What's wrong with the metaphor? How would you have described the problem differently?
I thought it was a really good description of the situation Facebook is in. People have speculated for years about all of the different ways they could produce insane revenue/profits (the hot dog -> caviar machine), but their current revenue (the hot dogs) is very lackluster.
I think the issue is that metaphors work best when they are about real situations. The idea of a metaphor (usually) is to help a person understand one situation by mapping their knowledge of another, more familiar, situation to the first. No one is familiar with the problem of turning hot dogs into caviar, because no one is trying to do it. If anything, the actual problem is more familiar to those on HN than the metaphor.
Re:Hot Dogs & Caviar
by finisterre on Tuesday July 24, 2012 @03:52PM
(#4287609)
"I can't overstate how affective a good metaphor (or good, well revised writing in general) can be in persuading others."
Muphry's law[1] strikes again.
Affective - causing emotion or feeling.
I was conscious of my usage although ill be the first to admit i make typos all the time. To elaborate, writing can evoke feelings good or bad, feelings of familiarity or confusion, and these feelings can lend to a more persuasive writing. This was my point in the second paragraph.
I realize this is somewhat off topic. But as an entrepreneur I feel this is worth noting because I can't overstate how affective a good metaphor (or good, well revised writing in general) can be in persuading others. And as a reader how easily a bad one can turn me off especially when woven throughout your entire piece.