I suspect one of the rarest skills is to have any sense whatsoever of how different things were in the past. I believe it's as rare as being able to … - Paul Graham

People tend to underestimate how much things can change, and this causes them to undervalue ideas that aren't viable now but could be in the future.

The word "screed" is a sign of intellectual dishonesty. In practice it means no more than "something someone wrote that I disagree with," but by hiding this in the noun you use to describe the work, you make it seem as if this were some intrinsic feature of it.

If you start a startup, don’t design your product to please VCs or potential acquirers. Design your product to please the users. If you win the users, everything else will follow.