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gwern comments on Superintelligence Reading Group 3: AI and Uploads - Less Wrong Discussion

9 Post author: KatjaGrace 30 September 2014 01:00AM

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Comment author: gwern 02 October 2014 02:57:16PM 2 points [-]

Even if franchising only arises in specific demand circumstances, it suggests that it is possible to replicate a business more-or-less

No, it suggests it's possible to replicate a few particular businesses with sufficient success. (If the franchisee fails, that's not a big problem for the franchiser.) The examples I know of are all fairly simple businesses like fast food. Their exceptionality in this respect means they are the exception which proves the rule.

Comment author: Lumifer 02 October 2014 03:41:06PM 3 points [-]

No, it suggests it's possible to replicate a few particular businesses with sufficient success

All startups (by Paul Graham's definition) rely on massively replicating a successful business element, for example.

The boundaries of a firm are, in certain ways, arbitrary. A firm can "replicate" by selling franchises, but it can also replicate by opening new offices, new factories, etc.

Some examples: the big four accounting firms, test prep, offshore drilling, cell service infrastructure...