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Comment by DoubleMalt | Hacker News Reader

I think the author misunderstood "Fake it till you make it".

The point of this (as I understand it) is, that very often the most efficient method for small numbers is different from the method you need to scale up.

For example it might be easier to manually provision servers for your first 100 customers if you have a aaS business than starting out with a bullet proof automatic provisioning system before you even know that more than 3 people will want to use it.

Or it might initially be easier to manually check registrations for a market place before moving over to a more streamlined process.

So you "fake" scalability. Of course you should never fake services.

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As the other poster said, I've never heard your interpretation, and you're being too diplomatic/optimistic in your interpretation (or perhaps too geek/tech focused).

I first heard "fake it till you make it" 20+ years ago in MLM/Amway circles. Never joined, but had known some people involved, and that was part of the schtick in motivational presentations (much like "you gotta be in it to win it" is used for lottery ticket sales). The gist in MLM was you need to present an image of success to your downline, whether you're actually successful (yet) or not. Drive a bigger car, get fancier clothes, talk about your vacations, etc., to give the impression that 'the business' is already providing those things. In turn, people will be impressed, join up, and then you'll 'make it'.

Sick and twisted.

Perhaps there are legitimate other uses of the phrase, but many people have heard it used in that context, and it's the primary one I associate it with.

That doesn't mean you can't do what you're suggesting, but I agree with the other poster, I think you're being too generous. I think the 'fake it' crowd know who they are, and sometimes it's easy to spot them - going to too many conferences, talking/blogging about how great everything is, vs just doing stuff to progress a business.

Perhaps there are legitimate other uses of the phrase, but many people have heard it used in that context, and it's the primary one I associate it with.

I first heard the expression in the PUA community. Guys who are too shy to talk to women, and who struggle to get dates, are taught "routines" and "openers" and other "canned" conversational gambits to use, with the idea being that you can go out, "open" women using some stock opener, and have a good conversation (even if it doesn't ultimately lead anywhere). Over time, your confidence improves because you realize that there isn't actually any reason to be scared to talking to women, and you graduate from needing the "canned" material to just being your natural self. "Received wisdom" says that confidence is very important to women as a criteria that they judge men on, so you "fake" the confidence until you "make it" and have the confidence for real.

For those who aren't aware or understand the reference, Amway is commonly understood and used as a metonym for pyramid schemes in the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amway#Controversy

(Thanks for your post)

Thanks for that - I should have linked to what amway was/is (quixtar? no - amway again!) :)

I've never heard fake in being used in the fashion you're suggesting, which is by far the most generous interpretation of the term I've heard.

Well, one instance that might partly support my interpretation of the phrase is here: http://www.inc.com/karl-and-bill/best-advice-fake-it-until-y...

Admittedly my interpretation is even more generous, maybe because I tend always to see the good in people ;)

I've heard it used in a similar context, but more so on faking your seemingly automated features by manually doing them yourself (and only building in automation once you've proven the concept).

More generally, I think "fake it 'till you make it" is better reserved for selling the vision of where you want to go even if it's not completed yet. You don't have to lie, you just have to inspire.

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