[senko]

In the good ol times, being a hacker meant you love tinkering with tech and are good at it.

Then media started using it to mean "computer criminal", which was annoying.

Then "I don't code I solve problems" tech bros coopted it, which is worse. Looks like now you're a hacker if you identify a need and monetize it.

I am fully cognizant I am writing this on a VC-backed founder oriented site called Hacker News, but I like to think there's still some good ol hacker spirit here, YC being named after an extremely nerdy thing and not "SaaS Launchpad" or somesuch.

(yes yes old man yelling at cloud, get off my lawn, etc)

[danenania]

I think building a business can encompass the hacker spirit as well if it’s approached in that way. Financial sustainability is a necessary component to solving problems on a large scale in a durable way. Why should a hacker draw the line at purely technical challenges?