Comment by awillen

Comment by awillen 2 days ago

15 replies

View on Hacker News

This works for the subset of people who have a good story or a real connection to their brand, but that's just not most businesses. I buy and operate e-commerce brands, and I can't do it both because I really don't want to be on camera and because "hey I bought this company that sells leather handle covers for cast iron pans, and I personally don't use them but the cashflow was good" is not so compelling as a message. Sometimes you just need messages that convey the value proposition of the brand. (And FWIW they are nice handle covers, I just prefer to use a kitchen towel to grab my cast iron.)

That said, I think video generation is at the point where someone will probably develop a product that fakes the kinds of videos you're talking about in the near future.

soulofmischief 2 days ago

Interesting. Do you feel like the values you're propagating into the world align with your own personal values?

I know personally that if I recognized some kitchen apparatus or product is redundant, and a something I already own such as a rag will do, I couldn't in good conscious perpetuate what I see as needless consumerism just to put another dollar in my wallet.

Basically, if I couldn't get on tiktok and make an earnest video about why what I'm selling is useful and worth existing, and why it personally matters to me, I don't think I could sell that product in good conscience. Even if the customer truly thinks it's a great product, if I recognize the inherent waste and redundancy, I just can't buy into it.

I just always think about the chapter in Fight Club when the narrator's house blows up:

"You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you."

Reply View 14 replies
  • overfeed a day ago

    > Do you feel like the values you're propagating into the world align with your own personal values?

    > Basically, if I couldn't get on tiktok and make an earnest video about why what I'm selling is useful and worth existing, and why it personally matters to me, I don't think I could sell that product in good conscience.

    Have you ever involuntarily gone to bed hungry even once in your life?

    Reply View 10 replies
    • wholinator2 8 hours ago

      What an incredibly sarcastic and off putting way to respond. It makes me feel like we should be asking you the same question. Exactly how much of your life is wrapped up in perpetuating things you know to be harmful singularly for enriching yourself? Why is it that such an earnest and straightforward, unemotional comment could drive such intense disdain and emotion out of you? Personally, I think they were completely justified in their statements and asking their questions in a nonjudgemental way. Do you have a guilty conscience?

      Reply View 0 replies
    • soulofmischief a day ago

      Yes. I was homeless from 16 to 22. Both of my parents were drug addicts, in and out of jail/prison. I don't speak to anyone in my family, because they side with my extremely abusive grandfather, who raised me and frequently savagely beat me for not sharing his extremist Christian values. Until very recently, I had an extremely thin social support network.

      I was awarded a full-ride scholarship to multiple state institutions after high school due to high test scores, but a vindictive teacher illegally altered my grade last-minute because I stood up to her for my peers, and disqualified me from being eligible. I was still 17, attending high school on my own, homeless, and had no parents to push back, and no money for summer remedial courses.

      I couldn't apply for government aid because my mother was committing tax fraud by claiming me as a dependent despite not providing me a home or resources, and refused to help. There was no economic opportunity in my rural town and I didn't have a car, so I proceeded to struggle for years, scraping by, risking my freedom, while I rounded out my skill set to become employable in tech despite not attending college.

      I've gone much longer than a day feeling hungry. Feeling starving. Feeling my muscles eat themselves and my face and jaw tighten from lack of nutrients. Friends in high school used to make fun of me for looking emaciated. I was a vulture, eating anything I could find, frequently stealing food to make up for an insatiable appetite. Now I have the opposite problem because of metabolism changes after years of malnutrition, and sometimes struggle with stress-related eating disorders.

      I'm going to do you the favor and not make such asinine implications about your own background.

      Reply View 8 replies
      • overfeed a day ago

        > I was a vulture, eating anything I could find, frequently stealing food to make up for an insatiable appetite.

        Now I'm even more confused because you experienced this first hand but can't imagine how someone can engage in practices that have nothing to.do with personal values to keep their families fed and sheltered.

        > I'm going to do you the favor and not make such asinine implications about your own background.

        Weren't you just shaming someone whose personal beliefs and background you don't know just 2 comments upstream?

        Reply View 7 replies
  • awillen a day ago

    I would say a couple of things:

    1. Just because I don't use something doesn't mean that I think it shouldn't exist or be sold. People can make their own choices. A product isn't bad or useless or unnecessary because it doesn't align with my preferences. I'm fine with people being able to make their own choices about what they buy. Also, I generally don't think people should have to live a totally ascetic lifestyle. I have three monitors - certainly redundant, but fine. I have art on my walls - could've gone without that. I have a dog who I buy toys and food for - not strictly necessary. These things are all more than fine in my book.

    2. There are other reasons to be in business besides deeply caring about the business itself. The biggest benefit to this business is that it doesn't require a lot of day-to-day work, and I can do that work whenever I want. That means I can almost always be there for my kids. That's what matters to me. I would take a job that I don't particularly care about that lets me put them first over one that I'm deeply passionate about that takes them away from me any time.

    Reply View 2 replies
    • soulofmischief a day ago

      Thank you for sharing your perspective. I do agree that we don't need to extremify asceticism. I certainly own useless crap.

      I think I do specifically have a minimalist approach to kitchens inspired by setups such as hundred rabbits' https://100r.co/site/cooking.html plus I also am becoming increasingly concerned with my carbon footprint given the climate-related extinction event we are currently facing, and that probably strikes out personal promotion of any unneeded kitchenware.

      I'm curious about the economics of what you do, if you've ever written about it elsewhere.

      Reply View 1 reply