Start with why -- how great leaders inspire action | Simon Sinek | TEDxPugetSound
Why Hacker News recommends it
Recommended as a quick way to get the core of 'Start with Why' for pitches and communication, though some note small companies are not Apple.
What it is
Simon Sinek's TEDx talk arguing that great leaders and companies inspire action by communicating why they do something before how or what. He uses Apple as his main example.
Recommended by 6 HN commenters across 7 different months, 2015 to 2024.
What Hacker News said
Recommends kalid · 2015-12 · on “BetterExplained: Math Lessons That Explain Concepts”
Hey! Thanks for the compliment, it really means a lot when the site resonates. I'm not super experienced with lectures (mostly writing), but I think it works in office settings. Check out this talk from Simon Sinek: [this video] People are usually motivated by the why, the mission, the story. Then you get into the what and how it's accomplished. With math, it can be similar: the "why" sets the stage. Humans in general prefer a narrative to a list of facts (Hacker News readers excepted :-).)
Recommends andy_ppp · 2017-08 · on “Show HN: Link.fish – Boomarking meets web-parsing with archiving”
It sounds awesome but what is the use case for me? It allows me to grab parts of a webpage as bookmarks? I thought Safari does this already (and no-one uses it). Get a .com too (you have read all of Paul Grahams Essays right?); linkfish.com or something similar is fine - I particularly dislike the .fish it pheels very script kiddy to me. Given that this isn’t a new idea can we all agree that User experience and design is going to be the way that this wins. Try to find someone awesome on Dribble or Behance to bring the code to life. Finally adding “please sign up” at the end of your video came across as a bit desperate; it should be self evident at the end of any video that the person should
Recommends kken · 2018-12 · on “Ask HN: What skills to acquire in 2019?”
A much faster way to understand the central message of "Start with Why" would be to watch the TEDx talk: [this video] Is the book worth reading, in addition? I see very mixed reviews.
Recommends kthejoker2 · 2020-06 · on “A Hierarchy of Engineering Values”
Here's a TED talk by Sinek on the concept (it turned into a book, Start With Why, and now a set of courses, etc.) It's a simple but powerful concept - one of those you should revisit on a regular basis to test your beliefs and the difference you want to make at work, in your society, etc. [this video]
Recommends ljf · 2023-08 · on “Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company (2019)”
Brilliant summary here of how Apple often focus on 'Why' you need something - rather than pushing the 'What' it is. They smashed this for the ipod, the iphone and the ipad - and more recently with headphones. Will be interesting to see if they can manage this for VR. 'Start with Why': [this video]
Recommends mosselman · 2023-12 · on “Show HN: Anytype – local-first, P2P knowledge management”
All your communication could be stronger if you flip it around and start with why: [this video] Apart from that I am so excited to try it this holiday
Recommends mosselman · 2024-01 · on “Show HN: I made an app that consolidated 18 apps (doc, sheet, form, site, chat…)”
I totally agree. Coming across Simon Sinek's 'Start with Why' has helped me a great deal in communicating in general. Even in conversations this applies: [this video] I also suggest reading his book. In terms of this theory you should communicate like this: Why, How, What You are starting from your 'What'. I haven't really grasped the core of your product, but to restructure it could be something like: Stop wasting time looking up documents, e-mails and chats in different systems. Stop paying for 20 different single purpose services just to run your business. By having everything in one place it is easier to find and share information throughout you business. Creating custom combinations of docs,
Cites yodon · 2017-09 · on “Tell me what your company does”
Marketing is hard. Writing compelling advertising copy is hard. Figuring out what people want and need to know about your product is hard. Getting some designer with a great visual portfolio to make your website isn't the same thing as having a marketing plan or a marketing strategy, but it's a whole lot faster and cheaper and unfortunately most people don't know the difference. Oh, and as awesome as Simon Sinek's Ted talk[0] is, you're not Apple and potential customers actually do care whether your product is useful for people like them. [0] [this video]