I was just trying to write an honest reflection on what my experiences have been like, diving head first into the startup world. I'm not trying to position myself as an expert :)
I guess the problem is that we have tons of wantrepreneurs and first-time startup kids posting about their feelings here.
It's a multiple-times-daily thing. Seriously.
What we don't seem to get very much of is more experienced (serial entrepreneurs, experienced programmers, etc.) individuals posting anything with with the same depth in terms of substance or how personal it is.
The degree to which Hacker News has become homogenous in terms of contributed content is disturbing.
Edit: Let me be more specific.
You want to know what content is? patio11. That's value right there. His stuff is gold and could legitimately help you get your product off the ground.
Another example would be Rands in Repose (Lopp). His twitter feed is the most self-indulgent bullshit I've ever seen, but his blog posts can be instructive for how to lead a technical team and work with other people in general.
To put content out into the ether for your own edification is all well and good, but the moment you promote it on a public community like Hacker News, you are making a particular declaration about what sort of value you're purporting to provide.
Value, not personality. Save the personality stuff for people not trying to build stuff.
Also, your tumblr is broken if you google yourself. Might want to fix that.
You seem to have a very strong opinion of what HN should be about, and yet this bubbling animosity for the OP and his content seems very out of place here.
The post's title was completely accurate, to the extent that you've admitted it's not something you want to read. Don't read it then.
The fact it's bubbling up the top posts means others found some merit in it. You want to lecture people against upvoting this content based on your personal reaction and needs, and feel compelled to fling about terms like 'wantrepreneurs', 'kids', 'self-indulgent bullshit'.
I'd prefer not to have to wade through comments full of seething resentment and antagonism, but I'm not going to lecture about it, because most HNers would find it very boring.
I'm a decade ahead and found the post a nice little read - seeing someone realise the importance of striving to find a balance. I like hearing notes from the ground from people at all stages of entrepreneurial activity.
Hacker News is not Hacker News From More Advanced, Insightful, Intelligent People Than Yourself At This Current State. That's a good thing.
See, this type of moronic response (avoid the actual content of a comment, engage in dismissive trolling response) is what is part of the 'decline' of the community you've attempted to flag. Ironic.
Edit: Original context: BenjaminCoe decided to reply to me with the xkcd comic referencing the, "Someone is wrong on the internet" thing. He has since deleted his comment without explanation.
I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but that's a real dickish thing to say. Imagine saying that to a colleague or someone at a party! "I'm sorry but you are too young to have valuable opinions".
It has nothing to do with age, you've totally misunderstood my point.
My point is that if the post seems pretty thin to somebody from the same cohort, how could it help anybody else?
I'd rather see either
1. More substantive content, less "here are my feelings about being a startup kid"
2. Something from people who've spent more time at this and developed deeper people skills. Could even be somebody the same age, just more experienced.
tl;dr don't call somebody a dick unless you actually understand the point of their comment.
If I misunderstood your point, it is because you did not make it well.
From your comment, all I see is a dismissal of the post because it has nothing to offer you. Your last comment is much more substantive - perhaps you should have said that the first time.
The deeper issue is that I wish I could borrow 20% of HN users for some other environment or somehow combine curation with timely conversation (hard to do).
I think there's also value here watching heretohelp flail about unprofessionally. He may have valid points or not, but the truth is, it doesn't matter, because he's going about his crusade in a way that will turn most people off.
His conduct doesn't cast nutrivise in a great light.
"A lot of times people more experienced are so far detached from what you might be going through."
Some of those people may have gone through the same and can offer their opinions of how it worked out for them.
Have you ever had a medical problem and asked an older person about it? They might tell you "don't worry I had that same pain and it went away, no biggie". Don't assume someone older has no experience or empathy to what someone younger is saying.
Maybe seek to understand the original comment and ask the questions necessary to eliminate the disparity of your perception and the meaning intended to prevent yourself from making a totally pointless comment.
Your response is pointless. Just downvote me next time instead of polluting the thread.
Or be productive and ask me why I said what I said like the others have.
Why should it be the responsibility of the majority to ask for clarification when you come off as an arrogant poster in the first place? If you don't want to be misunderstood, rephrase your wordings.
Now you find yourself having to explain your position instead of getting an intelligent discourse out of the corresponding thread.
I'm not sure I quite follow your logic. I can't figure out if you're asking a rhetorical question (and thus trying to make a point) or you generally are questioning your own self?
If it's the former, I'd suggest you a be slightly more direct about what point you are trying to make. Alternatively simply just upvote or ignore the story all together.
