alekkus

Do you want to stay in the zoo or get out to the wild?

Just read a blog post by Paul Graham, who discussed the cons of technology professionals working for big companies. He used several metaphors to describe the differences between working for large corporations and starting your own. I particularly liked “the zoo or the wild” metaphor: working for companies are like animals in a zoo, although safe, they can’t show their full potentials. I would certainly agree with him. Since I went out to start my own startup, the amount of the things that I’ve learned is tremendous. If I were to return to the “zoo” anytime now, I could easily considered for position that are a few levels higher than a year ago because of the amount of skills and knowledge that I poses now.

Paul’s post was pretty long (as usual). So I have decided to extract some of them out:

“Lions in the wild seem about ten times more alive. They’re like different animals. I suspect that working for oneself feels better to humans in much the same way that living in the wild must feel better to a wide-ranging predator like a lion. Life in a zoo is easier, but it isn’t the life they were designed for.”

“An obstacle downstream propagates upstream. If you’re not allowed to implement new ideas, you stop having them. And vice versa: when you can do whatever you want, you have more ideas about what to do. So working for yourself makes your brain more powerful in the same way a low-restriction exhaust system makes an engine more powerful.”

Essence of Web 2.0 success: avoiding pain or seeking pleasure

In McKinsey’s recent report, Six ways to make Web 2.0 work. I strongly stand by point 4:
Appeal to the participants’ egos and needs—not just their wallets; this is analogous to The Pain and Pleasure Principle. People are largely motivated by avoiding pain or seeking pleasure. Hence, if your site offers services that help your users achieve either of those, you should have substantial success.

However, there’s always a gap between your assumption and the reality. Many startups don’t understand why their “engaging” site did not pick up. Well, they just have to accept the fact that their definition of “engagement” is just not relevant to their users.