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Comment by glaive123 | Hacker News Reader

This is misleading. The founders grew up and went to University in China. Working in California for 5 years likely isn't enough for someone to deeply understand US culture. Same goes for anyone living and working in a foreign country for 5 years. There's some things you can never understand.

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I wouldn't say you can never . Because I went to Italy and even the first year I started to see the difference between my country/culture and theirs and what business opportunities could benefit one or the other. It's so simple. 5 years is enough especially for someone with an entrepreneurship mindset.

Yeah I disagree. Many young successful entrepreneurs are in their early 20s and have spent less time than 5 years actually experiencing and understanding the culture they live in. I think having some immersion is necessary, but 5 years is probably plenty.

Understanding a culture is not a binary thing.

Five years is enough time to understand a lot more than someone who has never set for in the country. Naturally, there's other things that they still wouldn't understand after twenty years.

Other companies are failing because they're making mistakes that someone who's been in the US less than a year could recognize. ("Don't use imagery of white and black people facing off to advertise that your product comes in white and black colors.")

This is a false dichotomy. I don't understand half of the things my parents do but that doesn't mean I don't understand my culture. Culture is defined by people living in it, not an isolated piece.

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