piranha526
Contributor
A great read about startups
Read the entire essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/webstartups.html
I liked it!
Some examples are below from essay:
Read the entire essay: http://www.paulgraham.com/webstartups.html
I liked it!
Some examples are below from essay:
"If startups become a cheap commodity, more people will be able to have them, just as more people could have computers once microprocessors made them cheap. And in particular, younger and more technical founders will be able to start startups than could before."
We often tell startups to release a minimal version one as soon as possible, then let the needs of their users tell them what to do next. In essense, let the market design the product. We've been doing the same thing ourselves. We think of the techniques we're developing for dealing with large numbers of startups as like software. Sometimes it literally is software, like Hacker News and our application rating system.
"If the best hackers all start their own companies after college instead of getting jobs, that will change what happens in college. Most of these changes will be for the better. I think the experience of college is warped in a bad way by the expectation that afterward you'll be judged by potential employers."
One of the most obvious changes will be in the meaning of "after college," which will change from when one graduates from college to when one leaves it. If you're starting your own company, why do you need a degree? We don't encourage people to start startups during college, among other things because it gives them a socially acceptable excuse for quitting, but the best founders are certainly capable of it. Some of the most successful companies we've funded were started by undergrads.
The greatest value of universities is not the brand name or perhaps even the classes so much as the other students you meet there. If it becomes common to start a startup after college, people may start consciously trying to maximize this. Instead of focusing on getting internships with companies they want to work for, students may start to focus on working with other students they want as cofounders."
Another thing I see starting to get standardized is acquisitions. As the volume of startups increases, big companies will start to develop standardized procedures for acquisitions, so they're little more work than hiring someone.
Google is the leader here, as in so many areas of technology. They buy a lot of startups— more than most people realize, because they only announce a fraction of them. And being Google, they're figuring out how to do it efficiently.
It might seem that if startups get cheap to start, it will mean the end of startup hubs like Silicon Valley. If all you need to start a startup is rent money, you should be able to do it anywhere.
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum:
Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited: