“That will never work”

MG wrote a post yesterday about scoffing in the technology world. It’s a great read, especially going into the new iPhone and “iWatch” launch today.

It also reminded me of all the scoffing I’ve heard in my time as an investor these 9+ years. Things like: 

“User generated content can’t compete with professional content”

“Advertisers won’t put their ad next to user generated content”

“You can’t build a big company outside of Silicon Valley”

“You can’t hire great engineers in San Francisco”

“You can’t build a big business around photographs”

“We wanted flying cars and all we got were 140 characters”

“Digital goods are a fad”

“Social networks are a fad”

“Startups can’t build hardware”

“Why would someone want a blog”

“You can’t compete with Facebook”

“Nobody cares about virtual reality”

“You can’t build a real company with a $15k seed” (in reference to all the early scoffing about YC in the early days)

“You can’t build a big company in the music space”

“You can’t build a big company if you don’t charge for your software”

“Bitcoin will never work”

“You can’t build a big open source company”

It is a helpful reminder why I love this industry.