Viewing profile — jmastrangelo

Not sure why you got downvoted. I think Tesla is a great company, but these valuations suggest they're going dominate transportation in a way no car manufacturer ever has. Even if …

Don't forget that Intel had a few decades where nearly all software was written for their x86 chips. This reinforced every computer needing to have intel, and only recently has the…

I highly recommend the book 7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer. Helmer defines "Power" as the ability to retain meaningful profit margins for a meaningful period of time. Each of the 7 Po…

Focusing on the gear seems like a cheap and easy solution compared to fixing training and accountability, the actual root of the issue.

Agreed, the goal isn't to replace transit in places that are well suited to it, its to provide better transportation in all the places transit isn't well suited.

I'd argue that in its more general form, its absolutely axiomatic. Humans are mortal, in order to preserve our life, we have to put in a considerable amount of effort. There is no …

It seems to me that when it comes to growing and scaling their successful products, Google is data-driven. However when bringing new products to market Google basically has been dr…

Haha, hello fellow Northeastern student and disciple of Matthias! Lots of interesting things to read on his page.

I don't agree that Uber's business model is fundamentally "rotten and antisocial". Short range point to point transport (cabs) was awful before Uber and Lyft. The rides are easier …

Definitely would add Bezos and Musk. Bezos is one of the most managerially/business astute CEOs and Musk is able to will futuristic companies basically out of thin air.

I think these analogies are way way older than Iraq, and I'd bet they exist in cultures all over the world. War is probably the most intense part of the human experience, and using…

All of the mechanics available to the Fed and Politicians are large imprecise tools. Regular people still have unmet needs and successful businesses are still started all the time …

Ime past a certain point years of experience doesn't seem to improve one's programming ability. Even in large organizations promotions tend to slow after reaching senior engineer a…

But a central tenet of Communism was dismantling all other social structures like religion. Modern technology under capitalism may be destroying these social structures over time, …

Don't understand why you're being downvoted. Surviving and thriving in the world requires lots of material goods. These goods are produced by the economy so of course you have to p…

Its not a straw-man its a very real comparison if you think about a physical copy of content vs a digital copy. When you bought a dvd in stores you paid more than the $5 it cost to…

He's not saying you're acting entitled towards the content, (ie you'll throw a fit if you can't pirate it). He's saying you're acting entitled towards being morally justified in do…

Not true if the cost is too low to justify creators continuing to invest in such works.

I don't see how changing the commodity from media to rice improves your argument, if anything it weakens it. Of course people who grow your food need to be compensated for it! Othe…

> Except when you pay money for TV, movies or video games, your money either doesn't go to the artists behind it, or very little of it does. Rather, the money goes to the investors…

Isn't more the opposite? In Europe (well at least Germany, Europe is big) don't students get split up between a vocational track and university track pretty early in their educatio…

Often yes but in this case I don't think so. These guys are worth _billions_. It would be financially imprudent to not cash out a little bit purely for diversification and buying a…

But what happens when you can't raise taxes any further? Or the high taxes shrink the motivation of the people running businesses to expand their businesses. The money has to come …