StartUp
StartUp by Jerry Kaplanby Jerry Kaplan
Shares rank 17 of 25 memoirs by recommenders
Recommended as a candid first-hand account of selling a startup, with forthright detail on hardware limits and the work of getting things done. No common caveat.
Recommended as a candid first-hand account of selling a startup, with forthright detail on hardware limits and the work of getting things done. No common caveat.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Candid account of selling a startup
“Jerry Kaplan told the story in his book "Startup".”
Comment from 26 Mar 2026 in “VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOS” Forthright on hardware limits and ingenuity
“are quite striking and forthright in their discussion of hardware limitations and the ingenuity needed to get things done”
Comment from 4 Sep 2026 in “Project Xanadu: Even More Hindsight (2025)” Praised as really good
“This is really, really good.”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “It took 4 years to sell my startup. I wrote a book about it”
Other memoirs people recommend
The four most recommended other memoirs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Careless Peopleby Sarah Wynn-Williams | 106 | 24 | 82% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Man's Search for Meaningby Viktor Frankl | 13 | 2 | 87% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!by Richard Feynman | 11 | 7 | 61% | 6 | — | — |
| Down and Out in Paris and Londonby George Orwell | 9 | 1 | 90% | 8 | — | — |
| StartUpby Jerry KaplanThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“are quite striking and forthright in their discussion of hardware limitations and the ingenuity needed to get things done”
“Jerry Kaplan told the story in his book "Startup".”
“This is really, really good.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.