[bitcartel]

The start-up scene is, in a way, kind of sad.

The tech media and mainstream press routinely salivate over stories of 13... 15... 17... and 19 year old whiz kid entrepreneurs.

Yet there was a time when teenagers and young adults wrote software and tinkered with hardware, sharing their creations with friends and peers, on a journey of computing discovery.

There was a time when 'Demo Day' literally meant getting a group of friends together, travelling to a new city, and showing off your coding and artistic skills. The prizes were prestige and peer recognition. http://archive.assembly.org/1992

Now, kids and teenagers are being schooled to hustle and score big money. Where is the pure joy of discovery? Something has been lost.

EDIT: Just wanted to add, it's amazing what you can do in just 4kb (4096 byte executable, no external data files). This should inspire programmers of all ages.

2012 Fireflies: http://archive.assembly.org/2012/4k-intro/fireflies-by-blobt...

2009 Muon Baryon: http://archive.assembly.org/2009/4k-intro/muon-baryon-by-you...

[argonaut]

You're making the mistake of: start-up scene = media coverage.

If you thought the real world = media coverage, you'd think there would be murders and robberies and assaults happening all around you every hour.

[bitcartel]

Sure, but kids and parents are not immune to the media's filter bubble. Young programmers might feel pressure to emulate celebrity wunderkids instead of following their own passions.

[argonaut]

Then you should be directing your criticism at the media, not the startup scene.

[bitcartel]

Why not both?

The media are part of the hype machine but they aren't responsible for investing in companies like Summly, holding demo days, running weekend hackathons, acqui-hiring or bringing on board token celebrity investors... are they?

[jakerocheleau]

I just heard of Summly for the first time yesterday, it seems like their recent fame has come greatly as a result of the purchase by Yahoo!

But I can't judge as I haven't been closely following the story. Is there any general consensus on the funding as a good or bad idea?

For the record I really like their promo video. It shows off the product with a bit of witty comedy. I just couldn't find myself using it, and I don't know how it'll fit into Yahoo, but definitely a fun app.

[bitcartel]

Summly discussion over the past few days:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5442290

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5445159

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5449394

[argonaut]

Are you criticizing the startup scene for its salivation over youth entrepreneurs? Or are you now shifting your criticism to things like acquihires and celebrity investors?

I find nothing wrong with hacakathons and acquihires, personally. As for celebrity investors, if a social media startup feels they need that kind of marketing / media attention, good for them.