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It was a more nuanced point in the book. Basically starting a restaurant in Manhattan is a bad business because of extreme competition competing away all of th

It was a more nuanced point in the book. Basically starting a restaurant in Manhattan is a bad business because of extreme competition competing away all of the profits. You want a business where you have a moat to generate capital you can reinvest in the business. Not to stagnate others, but because it can lead to better outcomes and better businesses. Another example where competition has lead to bad businesses are airlines. They all pretend they’re different - but they’re basically all competing on race to the bottom pricing and the experience on all of them suck.

mistrial9 5y ago
its a reductionist argument to measure results purely in monetary terms, and again only in MY monetary returns. It reduces system to self, basically. Single organism maximization of "food/fuel" is shark-like, essentially; hint, that is not a compliment! At crucial junctures in history, the exact wrong move prevails in so many cases, leading to preventable and sometimes tragic consequences. So you the reader really believe that by maximizing your own pile of coins that society prevails? or, you believe that you should be the alpha primate, and that the decaying and treacherous world around you is for the weak? Meanwhile, this man put Palantir Inc on the USA ? Didnt the USA have 'freedom' in the charter? its hardly worth considering in my mind, this Randian extremism, but here we are, so I type. I suggest getting off of the addictive habits/substances, let go of Ayn Rand, and evolve instead of amplifying this nonsense. The choice is yours.
- fossuser 5y ago
  You're arguing a strawman unrelated to what I wrote. When figuring out what ideas are good potential options for startups (particularly high growth startups) - you want to choose one where there's a large need and where you have something special that others can't easily replicate/compete away. That's part of the foundation that makes for a good idea (zero to one is a good and a short read - it's worth just reading it). Your political spin is assuming too much and clouding your interpretation of what I wrote (imo). I also think you likely have a misunderstanding of what Palantir is and what it does, but that's not something I can really address.
woopwoop 5y ago
Airlines are great, at least compared to what they use to be. I flew from Austin to New York round trip this month for less than 100$.
- fossuser 5y ago
  They're cheap certainly, but they're not an example of a good idea for a high growth startup. I also wouldn't personally call the experience great as a user either, but that's subjective. If you're trying to start a new company, an airline would probably be a bad idea - unless you're bringing something new to the table that others can't easily compete on (like supersonic jetliners maybe, eg the YC company Boom - though even then I don't think they're planning to run their own airline). The airlines all pretend they're special and unique, but they're basically commodities offering similarly bad experiences (imo) that aren't very differentiated. Meanwhile when companies are more dominant, like Google, they constantly point to their tiny competition (Duck Duck Go) and talk about how competitive the space is - the opposite of how airlines behave. If you're trying to build a startup you want something that leads to a Google like outcome, not a United Airlines like outcome.
  - woopwoop 5y ago
    I agree air travel is not a great space for startups. I still think competition there has been great for consumers.
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mistrial9 5y ago

its a reductionist argument to measure results purely in monetary terms, and again only in MY monetary returns. It reduces system to self, basically. Single organism maximization of "food/fuel" is shark-like, essentially; hint, that is not a compliment! At crucial junctures in history, the exact wrong move prevails in so many cases, leading to preventable and sometimes tragic consequences. So you the reader really believe that by maximizing your own pile of coins that society prevails? or, you believe that you should be the alpha primate, and that the decaying and treacherous world around you is for the weak? Meanwhile, this man put Palantir Inc on the USA ? Didnt the USA have 'freedom' in the charter? its hardly worth considering in my mind, this Randian extremism, but here we are, so I type. I suggest getting off of the addictive habits/substances, let go of Ayn Rand, and evolve instead of amplifying this nonsense. The choice is yours.

fossuser 5y ago
You're arguing a strawman unrelated to what I wrote. When figuring out what ideas are good potential options for startups (particularly high growth startups) - you want to choose one where there's a large need and where you have something special that others can't easily replicate/compete away. That's part of the foundation that makes for a good idea (zero to one is a good and a short read - it's worth just reading it). Your political spin is assuming too much and clouding your interpretation of what I wrote (imo). I also think you likely have a misunderstanding of what Palantir is and what it does, but that's not something I can really address.

woopwoop 5y ago

Airlines are great, at least compared to what they use to be. I flew from Austin to New York round trip this month for less than 100$.

fossuser 5y ago
They're cheap certainly, but they're not an example of a good idea for a high growth startup. I also wouldn't personally call the experience great as a user either, but that's subjective. If you're trying to start a new company, an airline would probably be a bad idea - unless you're bringing something new to the table that others can't easily compete on (like supersonic jetliners maybe, eg the YC company Boom - though even then I don't think they're planning to run their own airline). The airlines all pretend they're special and unique, but they're basically commodities offering similarly bad experiences (imo) that aren't very differentiated. Meanwhile when companies are more dominant, like Google, they constantly point to their tiny competition (Duck Duck Go) and talk about how competitive the space is - the opposite of how airlines behave. If you're trying to build a startup you want something that leads to a Google like outcome, not a United Airlines like outcome.
- woopwoop 5y ago
  I agree air travel is not a great space for startups. I still think competition there has been great for consumers.
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