61
Most cited
Posts that commenters keep linking to, ranked by how many different people have cited them in Hacker News comments. 248 posts.
62
63
Minimum Viable Product: a guide
One of the most important lean startup techniques is called the minimum viable product . Its power is matched only by the amount of confusi...
64
65
66
Business ideas: proving ideas are a dime a dosen
Choose a memorable domain name. Professional, friendly customer support. Start using your domain right away.
67
68
69
I'm Launching 12 Startups in 12 Months
I liked the idea of Jennifer Dewalt’s 180 websites in 180 days. However, unlike Jennifer who learned web development from scratch, I can already build stuff. M…
70
71
Market is the most important factor in a startup's success or failure (2007)
An archive of the best articles from Marc Andreessen’s now defunct blog
72
Reflecting on my failure to build a billion-dollar company (2019)
In 2011, I left my job as the second employee at Pinterest — before I vested any of my stock — to work on what I thought would be my life's work...
73
How bundling benefits sellers and buyers
programming, philosophy, history, internet, startups
74
75
76
Bubble talk
I’m tired of reading about investors and journalists claiming there’s a bubble in tech. I understand that it’s fun to do and easy press, but it’s boring reading. I also understand that it might...
77
Where to See Silicon Valley
October 2010 Silicon Valley proper is mostly suburban sprawl. At first glance it doesn't seem there's anything to see. It's not the sort of place that has conspicuous monuments. But if you look, there are subtle signs you're in a place that's different from other places. 1. Stanford University Stanford is a strange…
78
Rich vs. King in the Real World: Why I sold my company
Reflecting on selling Smart Bear in 2007, offering insights for entrepreneurs facing similar decisions.
79
Why There Aren't More Googles (2008)
April 2008 Umair Haque wrote recently that the reason there aren't more Googles is that most startups get bought before they can change the world.
80
The Future of Web Startups
October 2007 (This essay is derived from a keynote at FOWA in October 2007.) There's something interesting happening right now. Startups are undergoing the same transformation that technology does when it becomes cheaper. It's a pattern we see over and over in technology. Initially there's some device that's very…
81
Steve Blank If I Told You I’d Have to Kill You: The Story Behind “The Secret History of Silicon Valley”
About a month ago I had one of the strangest phones call of my life. “Steve my name is Donald xx, and I’m the head of external affairs of the CIA’s venture capital firm and we’d like you to keynote…
82
How to Convince Investors
August 2013 When people hurt themselves lifting heavy things, it's usually because they try to lift with their back. The right way to lift heavy things is to let your legs do the work. Inexperienced founders make the same mistake when trying to convince investors. They try to convince with their pitch. Most would be…
83
How Y Combinator Started (2012)
On March 11 2005, Jessica and I were walking home from dinner in Harvard Square. Jessica was working at an investment bank at the time, but she didn't like it much, so she had interviewed for a job as director of marketing at a Boston VC fund. The VC fund was doing what now seems a comically familiar thing for a VC…
84
85
86
VC Insanity, Explained
…or, why VCs do what they do (Note: this post also appeared as a guest post on Techflash) VC behavior sometimes looks insane, but generally it’s just sound economics. It’s crazy but true: if you know how a VC gets paid, you can pretty much read their mind. Here’s a few examples: VCs don’t actually seem to want to take…
87
88
Selling pickaxes during a gold rush
programming, philosophy, history, internet, startups
89
90
The Tech Bust of 2015
Maybe instead of a tech bubble, we’re in a tech bust. No one seems to fervently believe tech valuations are cheap, so it’d be somewhat surprising if we were in a bubble. In many parts of the...