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Startups Unplugged
Personal blog · startupsunplugged.comstartupsbusiness
Startups Unplugged is a personal blog at startupsunplugged.com about startups and business. Since 2011, 4 different Hacker News readers have linked it 33 times, most often “Why Now: Timing and Product Success”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2025-09-28, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (1) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
One commenter quotes this post's argument that startup cost structure depends on technical solution rather than business model, and on growth hacking, in a thread about Everpix shutting down.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 1 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Practical strategy on timing, unit economics, and innovation accelerators/incubators from USC entrepreneurship lead and author.
Most-linked posts?
- Why Now: Timing and Product Success2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-09-24
- Selling Shovels in the Startup Gold Rush2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2013-11-05
What Hacker News says?
> It's actually a case where "growth hacking" would have been good for them because they needed more users to justify their fixed costs. Here's the current crux of the startup world cost structure - it's not variable based on business solution, but rather technical solution - and this is problematic. Here's the general group-thought - the more money we put into a company the quicker it can sustain growth. Let's say…
Comment linking /startup-data/selling-shovels-in-the-new-gold-rush/
on “Everpix is Shutting Down”Submitted Are the TechStars Results accurate? as a story · 5 points
HN discussionhttps://startupsunplugged.com/blog/ Most recently focused on timing (the "why now" question) and unit economics.
Comment linking /blog/
on “Ask HN: Could you share your personal blog here?”Submitted Investment Thesis for a University Incubator as a story · 4 points
HN discussionBack in 2011 I looked at how many of the URLs in the book had survived. For a Dotcom era book, I think they held up pretty well. Anyone want to update the list? https://startupsunplugged.com/startup-communities/random-fac... Cluetrain.com: y. Haveanotherbeer.com: n (fake). (bought by Google) deja.com: n; liveperson.com: y. (with diff name) chrisworth.com: y. Boy-are-we-clueless.com: n. Dunkindonuts.com: y. Dunkindon…
Comment linking /startup-communities/random-factoid-about-cluetrain-manifesto-and-url-longevity/
on “The Cluetrain Manifesto”Submitted Fear, Waiting and LaGuardia as a story · 3 points
HN discussionLove the comments here. I try to get ideas for what is becoming possible (not what's a good or bad idea) by visualizing how drivers of timing work. I wrote a bit about it here: https://startupsunplugged.com/why-now/timing-drivers-visuali...
Comment linking /why-now/timing-drivers-visualized/
on “How to get new ideas”Submitted Why Now: Timing and Product Success as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThis is a question everyone going into an accelerator program should ask themselves before, throughout and after the program. From running a startup accelerator off the beaten path (in Hong Kong), I can tell you that the startups that got the most out of it were those that were coachable, social (but not too social), kept in contact by asking for help when needed, and maintained momentum. I wrote about this here: ht…
Comment linking /startup-data/when-does-a-startup-accelerator-succeed/
on “Ask HN: How to get max out of an accelerator program?”Submitted Rolling up hills or climbing up steps as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted More MBAs More Problems as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Measuring Your Market? Consider Timing as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why Now: Timing and Product Success as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Timing Examples as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Running a Why Now Session as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Timing Drivers Visualized as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why Now: Timing and Product Success as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Calculating Critical Mass as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Does this work as a thought exercise? as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Calculating Critical Mass as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Predicting Exercise in the Music Industry as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Monopolies I Have Known as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Selling Shovels in the Startup Gold Rush as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Predicting the Future – Music Industry Version as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Rolling Up Hills or Climbing Up Steps as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Accelerators and their discontents as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted How I Tried To Be a Better Startup Weekend Judge as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Can You Do An MVP For Your Life? as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Why getting pissed off at Startup Weekend turned out to be a good thing for me as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Can you be too experienced to learn as a story · 1 points
HN discussion