Nothing wrong with wanting to showcase what you're working on but don't spam HN when you're not pleased with the amount of eyeballs on it (At least not multiple times within 24 hours with varying titles like you're trying to AB test)
> a blog post I made in 2019 describing the vision
Hence I think you have, regrettably, answered your own question.
Its all very well having a vision, but executing it is a different question.
The sort of thing you propose requires a lot of time and a lot of money to develop. Let alone maintain. Let alone market and sell.
Look, its like all those "Bloomberg killers" that come out of the woodwork as often as the seasons in the financial world. There is a reason why only Bloomberg and Reuters are at the top tier, why the second tier is so narrow and why everything else is junk. To replicate Bloomberg would take years in time and billions in cash.
I admire your ambition, but perhaps rein it in a little ?
> Maaaan if we were in the same room. Don't belittle someone who's trying to accomplish something (and following through with it).
I'm not belittling. I'm just saying set realistic goals. "Build an open-source Amazon" without the budget or the manpower ? Its simply not realistic unless you have very deep pockets and a team of hundreds of full-time staff.
If you think I'm being unduly harsh, what sort of grilling do you think the OP will be subjected to when they rock up at a bank or VC fund looking for a few hundred million ?
> Its all very well having a vision, but executing it is a different question.
This also relates to the clickbait-y "I'm building an open-source Amazon" positioning, which I don't think serves you well.
You're building (I think) an e-commerce platform upon which someone can build online shops ("nano-Amazons"?). Where the "open-source Amazon" pitch is difficult to take seriously, I think there probably is space for new e-commerce platforms.
This is just one piece of the puzzle. I explained it in another comment:
> I think of it this way. Launching a marketplace today is very difficult, but what if we made the backend of a marketplace open-source and used that as leverage. One that could be your backend for all operations. You can choose to enable the integrated marketplace or not, but the system is yours. It’s about bringing power back to the sellers.
I think of it this way. Launching a marketplace today is very difficult, but what if we made the backend of a marketplace open-source and used that as leverage. One that could be your backend for all operations. You can choose to enable the integrated marketplace or not, but the system is yours. It’s about bringing power back to the sellers.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead
But let's be honest here. What sellers really want are buyers.
That's why sellers list on Apple, Amazon, Ebay etc. despite the fees.
They are paying for the virtual equivalent of a shop-front in the premium mall. They get the payment handling. They get the anti-fraud technologies. And with Amazon they get the forward and reverse logistics.
Its about SO much more than how open the backend software is.
> I admire your ambition, but perhaps rein it in a little ?
I hope whatever happened to you to make you think like this is resolved, because it saddens me to see people tell others to pipe their ambitions, goals and visions down because THEY don't see it as a reality.
If everyone believed this, we'd have never advanced at all as a society because nobody would push the boundaries.
> I admire your ambition, but perhaps rein it in a little ?
As much as people may say they hate salesmen, we still want to be sold something. As a consumer, it's your job to be skeptical. It's their job to sell.
Engineers have this self regarding view of every other side of the tech business. That actually -- "Only the tech matters" while being incredulous as to why certain tech succeeds while others fail. It's because vision and sales and business acumen really matter.
Nothing wrong with wanting to showcase what you're working on but don't spam HN when you're not pleased with the amount of eyeballs on it (At least not multiple times within 24 hours with varying titles like you're trying to AB test)
Even if you say that, it totally worked, so they have little incentive to take your advise.
> a blog post I made in 2019 describing the vision
Hence I think you have, regrettably, answered your own question.
Its all very well having a vision, but executing it is a different question.
The sort of thing you propose requires a lot of time and a lot of money to develop. Let alone maintain. Let alone market and sell.
Look, its like all those "Bloomberg killers" that come out of the woodwork as often as the seasons in the financial world. There is a reason why only Bloomberg and Reuters are at the top tier, why the second tier is so narrow and why everything else is junk. To replicate Bloomberg would take years in time and billions in cash.
I admire your ambition, but perhaps rein it in a little ?
> I admire your ambition, but perhaps rein it in a little ?
Maaaan if we were in the same room. Don't belittle someone who's trying to accomplish something (and following through with it).
I think this might have brought on more by the multiple submissions but I do agree that it's in HN's spirit to support ambitious endeavors.
> Maaaan if we were in the same room.
What does that part mean exactly? Sounds a bit threatening.
> Maaaan if we were in the same room. Don't belittle someone who's trying to accomplish something (and following through with it).
I'm not belittling. I'm just saying set realistic goals. "Build an open-source Amazon" without the budget or the manpower ? Its simply not realistic unless you have very deep pockets and a team of hundreds of full-time staff.
If you think I'm being unduly harsh, what sort of grilling do you think the OP will be subjected to when they rock up at a bank or VC fund looking for a few hundred million ?
11 replies →
> Its all very well having a vision, but executing it is a different question.
This also relates to the clickbait-y "I'm building an open-source Amazon" positioning, which I don't think serves you well.
You're building (I think) an e-commerce platform upon which someone can build online shops ("nano-Amazons"?). Where the "open-source Amazon" pitch is difficult to take seriously, I think there probably is space for new e-commerce platforms.
This is just one piece of the puzzle. I explained it in another comment:
> I think of it this way. Launching a marketplace today is very difficult, but what if we made the backend of a marketplace open-source and used that as leverage. One that could be your backend for all operations. You can choose to enable the integrated marketplace or not, but the system is yours. It’s about bringing power back to the sellers.
3 replies →
I think of it this way. Launching a marketplace today is very difficult, but what if we made the backend of a marketplace open-source and used that as leverage. One that could be your backend for all operations. You can choose to enable the integrated marketplace or not, but the system is yours. It’s about bringing power back to the sellers.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead
> It’s about bringing power back to the sellers.
But let's be honest here. What sellers really want are buyers.
That's why sellers list on Apple, Amazon, Ebay etc. despite the fees.
They are paying for the virtual equivalent of a shop-front in the premium mall. They get the payment handling. They get the anti-fraud technologies. And with Amazon they get the forward and reverse logistics.
Its about SO much more than how open the backend software is.
3 replies →
> I admire your ambition, but perhaps rein it in a little ?
I hope whatever happened to you to make you think like this is resolved, because it saddens me to see people tell others to pipe their ambitions, goals and visions down because THEY don't see it as a reality.
If everyone believed this, we'd have never advanced at all as a society because nobody would push the boundaries.
Execution starts with vision. I don't see a problem with thinking big, it inspires others that want to help become part of something great.
> Execution starts with vision.
Yes I agree.
But the OP had the vision in 2019.
We are now at the tail-end of 2022.
I still see a vision and not much execution.
Meanwhile, the Amazon that the OP is pitching themselves against has continued to move onwards and upwards....
As I said. The vision is fine. But the OP needs to realise that executing it will require a lot of time and a LOT more money !
1 reply →
> I admire your ambition, but perhaps rein it in a little ?
As much as people may say they hate salesmen, we still want to be sold something. As a consumer, it's your job to be skeptical. It's their job to sell.
Engineers have this self regarding view of every other side of the tech business. That actually -- "Only the tech matters" while being incredulous as to why certain tech succeeds while others fail. It's because vision and sales and business acumen really matter.
> I admire your ambition, but perhaps rein it in a little ?
Yeah, how dare they have ambition.
I bet they haven't even applied for their Ambition Licence or submitted their "permission to try and make something cool" (PTTAMSC) paperwork.
/s
Cunt it was 2019.
You rein it in a little.
Yikes, please don't respond to a bad comment by doing this! That makes everything worse, and we eventually have to ban such accounts.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html