- hagy 13y ago
  If an aspiring musician were only motivated by the chance of making it big, I would definitely tell them to stop trying. Not because they’re pursuing an irrational goal, but because that’s not sufficient motivation to get through all the shit it takes to have a chance at making it big in music. Similarly with startups, if someone is only motivated by a huge exit then they won’t last through the years of low-success and failure that precede building a moderately successful business. Individual who succeed in these careers get some satisfaction out of the process and the small successes along the way (e.g. performing before ten people in a bar or having one potential customer get excited about your new product).
- jahansafd 13y ago
  in order to pursue anything abnormal you need to keep looking for validations. A good validation for musicians is if listeners like and share their music. If there is potential then there is a way.
- ryguytilidie 13y ago
  I read it more as he's telling aspiring musicians to not go all in on a <1% prospect, which doesn't seem all that nuts to me.
Jare 13y ago
The name of the publication is "Vanity Fair".
- rz2k 13y ago
  Which also happens to have pretty good articles every now and then.
  - nickpinkston 13y ago
    Hear Hear - Christopher Hitchens was its editor, so it can't be that bad.
    - rsingel 13y ago
      Hitchens was a columnist, not its EIC.
    - sopooneo 13y ago
      Which frankly, baffles me. I see it at the supermarket, right? Next to the other fashion magazines and it also looks like a fashion magazine? So I'm not contesting the truth that it sometimes has serious heavyweights writing for it, I'm just baffled by that fact. It's like if you found out Gore Vidal had been writing for Good Housekeeping.
      - nickpinkston 13y ago
        Yea, you and me both are baffled! I almost wonder if he treated it as a sinecure.
  - nickpinkston 13y ago
    Hear Hear - Christopher Hitchens was its editor, so it can't be that bad.
logicallee 13y ago
I see. Let's say I see a big incumbent who's UNIQUE selling point is 'we have everyone's private photos. people have to come to us if they want to see their friend's photos.' I start threatening them. They pay and buy us. I get rich. The incumbent gets to keep everyone's photos. At what point in the above do we not have a business model? Oh, you mean it can't possibly WORK! Except that it just did. Well, I'm sorry, but something that just worked obviously did work.
- SandB0x 13y ago
  You seem to have snuck in "I start threatening them." as if that is easy and repeatable.
  - logicallee 13y ago
    You seem to have snuck in the word "easy" there. Out of curiosity - what percentage of real, viable business plans do you think are "easy"? Seriously though. While not easy, it is 100% repeatable - it is one of the great ways to build a business. (Actually, regardless of whether the incumbent buys you out - their investors or those who regret being investors migth instead.)
    - ryguytilidie 13y ago
      "Out of curiosity - what percentage of real, viable business plans do you think are "easy"?" I'd imagine they vary based on the business plan. I think what others are trying to say, but you don't seem to want to hear, is that while many business ideas are say, 20% to succeed, this particular business plan is <1% to succeed.
- ok_craig 13y ago
  Planning on a very specific other company wanting to buy you out isn't actually a business model. A business model is something that will keep the business self-propelled.
- Goladus 13y ago
  Selling company stock is not a business model, howeverr great an exit strategy it might be for founders. It does mean that someone substantially values the company, but doesn't say anything about its role in the economy outside that one transaction.
joonix 13y ago
In addition there aren't many lessons to be gleaned from the story. It might be entertaining to read but in the end it's as if you just wasted 20 minutes playing Solitaire.
- newbie12 13y ago
  Bombermine is more fun.
- jakejake 13y ago
  I would say if there is a lesson at all - that it's helpful to be on friendly terms with several of the Silicon Valley elite before you start your company. Not taking away from Instagram being a great app, but it was catapulted towards success due to the founders personal connections.
  - ttrreeww 13y ago
    It's not what you know, but who you know.
sharkfood 13y ago
Indeed this is one in a million. My story is the total opposite... Where giants squash and step on the little guy innovator. See thread I posted below https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5661273 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5661273
- yial 13y ago
  You don't actually have any specifics of your story posted, just vague comments. Would you perhaps be willing to share details?
ioncereadknuth 13y ago
Agreed. Lets look at the investor list: Seed was Baseline Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. A-round was Adam D'Angelo, Jack Dorsey, Chris Sacca, Baseline Ventures, and Benchmark Capital. Then there was Joshua Kushner, and John Lilly. Wait, who? Adam D'Angelo - Quora founder. More importantly, "He was chief technology officer of Facebook, and also served as its vice president of engineering" . Top 25 TopCoder participant, respect. Jack Dorsey - Twitter and Square founder Joshua Kushner - son of the real estate mogul Charles B. Kushner and brother of Jared Kushner, owner of The New York Observer We already know one of the founders went to school with Zuck. Cant find citations now, but it was in an online interview. So it sure helps to be school buddies with Zuck, have ex-Facebook CTO and Zuck friends as investor, and new media (twitter) and old media (kushner famliy) owners as well.

by SandB0x 13y ago

Gepsens 13y ago

Yes, but I like fairy tales.

Kiro 13y ago

What's with the negativity? Are you telling inspiring musicians to stop trying as well?

SandB0x 13y ago
Aspiring musicians appreciate the vast odds against them becoming the Next Big Thing. It takes an extremely young or naive person to believe that they will become a wild success off the back of some unpaid gigs or their YouTube channel. In fact, most musicians that I know are rightly insistent on being paid for their performances and are suspicious of promoters and agents who are eager for them to gain exposure by playing for free. Edit: Essentially there is a continuum of risk/reward between * Consulting or creating a small and stable business (or, say, playing as a session musician) * Buying lottery tickets. I just don't think that people are always aware of where they are on that scale and it doesn't seem right to give people false impressions of where they and their ideas stand. Yeah I do sound like a grumpy sod :)
hagy 13y ago
If an aspiring musician were only motivated by the chance of making it big, I would definitely tell them to stop trying. Not because they’re pursuing an irrational goal, but because that’s not sufficient motivation to get through all the shit it takes to have a chance at making it big in music. Similarly with startups, if someone is only motivated by a huge exit then they won’t last through the years of low-success and failure that precede building a moderately successful business. Individual who succeed in these careers get some satisfaction out of the process and the small successes along the way (e.g. performing before ten people in a bar or having one potential customer get excited about your new product).
jahansafd 13y ago
in order to pursue anything abnormal you need to keep looking for validations. A good validation for musicians is if listeners like and share their music. If there is potential then there is a way.
ryguytilidie 13y ago
I read it more as he's telling aspiring musicians to not go all in on a <1% prospect, which doesn't seem all that nuts to me.

Jare 13y ago

The name of the publication is "Vanity Fair".

rz2k 13y ago
Which also happens to have pretty good articles every now and then.
- nickpinkston 13y ago
  Hear Hear - Christopher Hitchens was its editor, so it can't be that bad.
  - rsingel 13y ago
    Hitchens was a columnist, not its EIC.
  - sopooneo 13y ago
    Which frankly, baffles me. I see it at the supermarket, right? Next to the other fashion magazines and it also looks like a fashion magazine? So I'm not contesting the truth that it sometimes has serious heavyweights writing for it, I'm just baffled by that fact. It's like if you found out Gore Vidal had been writing for Good Housekeeping.
    - nickpinkston 13y ago
      Yea, you and me both are baffled! I almost wonder if he treated it as a sinecure.
- nickpinkston 13y ago
  Hear Hear - Christopher Hitchens was its editor, so it can't be that bad.

logicallee 13y ago

I see. Let's say I see a big incumbent who's UNIQUE selling point is 'we have everyone's private photos. people have to come to us if they want to see their friend's photos.' I start threatening them. They pay and buy us. I get rich. The incumbent gets to keep everyone's photos. At what point in the above do we not have a business model? Oh, you mean it can't possibly WORK! Except that it just did. Well, I'm sorry, but something that just worked obviously did work.

SandB0x 13y ago
You seem to have snuck in "I start threatening them." as if that is easy and repeatable.
- logicallee 13y ago
  You seem to have snuck in the word "easy" there. Out of curiosity - what percentage of real, viable business plans do you think are "easy"? Seriously though. While not easy, it is 100% repeatable - it is one of the great ways to build a business. (Actually, regardless of whether the incumbent buys you out - their investors or those who regret being investors migth instead.)
  - ryguytilidie 13y ago
    "Out of curiosity - what percentage of real, viable business plans do you think are "easy"?" I'd imagine they vary based on the business plan. I think what others are trying to say, but you don't seem to want to hear, is that while many business ideas are say, 20% to succeed, this particular business plan is <1% to succeed.
ok_craig 13y ago
Planning on a very specific other company wanting to buy you out isn't actually a business model. A business model is something that will keep the business self-propelled.
Goladus 13y ago
Selling company stock is not a business model, howeverr great an exit strategy it might be for founders. It does mean that someone substantially values the company, but doesn't say anything about its role in the economy outside that one transaction.

joonix 13y ago

In addition there aren't many lessons to be gleaned from the story. It might be entertaining to read but in the end it's as if you just wasted 20 minutes playing Solitaire.

newbie12 13y ago
Bombermine is more fun.
jakejake 13y ago
I would say if there is a lesson at all - that it's helpful to be on friendly terms with several of the Silicon Valley elite before you start your company. Not taking away from Instagram being a great app, but it was catapulted towards success due to the founders personal connections.
- ttrreeww 13y ago
  It's not what you know, but who you know.

sharkfood 13y ago

Indeed this is one in a million. My story is the total opposite... Where giants squash and step on the little guy innovator. See thread I posted below https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5661273 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5661273

yial 13y ago
You don't actually have any specifics of your story posted, just vague comments. Would you perhaps be willing to share details?

ioncereadknuth 13y ago

Agreed. Lets look at the investor list: Seed was Baseline Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. A-round was Adam D'Angelo, Jack Dorsey, Chris Sacca, Baseline Ventures, and Benchmark Capital. Then there was Joshua Kushner, and John Lilly. Wait, who? Adam D'Angelo - Quora founder. More importantly, "He was chief technology officer of Facebook, and also served as its vice president of engineering" . Top 25 TopCoder participant, respect. Jack Dorsey - Twitter and Square founder Joshua Kushner - son of the real estate mogul Charles B. Kushner and brother of Jared Kushner, owner of The New York Observer We already know one of the founders went to school with Zuck. Cant find citations now, but it was in an online interview. So it sure helps to be school buddies with Zuck, have ex-Facebook CTO and Zuck friends as investor, and new media (twitter) and old media (kushner famliy) owners as well.