[troygoode]

If you were Mark Zuckerberg asking HN "Compete with MySpace?" a few years ago, you'd likely get the same advice you'll get now: they're way out in front of you and you'll have a much better shot at success if you pick a different niche.

The Bad News: You'll almost certainly fail if you try to take on Facebook.

The Good News: If you succeed, you'll almost certainly be a billionaire.

If you wanted to do this, I'd recommend reading up on what the Diaspora guys are doing and beat them at their game rather than attacking Facebook head-on.

[philwelch]

Zuck did pick a different niche--Ivy league students (and then college students in general).

[earle]

Bad advice.

If your goal is money, just spend your money on powerball tickets since your chances are much, much greater.

If you do what you love because you're passionate about it, and you're exceptionally talented at what you're doing, rich is a natural byproduct.

[thibaut_barrere]

You can be both passionate and exceptionally talented, and utterly broke, quite easily.

[troygoode]

Bad advice? The only advice I gave was that if he decided to take on Facebook, to attack them from an angle similar to Diaspora's.

I agree that his odds of winning the Powerball are probably higher.