Paul Graham Offers Counter-Intuitive Advice To Startups: ‘Do Things That Don’t Scale’
“Startups don’t often experience hockey stick growth by themselves. They need a nudge from founders, who need to aggressively market their products and be overly attentive to users in the beginning.”
http://www.businessinsider.com/paul-grahams-startup-advices-do-things-that-dont-scale-2013-7
HomeDine, The Airbnb For Home-Cooked Meals, Has Launched An iPhone App
Nothing for Mahala – the movie trailer
This went live tonight … check it out :
Stressed … well, it is Monday
Attention, Shoppers: Store Is Tracking Your Cell
“Like dozens of other brick-and-mortar retailers, Nordstrom wanted to learn more about its customers — how many came through the doors, how many were repeat visitors — the kind of information that e-commerce sites like Amazon have in spades. So last fall the company started testing new technology that allowed it to track customers’ movements by following the Wi-Fi signals from their smartphones.”
A funny Sunday night …
Four guys sitting around having drinks and one of the men had to use the restroom, while the other three talked about their kids.
The first guy said, “My son is my pride and joy he started working at a company at the bottom. He studied business and began to climb the corporate ladder, became president of the company. He’s so rich he gave his best friend a top of the line Mercedes for Christmas.
The second guy said, “Damn, that’s terrific! My son is also the pride and joy. He started working for a big airline, went to flight school to become a pilot. He became a partner where he owns the majority of its assets. He is so rich that he gave his best friend a brand new jet as a Christmas gift!”
The third man said, “Well that’s terrific! My son studied in the best universities and became an engineer, started his own construction company and is now a multimillionaire. He also gave an expensive Christmas gift to his best friend, a 30,000 square foot mansion!
The 3 guys congratulate each other just as the 4th guy returned from the restroom and asked what are all the congratulations for. One of the three guys said, “We’re talking about the pride we feel for the successes of our sons… “What about your son?” they asked the 4th guy.
The fourth man replied, “My son is gay and makes a living dancing as a stripper at a nightclub.”
The three friends said, “That’s a shame… what a disappointment.”
The fourth man replied. “Nah, I’m not ashamed he’s my son and I love him… and he hasn’t done too badly either. Just this Christmas alone he received a beautiful 30,000 square foot mansion, a brand new jet and a top of the line Mercedes from his 3 boyfriends.”
Show me the money
There is so much media attention on rich people. The richest people. The biggest earners. Who owns what. In the new world, where Oligarchs have emerged, and the talk of billionaires is common, we see and hear of people who have suddenly got fortunes of money, but, how did they get to be so spectacularly wealthy so fast? What did they do?
Yes, people see all these new age billionaires who, for the most part, did no real work for their money. Well that is my view. I know what Henry Ford did, and Bill Gates, Philip Green, Ingvar Kamprad, William Boeing, Walt Disney, and many others who have built thriving enterprises. But seriously, ask one of these new age billionaires what they actually did – see if you can get a straight answer … you try figure it out. Yeah, right.
So now you have the youth masses thinking “I also want to be rich for doing nothing”. And this is where this non-work nonsense culture has come from – it is a global problem. The thinking is “he/she did nothing and I don’t want to do anything either – I just want to be rich”.
This is part of the inspiration behind the Heartlines mission and where the “Nothing for Mahala” film has come from. There is nothing for nothing in this world. If you don’t work hard you won’t get anywhere. But so many of the world’s youth believe that because they have a Web site that they should be billionaires. There are no short cuts in life. Success requires hard work. And as the old saying goes “an overnight success takes 20 to 30 years”.
Yes, what about the Oligarchs and all this new age money. Well, for one thing, we need to choose our words carefully. Most of these people do not make money. They take money. The real question is why no one ever stopped them. That I have no answers for. But I do know that so many people who have money have no real wealth. To feel really rich is to feel fulfilled from a job well done.
Sexual relations
Puppy love
A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the 4 pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy.
“Mister,” he said, “I want to buy one of your puppies.”
“Well,” said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, “These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money.”
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer.
“I’ve got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?”
“Sure,” said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. “Here, Dolly!” he called.
Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur.
The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse.
Slowly another little ball appeared this one noticeably smaller.
Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up…
“I want that one,” the little boy said, pointing to the runt.
The farmer knelt down at the boy’s side and said, “Son, you don’t want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would.”
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers.
In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe.
Looking back up at the farmer, he said, “You see sir, I don’t run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands.”
With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup.
Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy.
“How much?” asked the little boy…
“No charge,” answered the farmer, “There’s no charge for love.”
The world is full of people who need someone who understands.
PrettyApt 