I think you might be conflating skepticism with jealousy. Sure, some are probably jealous, but others might be wary of the ebook pimping that was for a time, quite prevalent here on HN, and all from the same circle of folks.
If anything, I think it's preferable that the community engage in pattern matching and question where their heroes come from. It doesn't mean Patrick is a fraud, but it might mean that he's not the god everyone makes him out to be.
I will admit that when I first arrived here on HN, I too believed that his 'status' was a reflection of BCC's success. The way I saw it evolve was that the consulting discussions were only made possible by the fact that BCC was touted as a model product for bootstrapping success.
That could very well be my mistake, but judging by this discussion, it seems I was not the only one to make it.
I think this is why so many people are surprised by the low revenue numbers.
As for the sale itself...3x on a dying business is a pretty good deal if I must say so myself. Questioning the time he put into making the sale is silly. You can't put a price on peace of mind.
But a lot of people rightly view him very highly personally, and view his advice as very good advice.
Some people in this thread are calling it into question, and a few of us are trying to get across the fact that we've known him online for many years, lots of people around here have known him in person for many years, and the accusations that his claims are exaggerated is wrong.
Also, his advice is very good - I speak as a former consultant.
Not you. In fact, prior to today, I wasn't aware you and Patrick were working together. I have no issues there.
I'm not going to name names, but I'm pretty sure most of the community knows the few I am referring to. It just so happens that they've also been speaking at conferences, including Microconf and others like it.
1. Person A builds up a persona on HN as a guru, product person, consulting expert, etc.
2. This person then sells an e-book, leaning upon that reputation.
3. This person's uses the launch as an example of being successful.
4. The cycle repeats.
This is an obvious manifestation of the age old Mass Control, Product Launch Formula, etc, and I have no problem with that. My point above is that it's OK for people to vet the parties behind these products, and I think it's lazy to immediately dismiss criticism as jealousy.
No, I am literally having a hard time understanding why people are so automatically suspicious of ebooks. My bias on the table: writing books is so non-remunerative that making them almost seems like charity to me.
Very often the real return in writing an (e)book is personal branding. It's a pretty effective SEO technique. I don't see why this isn't obvious to you. I literally know more than a handful of people whose primary motivation for writing an ebook was that it would raise their profile. That's half the reason why so many ebooks are free, kind of similar to how and why (partly) people contribute to OSS projects without pay.
If anything, I think it's preferable that the community engage in pattern matching and question where their heroes come from. It doesn't mean Patrick is a fraud, but it might mean that he's not the god everyone makes him out to be.
I will admit that when I first arrived here on HN, I too believed that his 'status' was a reflection of BCC's success. The way I saw it evolve was that the consulting discussions were only made possible by the fact that BCC was touted as a model product for bootstrapping success.
That could very well be my mistake, but judging by this discussion, it seems I was not the only one to make it.
I think this is why so many people are surprised by the low revenue numbers.
As for the sale itself...3x on a dying business is a pretty good deal if I must say so myself. Questioning the time he put into making the sale is silly. You can't put a price on peace of mind.