Top all-time · #94
cdixon
Personal blog · cdixon.orgstartupsbusiness
cdixon is a personal blog at cdixon.org about startups and business. Since 2009, 374 different Hacker News readers have linked it 597 times, most often “ The next big thing will start out looking like a toy”. The last post was in 2023, but the archive is still widely read.
Sometimes recommended · 6 of 40 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers cite Chris Dixon's posts on startups, bundling and venture economics, such as 'Selling Pickaxes During a Gold Rush' and 'The Bowling Pin Strategy', as support for their points. A few commenters praise the blog itself.
- Recommended for · 6 comments
- Called interesting, a good blog post, and the best article on bundling; 'I like Chris Dixon's blog'; 'take a look'.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 40 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
programming, philosophy, history, internet, startups
Most-linked posts?
- The next big thing will start out looking like a toy16 people · 16 mentions · first linked 2010-01-03
- How Bundling Benefits Sellers and Buyers11 people · 12 mentions · first linked 2012-07-08
- Selling pickaxes during a gold rush9 people · 9 mentions · first linked 2011-02-05
- Six strategies for overcoming “chicken and egg” problems8 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2010-01-27
- Climbing the Wrong Hill7 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2021-10-20
- Climbing the wrong hill (2009)7 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2010-04-25
- The Bowling Pin strategy6 people · 9 mentions · first linked 2010-08-21
- /2010/01/03/the-next-big-thing-will-start-out-looking-like-a-toy6 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2020-04-02
- Techies and Normals5 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2010-01-23
- Facebook’s business model5 people · 5 mentions · first linked 2012-05-15
What Hacker News says?
To steal a quote from Chris Dixon ( http://cdixon.org/2010/01/22/techies-and-normals/ ): "1. If you are loved first by techies and then by normals you get free marketing and also scale. Google, Skype and YouTube all followed this chronology. It is startup nirvana. 2. The next best scenario is to be loved by normals but not by the techies. The vast majority of successful consumer businesses fall into this category...…
Comment linking /2010/01/22/techies-and-normals/
on “I'd like to use the web my way, thank you very much Quora”Submitted The Decline of the Mobile Web as a story · 266 points
HN discussionI’d like to see you tell your founder or CMO that the difference between monthly visitors and monthly unique visitors is “super nit-picky”. The 20% margin is risible and those who live by SEO die by SEO: https://cdixon.org/2011/03/05/seo-is-no-longer-a-viable-mark...
Comment linking /2011/03/05/seo-is-no-longer-a-viable-marketing-strategy-for-startups
on “I wasted $40k on a fantastic startup idea”Submitted Climbing the wrong hill (2009) as a story · 248 points
HN discussionThis seems ideal for the enterprise use case, in particular because it's extremely performant, secure, and doesn't require a central/third-party server (e.g. AWS). The 'must always be online' requirement is actually a plus, not a minus for that crowd. Enterprises are generally very concerned about being able to revoke access to a given resource instantaneously. Any app that stores local copies complicates that quite…
Comment linking /2013/03/02/what-the-smartest-people-do-on-the-weekend-is-what-everyone-else-will-do-during-the-week-in-ten-years/
on “BitTorrent’s Secure Dropbox Alternative Goes Public”Submitted What the smartest people do on the weekend, everyone else will do in 10 years as a story · 210 points
HN discussionThe foremost problem is lack of domain expertise as others have noted. If you lack domain knowledge but love your idea, the best course of action is to keep your day job and gain as much knowledge as you can before quitting. But another problem is lacking the conviction and traversing the idea maze[0]. Several comments here have provided good paths for possible methods of execution like offering a free API and seein…
Comment linking /2013/08/04/the-idea-maze
on “When good ideas make bad business”Submitted The next big thing will start out looking like a toy (2010) as a story · 191 points
HN discussionI've learned a few recurring lessons from several start-ups failures. My favorites - Aggressively pursue the simplest version of your idea/product/service. As a very general rule, once you begin building, try to remove more features than you add from the draft concept, until you get to launch. Get rid of ballast, be ruthless with yourself about whether you really need a given feature or aspect of the product. If the…
Comment linking /2010/08/21/the-bowling-pin-strategy/
on “Ask HN: Why did your startup fail and what did you learn?”Submitted Why I'm Interested in Bitcoin as a story · 190 points
HN discussionIt's a reference to this saying: http://cdixon.org/2011/02/05/selling-pickaxes-during-a-gold-...
Comment linking /2011/02/05/selling-pickaxes-during-a-gold-rush/
on “GitHub now has view modes for image diffs.”Submitted Getting rejected as a story · 188 points
HN discussionThis can be a blog post, hell, may be even a book on its own. For quick starters, look for someone who tinkered, cobbled, hacked, juggard[1] his/her way through an MVP with no-code, low-code, dump-code, Figma-ed, etc. Better yet, s/he had tried selling that idea, napkin-diagrams, to customers. Avoid anyone that smooth talks with nothing to show for (MVP/Customers/Prospects). While talking (do this for as long as you…
Comment linking /2013/08/04/the-idea-maze
on “Ask HN: Alternative ways to make money with coding and system skills?”Submitted Chris Dixon Joins Andreessen Horowitz as a story · 173 points
HN discussionDoes that mean that recipients can legitimately tell the press and other investors that a16z is one of their investors? Assuming that the recipient can keep a straight face? EDIT: Perhaps having a16z as the only VC in your seed is a very bad idea. Chris Dixon (now a partner at a16z) cautions enterpreneurs against the risks of having a sole VC in your seed round: http://cdixon.org/2012/04/02/revisited-big-vcs-investi…
Comment linking /2012/04/02/revisited-big-vcs-investing-in-seed-rounds/
on “The Pinboard Investment Co-Prosperity Cloud”Submitted The myth of the overnight success as a story · 168 points
HN discussionThe comparison to equity being getting paid in lottery tickets is apt (IMHO). Nevertheless there has never been a short of pioneering spirits willing to risk it all to strike it rich (just look at the gold rushes in the Dakotas, California and elsewhere). This is really the modern day equivalent. There was a thread here last year where people talked about their exits. A common story was "worked my ass off for X year…
Comment linking /2009/10/23/twelve-months-notice/
on “Want good programmers? Then pay them.”Submitted Firing as a story · 153 points
HN discussionThis is a really good post but it is disappointing that nowhere in the post it mentions Chris Dixon's post on this: http://cdixon.org/2010/01/03/the-next-big-thing-will-start-o...
Comment linking /2010/01/03/the-next-big-thing-will-start-out-looking-like-a-toy/
on “Why Toys?”Submitted Software eats software development as a story · 147 points
HN discussionEveryone thinks they want a la carte, but (most) everyone is wrong. Bundling is generally better for consumers and producers. https://cdixon.org/2012/07/08/how-bundling-benefits-sellers-... Stratechery also has written about this
Comment linking /2012/07/08/how-bundling-benefits-sellers-and-buyers
on “YouTube TV sharply increases monthly subscription to $64.99”Submitted The default state of a startup is failure as a story · 145 points
HN discussionHmmm- there is perhaps some merit to your theory but I doubt its as easy buying an MLS subscription and flipping homes. Some of what you are saying is applicable to Advertising as well. See Chris Dixon's posts on why Google is so profitable because its closest to the transaction. http://cdixon.org/2010/02/19/a-massive-misallocation-of-onli... http://cdixon.org/2009/09/29/why-content-sites-are-getting-r... ===From Ch…
Comment linking /2009/09/29/why-content-sites-are-getting-ripped-off/
on “The Unexotic Underclass”Submitted Every time an engineer joins Google, a startup dies as a story · 142 points
HN discussionEvaluating the value of stock options can also be done using the Black-Scholes model. Here's a blog post that explains more as it applies to startups: http://cdixon.org/2009/08/18/options-on-early-stage-companie... .
Comment linking /2009/08/18/options-on-early-stage-companies/
on “Do the math on your stock options”Submitted The idea maze as a story · 141 points
HN discussionI'd say it's mostly: - Landlords and real estate developers (who are making a killing in the current bubble) - B2B companies targeting startups - Professional services (lawyers, etc.) Chris Dixon has written about selling pickaxes in a gold rush: http://cdixon.org/2011/02/05/selling-pickaxes-during-a-gold-...
Comment linking /2011/02/05/selling-pickaxes-during-a-gold-rush/
on “No Exit”Submitted The credentials trap as a story · 139 points
HN discussionI'm not sure to reply to the parent comment or this one, but as you mentioned advertising model, I'd like to reply here. All the points mentioned in the parent comment has been done before: magazines and newspapers. (Some) people used to subscribe to multiple publications to get their intake of information. The wide ranging, impact based news is the daily publication specialty. The newest in your specific interest i…
Comment linking /2012/07/08/how-bundling-benefits-sellers-and-buyers
on “Ask HN: What interesting problems are you working on?”Submitted Full Stack Startups as a story · 135 points
HN discussion
