[condor]

“'You don’t understand,' he told me. 'If I ran ads in it, it would taint my work.'

There were a bunch of email newsletter guys who felt that way. In their stupidity, I found an opportunity."

Amazing, they're stupid because they care more about the product than making money off the product. I wish most companies were that stupid, there would be a lot better products out there.

[ryanwaggoner]

I wish most companies were that stupid, there would be a lot better products out there.

No, there wouldn't. They'd gradually wither away and die because they're afraid of making money from their business.

I will never understand the reluctance of so-called "entrepreneurs" who have some philosophical aversion to the idea of making money.

Note: I'm not just talking about condor's comment...I see this attitude expressed constantly here on HN and throughout the "Web 2.0" world.

[condor]

its not an aversion to making money, there's no way to survive without making it. I will never understand the glorification of making money as an end, its so obvious, it should go without saying, yet here we are with yet another big bucks lottery article. the energy and focus should be on making things better, focusing on refining the product, with the obvious profit constraint.

[AndrewWarner]

Condor, maybe I said it a bit harshly.

Not long after we saw them, those newsletters that inspired us went out of business. It's hard to keep something going without revenue.

[plinkplonk]

"those newsletters that inspired us went out of business"

Were these newsletters a "business" at all? Did they have some other payment scheme (vs ads)? subscription maybe? If it were not a business how can it go "out of business"?

[jacoblyles]

I don't think you can make a better product by sacrificing your social life on nights and weekends than by working full time on it. Otherwise, ycombinator would make founders keep their day jobs.

This just strikes me as anti-commerce bias.

[comatose_kid]

Yeah, they didn't want to make money doing what they love. How smart.

[condor]

really? I wasn't there, but it sounds more like running ads would ruin the product to them so it wouldn't be something they loved anymore. I'm amazed that the idea one should make money is so novel . . . it's like breathing, it should be assumed, how else does something sustain itself? The focus should be on greatness, making something better, pushing something forward (with the assumption that it should be able to pay its own way), not simply how to angle an extra dollar.