Comment of the article “Beating the Averages” by Paul Graham (2001)



Viaweb is a startup created in 1995 by two developers: Robert Morris and Paul Graham.  This startup, written in Lisp Language, is based on a web software which propose to create online stores. 

Some people would say that it’s not useful to learn a language like Lisp but this acquisition will necessarily improve the programmers’ skills: it develops a new way to think, to organize and structure a program; and this is the case for any other language. 
In the article, the author makes a comparison between a programming language and the Latin language (which are two “dinosaurs” of the languages). On the one hand, it is true that a programming language is useful to learn because it’s the way to communicate with computers and create innovative things, almost without limit. On the other hand, the Latin Language is a dead language but still have an influence on living languages, and it is the same with the old programming languages, which has influenced and inspired the recent programming languages. 



The author also talks about the competition and the difficulties to create a start-up. Instead of viewing competition as an obstacle, the successful entrepreneurs see it as an opportunity:  they do not ignore the competition, but they analyze the strategy of the competitors, adapt their business and then create something, which will make the difference. The CEO of the startup Viaweb chose Lisp to develop their software because they already knew this language (they knew how powerful and fast this language is) and because the competitors did not have the idea to use this language before. Lisp has been a real technical advantage, nobody thought that this language would be their secret weapon. For me, the most important thing is to be hopeful and positive about the future, continue efforts and use the word of mouth to make the startup grow. 

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