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> a large population of people who have been in the game for a long time and still engaged as founders, executives, or investors Yeah, I dunno. Today Silicon

> a large population of people who have been in the game for a long time and still engaged as founders, executives, or investors Yeah, I dunno. Today Silicon Valley sounds more and more like the old money club of Wall Street than the kids in the garage that will soon revolutionize the world. Of course, a big part of revolutionizing the world is not knowing you're doing it. You can't throw a rock and miss a start-up in SF that isn't planning on "changing the world" right now. Most are doomed.

tsunamifury 13y ago
Most were always doomed. Its an odds game and you get a few game-changers by achieving a critical mass of startups in a given area, then allowing them to cross-polinate and share resources in order to breed more successful startups. Your statement is an example of a non-bay-area mindset. Failure if a badge of honor -- it means you contributed to the community.
- michaelochurch 13y ago
  Failure if a badge of honor -- it means you contributed to the community. Founders move on to get jobs as VCs or high-ranking executives at more stable companies. Employees lose their jobs and don't get any severance. Yes, honorable.
  - tsunamifury 13y ago
    Michael, I think your pragmatic perspective here is important, but I disagree. If you aren't prepared financially to play the startup game, you shouldn't. If you do play, you should be WELL AWARE of the risks associated. It is a game, you play for sport not survival.
    - michaelochurch 13y ago
      The problem is that, while founders are aware, most startup employees have no idea and there are plenty of companies that make a policy of deliberately misleading people.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
robrenaud 13y ago
Why does "not knowing you are doing it" matter at all? Here is evidence that Google wanted to "organize the world's information" in 1999. http://googlepress.blogspot.com/1999/06/google-receives-25-million-in-equity.html http://googlepress.blogspot.com/1999/06/google-receives-25-m... Certainly world changing success is very rare. But explicitly aiming for it seems like it would help rather than hurt.
felipe 13y ago
> Today Silicon Valley sounds more and more like the old money club of Wall Street ... or Holywood, where VCs (producers) minimize risk by funding well-known formulas betting that a blockbuster will save the summer, while talented programmers (actors) get any job out there, stay a few months, cash in and go to the next gig. A bunch of other untalented wannabes (biz devs, MBAs, PRs) act as talent scouts, schmoozing at "parties" (meet-ups) trying to find the next fresh-out-of-the-boat programmer to exploit. In that sense, I believe NYC and other areas provide a much healthier environment for true "indie" productions (aka customer-centric development)
- michaelochurch 13y ago
  I believe NYC and other areas provide a much healthier environment for true "indie" productions (aka customer-centric development) I love NYC as a city, but New York VC-istan is awful. Just fucking taint-sniffingly hideous. Unimaginative, with even more MBA-culture. And the sorts of MBAs that end up in New York startups are catastrophically bad-- people who just weren't smart enough to stay in finance (and that doesn't take much). Go to "other areas" if you want an indie scene: places that are clearly on the rise like Austin, Durham, Boulder and Baltimore. Funding will be harder to get, though.

tsunamifury 13y ago

Most were always doomed. Its an odds game and you get a few game-changers by achieving a critical mass of startups in a given area, then allowing them to cross-polinate and share resources in order to breed more successful startups. Your statement is an example of a non-bay-area mindset. Failure if a badge of honor -- it means you contributed to the community.

michaelochurch 13y ago
Failure if a badge of honor -- it means you contributed to the community. Founders move on to get jobs as VCs or high-ranking executives at more stable companies. Employees lose their jobs and don't get any severance. Yes, honorable.
- tsunamifury 13y ago
  Michael, I think your pragmatic perspective here is important, but I disagree. If you aren't prepared financially to play the startup game, you shouldn't. If you do play, you should be WELL AWARE of the risks associated. It is a game, you play for sport not survival.
  - michaelochurch 13y ago
    The problem is that, while founders are aware, most startup employees have no idea and there are plenty of companies that make a policy of deliberately misleading people.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

robrenaud 13y ago

Why does "not knowing you are doing it" matter at all? Here is evidence that Google wanted to "organize the world's information" in 1999. http://googlepress.blogspot.com/1999/06/google-receives-25-million-in-equity.html http://googlepress.blogspot.com/1999/06/google-receives-25-m... Certainly world changing success is very rare. But explicitly aiming for it seems like it would help rather than hurt.

felipe 13y ago

> Today Silicon Valley sounds more and more like the old money club of Wall Street ... or Holywood, where VCs (producers) minimize risk by funding well-known formulas betting that a blockbuster will save the summer, while talented programmers (actors) get any job out there, stay a few months, cash in and go to the next gig. A bunch of other untalented wannabes (biz devs, MBAs, PRs) act as talent scouts, schmoozing at "parties" (meet-ups) trying to find the next fresh-out-of-the-boat programmer to exploit. In that sense, I believe NYC and other areas provide a much healthier environment for true "indie" productions (aka customer-centric development)

michaelochurch 13y ago
I believe NYC and other areas provide a much healthier environment for true "indie" productions (aka customer-centric development) I love NYC as a city, but New York VC-istan is awful. Just fucking taint-sniffingly hideous. Unimaginative, with even more MBA-culture. And the sorts of MBAs that end up in New York startups are catastrophically bad-- people who just weren't smart enough to stay in finance (and that doesn't take much). Go to "other areas" if you want an indie scene: places that are clearly on the rise like Austin, Durham, Boulder and Baltimore. Funding will be harder to get, though.