How Entrepreneurs Can Create Their Own Luck

http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/05/how-entrepreneurs-can-create-their-own-luck/

by llambda • 15 years ago

69 8 15 years ago

Nice discussion. Remined me of what Github's Founder Tom Preston Werner said last year on Startup School[1].

And remined me of the great article recently mentioned[2] by Duck Duck Go's founder Gabriel Weinberg: How to Increase Your Luck Surface Area [3]

[1] http://www.justin.tv/startupschool/b/272178966

[2] http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2011/10/what-i-learned-f...

[3] http://www.codusoperandi.com/posts/increasing-your-luck-surf...

samdjohnson• 15 years ago

I don't know about you guys, but James Altucher is one of my favorite bloggers on the net right now.

sayemm• 15 years ago

Great post by James Altucher here, one of my favorites regarding luck and startups is also this one about market timing: "Market Timing is a Skill Not Luck" - http://altgate.com/blog/2008/12/market-timing-is-a-skill-not...

F_J_H• 15 years ago

What a great post. Being Canadian, something didn't sit right with me with the Gretzky quote. I think the corrected version "skate to where the puck is going to be" is likely what the author meant. Here are two of Gretzky's actual quotes:

"A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

and

"I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been."

Another one of my favorite Gretzky quotes - "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

shaggyfrog• 15 years ago

The mis-quote stuck out for me, too. "Skating to where the puck is", is actually exactly what Gretzky was saying not to do.

It threw me off the entire piece -- as soon as I see something fundamental so totally wrong, I find it hard to concentrate on the rest of the message.

ootachi• 15 years ago

"We know that the right place for right now is somewhere in social media."

Really? This seems to imply that every startup should be about social. People thought that Google would never succeed because search was cornered by Yahoo and AltaVista. I would think that VC-funded startups that are aiming for huge successes should take the opposite advice: look for holes in industries that aren't widely considered to be the "hottest thing" and create a market. Don't try to cash in on a gold rush in which there are thousands of players doing the same thing.

"Don’t start a soft drink company competing against Coca-Cola."

I'm pretty sure we have a Coca-Cola in the social space. It's called Facebook.

radley• 15 years ago

"Don’t start a soft drink company competing against Coca-Cola."

Tell that to Red Bull...

vinutheraj• 15 years ago

People thought that Google would never succeed because search was cornered by Yahoo and AltaVista.

I'm pretty sure we have a Coca-Cola in the social space. It's called Facebook.

Aren't these arguments contradictory ?

How Entrepreneurs Can Create Their Own Luck

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