Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

Luck means you landed a big client because they just happened to be in litigation with a competitor, or the NYTimes wrote about you because you happened to run into a reporter at the airport, and that’s what cascaded you forwards.

Timing doesn’t have to be luck — it can come from a deep understanding of trends and knowing when the right time to strike is...




If you believe timing isn't luck, then isn't it just a subset of execution?


Execution is about how you solve the problem. Just because it’s solved well doesn’t mean the market is ready to receive it.


I feel like you're talking about executing on the product, which I actually consider to be significantly smaller than executing on the market. Bringing a product to market is almost always a larger task than creating the product in the first place. I consider both of those to be execution.


To me execution is how you build the business. Timing would mean deciding not to do it at all for another 10 years, or that you already missed the opportunity and thus give up before starting, which seems like something completely different. I’m also far from the only one — google “execution luck timing” and read up from others who can possibly getter differentiate for you.


It's hard for me to say how much we agree and are simply not communicating properly, but my main point is that the people giving advice do not properly acknowledge how lucky they were to succeed.

https://xkcd.com/1827/

I largely consider execution to be what you can control, and luck to be what you can't. You can break those down much further, but I really feel those are the important categories.

Anyway, I guess agree to disagree. Cheers.




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: