An open letter to Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder)
marcgayle.com
An open letter to Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder)
1–10 of 18 posts
Re: An open letter to Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder)
#2Bottom line is that evaluating a startups product based on it's similarities to macro-level competitors is a bad idea. It's about what clicks with the companies own customers.
Digg will launch the product and find out quite quickly whether or not these social features works well with its users.
It's possible the development of these features was based off of significant data drawn from testing existing social features with its userbase.
Re: An open letter to Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder)
#3Bottom line is that evaluating a startups product based on it's similarities to macro-level competitors is a bad idea. It's about what clicks with the companies own customers. Digg will launch the product and find out quite quickly whether or not these social features works well with its users. It's possible the development of these features was based off of significant data drawn from testing existing social feature…
Not only that...but basing your opinion on the 'proper direction' of the product on just a video shown of some of the features, will likely lead to a misjudgment.
Then further insinuating about the motives of creator of the product is, quite frankly, reckless.
If you have inside information, or have used it extensively, then feel free...but not just based off of one video.
Re: An open letter to Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder)
#4Great post! Totally agree.
I dreamt up an idea for a site based on many of these concepts (with some slight variations) only a week or two back. I've been so excited that I've been furiously hacking together a prototype ever since. I think Kevin's really on to something here. Of course, as you said, execution will be key -- I'm confident that I can do it better...
Re: An open letter to Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder)
#5Great post! Totally agree. I dreamt up an idea for a site based on many of these concepts (with some slight variations) only a week or two back. I've been so excited that I've been furiously hacking together a prototype ever since. I think Kevin's really on to something here. Of course, as you said, execution will be key -- I'm confident that I can do it better...
bdevil1....well, given your enthusiasm, when you launch would you like to come on my podcast and talk about it?
I am doing a podcast about various ideas/projects/stuff that HN members are working on.
Or, you can even come on before and give a sneak peek too - if you would like. I think the community would love to hear more about your story.
I put up the first episode and am pivoting based on the feedback I got from the HN community: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1379942
If you are interested, email me: marc {at} ideatin {dot} com
Thanks.
Re: An open letter to Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder)
#6Great post! Totally agree. I dreamt up an idea for a site based on many of these concepts (with some slight variations) only a week or two back. I've been so excited that I've been furiously hacking together a prototype ever since. I think Kevin's really on to something here. Of course, as you said, execution will be key -- I'm confident that I can do it better...
bdevil1....well, given your enthusiasm, when you launch would you like to come on my podcast and talk about it? I am doing a podcast about various ideas/projects/stuff that HN members are working on. Or, you can even come on before and give a sneak peek too - if you would like. I think the community would love to hear more about your story. I put up the first episode and am pivoting based on the feedback I got from t…
I'd be thrilled to. I'm not quite ready for show and tell yet, but I'll be in touch...
Re: An open letter to Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder)
#7Alexis Ohanian's central complaint wasn't that Digg is copying features that exist elsewhere. Instead, he feels the design of Digg V4 is motivated by VC interests, rather than a desire to do what's right for Digg's users.
Re: An open letter to Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder)
#8> RSS feed readers suck!
No. They dont. You'll pry Google Reader from my cold dead hands.
I would like to have seen Marc flesh out this argument.
Re: An open letter to Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder)
#9> RSS feed readers suck! No. They dont. You'll pry Google Reader from my cold dead hands. I would like to have seen Marc flesh out this argument.
I hear you....but I respectfully disagree.
I have not seen RSS feed readers gain momentum as the hype around them suggested they might.
Some people like them, some don't.
I guess you can tell which camp I am in ;)
Re: An open letter to Alexis Ohanian (Reddit co-founder)
#10Alexis Ohanian's central complaint wasn't that Digg is copying features that exist elsewhere. Instead, he feels the design of Digg V4 is motivated by VC interests, rather than a desire to do what's right for Digg's users.
His complaint was that the direction of the product was not one of Kevin's, but rather of the VC interests.
That is the central tenet I disagreed with, and I highlighted why.