What does the "rocket science" refer to in this question about startup?
Typical Y Combinator Interview Questions says:
Where is the rocket science here?The question might be simple for Americans, but I am outside USA, and I haven't found a reliable answer. I need a clarification because I plan to translate it into Chinese for knowledge sharing.
I guess from posts containing rocket science in this site that it may mean silver bullet (a term used in saying "no silver bullet" from a book named The Mythical Man-Month ).
Can I say that rocket science means something over-complicated that still makes people feel like magical, although it is a step-by-step science?
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It's the heart of the value. If you do something trivial, it'll be trivial to copy and probably already exists. If you do something non-trivial then you have created value, which is what business is about. – Steve Jones 11 years ago
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"Rocket science" generally means something that is really hard to do and only a few people in the world can do it - or a small percentage. I assume they use it in there to ask about what technical barriers to entry are there that your company has solved that make it difficult for others to challenge your position. – Tim J 11 years ago
1 Answer
I would imagine that in this instance it's a reference to the phrase "It's not rocket science" used to mean that you do not think that something is very difficult to do or to understand.
So what they are asking is "What's the difficult / complex part of this business?".
What's going to stop N thousand other companies copying you and doing it better.
The answer has been accepted by questioner, and for those who are interested, here is an excellent explanation from English Language Learner: http://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/6922/what-does-the-rocket-science-refer-to-in-this-question-about-startup/
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thanks for your quick answer! now i have a different perspective. will wait to see if there are better ones before accepting an answer. :) – Pim Geek 11 years ago
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I think adrianh has pretty much nailed it. "Rocket science" is perceived as being something that is extremely difficult and complex. Asking "where is the rocket science here" is just saying that you do not see anything complex here. It might be worth asking on the linguistics board rather than startups - you'll probably get a better answer there. But if you are translating this into another language, then you should probably translate the phrase "I don't see anything complex here". – Gavin Coates 11 years ago
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@GavinCoates thanks for your advice! I was considering post this on ell.stackexchange.com, but since the context of question is startup ... i will post it to other boards later. – Pim Geek 11 years ago
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In context, I think adrianh has the right translation: "What's the difficult / complex part of this business?" If someone says "it's not rocket science" they're informally saying that something is not difficult. – Giles Thomas 11 years ago
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thanks for all your comments. I will accept the answer, and supplement adrianh's answer with ELL's explanations. – Pim Geek 11 years ago
