What Microsoft Is this the Altair Basic of?
February 2015 One of the most valuable exercises you can try if you want to understand startups is to look at the most successful companies and explain why they were not as lame as they seemed when they first launched.
2015 年 2 月 如果您想了解初创公司，您可以尝试的最有价值的练习之一就是观察最成功的公司，并解释为什么它们并不像刚成立时那样蹩脚。
Because they practically all seemed lame at first.
因为一开始他们几乎都显得蹩脚。
Not just small, lame.
不仅小，还跛脚。
Not just the first step up a big mountain.
不仅仅是登上大山的第一步。
More like the first step into a swamp.
更像是迈入沼泽的第一步。
A Basic interpreter for the Altair?
Altair 的基本解释器？
How could that ever grow into
它怎么可能长成
a giant company?
一家大公司？
People sleeping on airbeds in strangers' apartments?
人们睡在陌生人公寓的充气床上吗？
A web site for college students to stalk one another?
一个供大学生互相跟踪的网站？
A wimpy little single-board computer for hobbyists that used a TV as a monitor?
一款适合业余爱好者使用电视作为显示器的小型单板计算机？
A new search engine, when there were already about 10, and they were all trying to de-emphasize search?
一个新的搜索引擎，当时已经有大约 10 个，而且它们都在试图弱化搜索？
These ideas didn't just seem small.
这些想法看起来并不小。
They seemed wrong.
他们似乎错了。
They were the kind of ideas you could not merely ignore, but ridicule.
这些想法你不仅不能忽视，还可以嘲笑。
Often the founders themselves didn't know why their ideas were promising.
通常，创始人自己并不知道为什么他们的想法有前途。
They were attracted to these ideas by instinct, because they were living in the future and they sensed that something was missing.
他们本能地被这些想法所吸引，因为他们生活在未来，他们感觉到缺少了一些东西。
But they could not have put into words exactly how their ugly ducklings were going to grow into big, beautiful swans.
但他们无法准确地表达出他们的丑小鸭将如何成长为美丽的大天鹅。
Most people's first impulse when they hear about a lame-sounding new startup idea is to make fun of it.
大多数人在听到一个听起来蹩脚的新创业想法时，第一反应就是取笑它。
Even a lot of people who
甚至很多人都
should know better.
应该更清楚。
When I encounter a startup with a lame-sounding idea, I ask "What Microsoft is this the Altair Basic of?" Now it's a puzzle, and the burden is on me to solve it.
当我遇到一家有着听起来蹩脚想法的初创公司时，我会问“这是什么 Microsoft？Altair Basic 是什么？”现在这是一个谜题，而我有责任去解决它。
Sometimes I can't think of an answer, especially when the idea is a made-up one.
有时我想不出答案，尤其是当这个想法是虚构的时候。
But it's remarkable how often there does turn out to be an answer.
但值得注意的是，经常有答案。
Often it's one the founders themselves hadn't seen yet.
通常这是创始人自己还没有见过的。
Intriguingly, there are sometimes multiple answers.
有趣的是，有时会有多个答案。
I talked to a
我和一个
startup a few days ago that could grow into 3 distinct Microsofts.
几天前成立的一家公司，可能会成长为三个不同的微软公司。
They'd probably vary in size by orders of magnitude.
它们的大小可能会相差几个数量级。
But you can never predict how big a Microsoft is going to be, so in cases like that I encourage founders to follow whichever path is most immediately exciting to them.
但你永远无法预测微软会有多大，所以在这种情况下，我鼓励创始人选择最让他们兴奋的道路。
Their instincts got them this far.
他们的直觉让他们走到了这一步。
Why stop now?
为什么现在停下来？