Stavros. You need to detach a little bit, get a 10,000m view. You've got something, you can be successful. But your approach is "out of whack" and people aren't going to support you. Conform to influence.
actually, conform to influence doesn't mean that. It means, to influence a group you need to be part of the group. To be part of the group, you need to first conform to the group.
It's actually a very pithy phrase, because it's exactly the "message" of the product as art, reversed.
Stavros would prefer not to conform, and doesn't care if that means he doesn't influence.
Although... ironically he is probably one of the more influential HN posters. Now, profitable, I dunno, do you really mean "conform [in order] to profit", does "influence" just mean "exploit" [in the economic sense. mostly] now?
Can we conceive of someone who would rather not conform and in fact would rather not exploit?
Is it not ok to make a "little bit" (you can be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams from a small business) of money from a opinionated business (akin to a restauraunt, perhaps) rather than conform and become just one more ycombinator-esque startup in the hope you'll make even more money if you make it big.
