[throw_away_acc]

> Today I'm at Facebook. It's a special time to be at the company right now. We're able to build unique products that few others can dream of.

Sorry but you are nothing more than an office drone in a cooperation writing about achievements far in the past. Calling this post "Playing by your own rules" must be pure irony -- how can an ordinary product manager at Facebook play by his own rules? You are employed man, you play by others' rules and your post is a day dream, just a weak try to get some attention as a boring product manager and covering your endless desperation. Start something new and forget the past.

EDIT: downvoting != disagreeing

[cpocpo]

And you're someone that uses a throw away account to call out someone. Nice.

[EDIT] The downvotes are for not adding value to the discussion here. Your initial post was only a one-line hateful comment. Nice try updating it with an unmarked edit.

[throw_away_acc]

Just focus on what I write and not on who I am.

Excuse my harsh words, but HN is for tech founders, for real entrepreneurs. This is just the wrong place for someone who was once a founder but is now employed for years (and writing such confusing posts).

EDIT: I am not sure who is spreading the hate here. Instead of distracting with mentioning "unmarked edits" just try to comment on the content of my post (which is about non-founders sitting in the safe haven and teaching us how startups work).

EDIT2: your account is also kind of a throw away account (karma: 3 and just one submission in one year)

[cpocpo]

So, anyone who has a job shouldn't be on HN? Dude, I think think the vast majority of the HN community is employed by someone else. You can be into hacking and technology without being an entrepreneur.

[throw_away_acc]

> I think think the vast majority of the HN community is employed by someone else.

I don't think so. HN is YC is full of real entrepreneurs and risk takers. Most on HN are tech founders or at least employed but with having side projects and ambitions to get real founders. The OP is working at Facebook, proud of being an employee and having no side projects (otherwise he wouldn't blog about Gowalla years later).

[NamTaf]

I'm not. I'm here because I find the scene fascinating and thoroughly enjoy the breadth of intelligent discussion on topics ranging from design to programming to personal productivity to social effects on tech to etc.

I think it's incredibly unwise to play the elitism card and try to drive people like myself away from HN. You risk suffocating the community and producing an echo chamber of certain discussion points, eventually reducing to stale repetition. It runs absolutely counter to the mandate of 'anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiousity'.

I've seen experts in niche topics wade in and provide fantastic insight and wisdom on information I'd never have thought to find here as it has nothing to do with startups and hacking. I've tried to contribute myself (e.g.: there was a discussion on spider's silk stopping a train and someone asked about the structure of the train, the designing of which is my day job) and hope that through doing so I can encourage others to return the favour.

The OP has experiences and insights directly related to the central pillar of HN. His sharing them through blog posts or HN comments can be to the benefit of the community. Rejecting them to fulfill some stupid sense of elitism for the 'true entrepreneurs' is daft.

[samstave]

Just curious, how old are you?

Please respond.

[rythie]

You can be employed and still be entrepreneur, definitions from Wikipedia:

"1934: Schumpeter: Entrepreneurs are innovators who use a process of shattering the status quo of the existing products and services, to set up new products, new services."

"1983: G. Pinchot: Intrapreneur is an entrepreneur within an already established organization."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneur