jeremy snyder’s meta|remix

so i’m here in the bay area at a conference and the conference is largely cool. but one thing that kind of makes me scratch my head is the number of stealthy startups.

the basic idea, of course, is that you work under a veil of secrecy until you are ready to launch. and i get it, but it’s kind of strange in the era of openness and community-driven projects.

the advantages:

• you get a lot done because you can kind of work in a bubble
• you don’t feel pressure from people around you
• you naturally don’t risk people stealing your ideas
• you kind of get this cool factor from people anxious to see what you are up to

the disadvantages:

• most of the best ideas are combinations of things here and there from different conversations and brainstorming. you lose the ability to really get ideas out into the open.
• you can’t generate buzz from people sharing the concept with their friends
• you spend a long time working on your ideas, and you only find out about acceptance when you finally release something

now, i know you can work somewhere in the middle, and disclose at some point along the way, but i find it refreshing to be able to talk about twinity with anyone who’s interested and getting their thoughts on what could help make twinity even better. i just had a conversation like that out in the hall.