nlavezzo

Abolishing the right to filibuster as the author proposes would truly make our democracy "two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner".

Sorry Mr. Nutting, but there's no "tyranny of the minority"...

Tyranny: "A government in which a single ruler (a tyrant) has absolute power"

The minority can't enforce their wishes on anyone directly - they simply have the power, if they are a highly significant minority, to stop certain wishes of the majority being forced upon them ("tyranny" of the majority). Minorities having some power to block actions of the majority is a great check on government power, and we're fortunate to have it.

This piece is clearly talking about an enterprise sales model, and because of that I think his point about taking extremely low amounts of money for first customers requires a word of caution.

In our experience at our last company, which was an enterprise software company selling a powerful data analytics platform, almost ALL of the customer negotiations at all stages of the business involved "Most Favored Nation Pricing" clauses - as in, the customer wants to know that no other customer has gotten a better deal. This can be subject to fixed volume discounting, etc. - i.e. someone buying 50 licenses prior to the currently contemplated sale of 20 licenses could have paid less. However, try telling a potential customer that someone previously paid less for the product they're thinking of buying and at a minimum you'll have a hold-up of months of red tape as they get an exception to their purchasing checklist authorized. These corporate purchasing processes are highly inflexible and often imposed by Sarbanes Oxley "internal controls" measures (meaning they're dictated by outside auditors, and not up for discussion) - they are real and need to be factored into pricing strategy.

A good workaround we found is this: make your early licenses have some type of specific restriction or obligation that you will relax in the different class of licenses you will sell later in the company. You might restrict early licenses to dealing with a certain type of data, or you might even add the obligation of participating in a "marketing case study". Do something along those lines (and get it actually written into the contract) so that in the future, you can with good conscience sell less restricted licenses at a higher price point under the inevitable MFN clauses you'll get with Enterpise software sales.

So we should round up most of the reporters in the US, and everyone that's talked about the leaked wires, and prosecute them? Doesn't matter how many times removed they are, right?

The crime is the breaching of an agreement between a cleared government worker and the government. Someone without an agreement with the government is under no obligation to keep anything secret.

Did the same thing.

I started out at a huge professional services firm. I only spent a year there, but I am really glad for that year. It was an introduction to the harsh realities of the work world that most people deal with day to day.

The startup that I went to work for afterwards was completely different in most ways. However, our clients were large enterprises like my former employer, and I was able to understand the pain many of our client contacts were going through while trying to do something that was obviously the right decision for the organization (buying our product) but dealing with red tape, politics, and morons in the approval process.

Not to mention, if I'd started out in a startup without dealing with the idiocy and creative vacuum of a behemoth organization, I am sure I wouldn't have appreciated the opportunity of working in a small, intelligent meritocracy nearly as much.

What type of development do you do? We're looking for strong systems developers.

I really love ancient western history - there are so many relevant lessons to be learned.

Looks interesting, and maybe something that's actually useful will come of it, but I don't think I'll be trading in my mouse anytime soon.

I think one of the main factors pushing the trend in the direction of more founders retaining control is the increased availability of angel money.

If it came down to my cofounders and I having to give up control to raise a Series A (or any series for that matter) I'm sure we'd turn to Angel List to raise a similar amount from well connected and useful investors, without having to give up control - if that were a viable option.

Increasingly it seems like raising a large angel round is an option, which is great for entrepreneurs.

Oh well... It's clear the USPTO isn't doing any reasonable homework in approving patents, but this issue in particular isn't that troubling because there is clearly prior art. Sounds like these companies are just wasting their money on something that will never actually be useful.

FoundationDB is a Washington, DC Metro Area database software startup, which was founded by engineers with a prior >$50MM exit in the data analytics space. We are working on a distributed database with ACID transactions.

We're looking for self-motivated, smart software engineers who have a history of (either personally or professionally) working on or managing interesting and challenging development projects. Specific skills of interest include: Systems programming, C++, engineering for high performance, asynchronous/distributed programming, data structures.

The positions we're hiring for are in the DC Metro Area (McLean / Tysons Corner).

If you're interested, please contact us at:

info at foundationdb dot com

Hi Conrad - glad to see this available now - I saw your preview at the DC HN Meetup. I love all the art!

>>;crediting an account of the first player with virtual currency, wherein the virtual currency is not redeemable for legal currency.

Nope. Your money has gone into a black hole in the internet forever.

Wow, that was great. I think every entrepreneur even thinking about raising money should read this whole article. Twice.

This distills the current situation (as I've spent months piecing together through various means) as well as could be desired.

If you're at all concerned about raising money in the near future, get the scoop here and then spend your time building a great company instead of trying to figure out what the deal is with fundraising at the moment.

>> Or even "angels"?

...Wait a minute, they're NOT supernatural beings?

That awesome observation made me laugh out loud :)

2nd on this one. Great model.

Sweet! I was feeling lonely out here on the east coast. I'll do my best to get there!

Another reason you may want to delay pre-launch marketing is that if you plan on patenting your product you can invalidate your ability to do so in certain juristictions (including most of the EU) simply by "disclosing" your invention.

If your landing page could be construed as an "offer for sale", and goes up more than one year in advance of your patent application, you've lost your ability to patent protect the idea in the US as well.

Of course most startups these days (the ones reading HN at least) are working on web apps and patents are not as commmonly employed. If you ARE working on a patentable idea though, you should do some research and consult with an IP lawyer before you go and put up any public marketing material before you have applications in to the jurisdictions where you want protection.

>>I also can't help but think that they could kiss further funding goodbye if they reported that driving faster is better.

So true...

I agree that micromanagement (especially of employees whose job is creating things) is a really bad idea. If it's necessary, then you made a bad hiring choice and need to start looking again.

However, if a developer came in "high and wearing a chicken suit" I wouldn't care how much he got done. The chicken suit might be passable if it were casual Friday, but high - not acceptable. There should still be an element of professionalism and respect when you're working with other people, getting paid well, and clients are depending on you.

I can confirm this - large companies must show effort or risk losing their trademark rights. That doesn't mean they have to take you to court though.

>>People are too complex to be labeled "good" or "bad".

People are extremely complex, and overall, bad or good (in relation to almost everyone's ethical standards).

The sun is extremely complex... but it is fair to call it "hot".

The idea that no one is "good" or "bad" is ridiculous. People can change over time, they can have messed up motivations, or emotional issues, but in the end people make conscious decisions that either are or are not moral and ethical by society's standards.

All of those are valid points, but honestly unless someone is truly mentally handicapped, there are simple things they can do to improve their situation, and the situation of their dependents.

I look at the "illegal immigrants" to this country who stand out front of Home Depot every day by my house, looking for someone to pick them up for work, and see hope. I imagine this was similar to my great great grandfather standing in a mob outside a factory hoping for a day's work. These new Americans will give rise to a generation following them that saw their parents work hard to provide them with opportunity even though they were faced with incredible hurdles. Hopefully that generation continues the hard work, and keeps this country vital.

The fact that I only see new immigrants doing this though, is what is disturbing. If the rest of the poor were so eager to get ahead, they'd be doing the same - and eventually, succeeding.

Sure is. STAYING poor is feeling like a victim of society and wallowing in that instead of taking a series of small steps in the right direction.

One more thing I want to comment on that you wrote:

> From my own experience, the whole thing tends to dull the mind to an extent where opportunities are no longer so obvious - or so easy to pursue

The way that is written shows a huge problem in peoples' perception - why do we assume the poor can only get by if opportunities are "obvious" or "easy to pursue"? Working your way up society's ladder is HARD, but people are capable of amazing things when it's their only way out. Throwing scraps to the guys at the bottom of the ladder will only take away motivation to make the long and difficult climb. Don't we want people to look back on their lives with pride on what they accomplished, in the face of difficult odds, rather than disappointment that their lives were spent living off of others' charity?

I'm sorry but I can't help but think that my ancestors (5 brothers that came over from Italy with almost nothing) who were poor from the start, had few if any social programs (other than help from other poor people in the community) to rely on, and were openly discriminated against as "Dirty WOPs" in the late 1800's / early 1900's, made it out of poverty and in the process helped make this country great. Generation 1 - low wage factory worker, Generation 2 - post man then small grocery owner, Generation 3 - first college educated one who started a body shop and then a neon sign business, Generation 4 - my dad, partner at a top CPA firm, Generation 5 - successful tech entrepreneur.

It just feels to me that the poor in first world countries have a victim mentality that keeps them from working with the kind of hard determination that not only gets people out of poverty, but builds up the nation in the process.

Do they need more help to develop that work ethic? Probably. Do they need more handouts? I think that is what's keeping them where they are.

There is a huge difference. Poor people in America have a much greater ability to change their circumstances - public education, needs based financial aid for education, job placement programs, military service, etc. Poor people in third world countries generally have almost no way of doing so.

>Being poor is off-brand toys.

>Being poor is a heater in only one room of the house.

No... this is being "poor", i.e. still in the top third or more of humanity as far as living standards.

Being poor is what the people I visited in barrios in Ecuador do - living in huts made of corrugated aluminum and scraps of wood, with a dirt floor, no plumbing or electricity, access to education, healthcare or clean water. Oh, and also having almost no way of changing your situation, no matter how hard you try. Surprisingly, these people were in general happier than well-off people in America, because they had a strong faith, strong families, strong relationships with others in their community, and were just plain tough.

I guess after visiting a third world country and seeing how hard the truly poor work every day, how much they care for what little they have, and how thankful they are for everything, I feel a little less sympathy for the "poor" in America. I wish they could spend a few weeks in a truly poor country, and then realize what an amazing land of opportunity they live in.

Not if you're the most awesome friend they have though... So if your friend starts falling in love, step up your friend game ASAP. Getting in good w/ the new significant other is probably also a good move.

Cool story, but not practical for me. Not going back to a 386 anytime soon - although maybe replaying some classic Sierra RPG's might do the trick?