Re:Startup Winter: Hacker News Lost Its Faith
by signatoremo on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @08:54AM
(#42780077)
“The mission” isn’t the only meaningful drive.
It is hard to build a successful business out of even a most mundane ideas. That alone can be a great accomplishment that many people strive for. Also to be able to set and execute initiatives is also a great motivation. Seeing the fruits of your labor can be very rewarding.
Re:Startup Winter: Hacker News Lost Its Faith
by wat10000 on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @09:05AM
(#42780174)
Or you think you’re special. You know it’s risky and many people fail, but you’ve got the right idea, intelligence, work ethic, etc. It might even be true sometimes. I’m sure success isn’t randomly distributed. The trouble is figuring out if you really do have it or if it’s self delusion.
Re:Startup Winter: Hacker News Lost Its Faith
by the_af on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @09:19AM
(#42780321)
I'm not saying it's completely random. It's very likely a combination of skill [1] and luck, with luck being the bigger factor. So even if you're "special", you're unlikely to make it.
[1] And possibly contacts, or safety net, or wealthy family and/or friends.
Re:Startup Winter: Hacker News Lost Its Faith
by wat10000 on Tuesday January 21, 2025 @09:52AM
(#42780732)
I think there are special circumstances where success, while far from assured, is a lot more likely than usual. Apple and Google probably had decent odds. (Where “decent” here means something like 10%.) But they’re really rare, and honestly and correctly evaluating whether you have an opportunity like that is really hard. I think that’s why a lot of people do startups, anyway.
I mean... we all agree, it would seem, this is not the path to getting rich for most people. And it's unhealthy and stressful, so it's also not the best way to work.
So it has to come down to "the mission". You must be doing something so amazing, so innovative, a boon to mankind, that all else is secondary and you're willing to endure financial risk and a stressful job, right. Right?
But no. Most startups' products are unremarkable or banal -- with some honorable exceptions -- and mankind doesn't really care either way.