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Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

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Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#11

Post by colmvp »

debt wrote: post #8

he's a media vc. facebook is basically his crown jewel and that's it. facebook/media is cool i guess, but i don't see how he know much about anything else such as robotics or ai. just look at andreesen horowitz investments. many are largely media companies(buzzfeed, stack exchange). they've tried doing finance which is a much bigger market but like clinkle clearly imploded and coinbase probably is next(literally tran…

Not necessarily about Marc, but I honestly find it so frustrating to see media outlets interview people who have zero experience writing, doing research, or leading an AI related company/research institution but still ask them about their opinion on the future impact of AI, while completely ignoring individuals who are on the forefront of the field.

If you read interviews on the topic of say, cancer research, it would make sense for journalists to talk to an oncologist or a person who works for the American Cancer Society, versus just any doctor or a philosopher.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#12

Post by eanzenberg »

6stringmerc wrote: post #4

> So if technological change were going to cause elimination of jobs, one presumes we would have seen it by now. ...considering this statement was delivered while the US Workforce Participation is at 30+ year lows while productivity and technological change has made significant inroads during that time (ex: Macintosh 512k vs. iPhone 7), I think he's missing a large chunk of the, uh, big picture. Then, contrast one of…

Cool, let's stop progress then cause life was so great in the 1980's with healthcare, communications, science and overall knowledge.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#13

Post by bredren »

sjg007 wrote: post #9
6stringmerc wrote: post #4

> So if technological change were going to cause elimination of jobs, one presumes we would have seen it by now. ...considering this statement was delivered while the US Workforce Participation is at 30+ year lows while productivity and technological change has made significant inroads during that time (ex: Macintosh 512k vs. iPhone 7), I think he's missing a large chunk of the, uh, big picture. Then, contrast one of…

Yeah, the problem is you still spend an hour in the car away from your family and friends. Are you taking your kid to work, or dropping them off somewhere (school?).. most kids go to their neighborhood school... I mean self driving cars will be great but the work commute will still be like taking the train. For that 1 hour long commute you can't work on your house, do chores, be present at home... A 10 minute walk or…

This commute thing is a big deal. Changing the way it feels to commute and what you can do while in motion will reduce housing pressure in urban places and has the potential to lift up previously rural communities.

His quotes are more like anecdotal illustrations to a bigger point.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#14

Post by teej »

eanzenberg wrote: post #12
6stringmerc wrote: post #4

> So if technological change were going to cause elimination of jobs, one presumes we would have seen it by now. ...considering this statement was delivered while the US Workforce Participation is at 30+ year lows while productivity and technological change has made significant inroads during that time (ex: Macintosh 512k vs. iPhone 7), I think he's missing a large chunk of the, uh, big picture. Then, contrast one of…

Cool, let's stop progress then cause life was so great in the 1980's with healthcare, communications, science and overall knowledge.

There's a difference between making progress and recognizing the impact on real lives vs naively claiming we haven't seen any negative externalities of technology.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#16

Post by saosebastiao »

debt wrote: post #8

he's a media vc. facebook is basically his crown jewel and that's it. facebook/media is cool i guess, but i don't see how he know much about anything else such as robotics or ai. just look at andreesen horowitz investments. many are largely media companies(buzzfeed, stack exchange). they've tried doing finance which is a much bigger market but like clinkle clearly imploded and coinbase probably is next(literally tran…

His focus generally is media, which I don't think is a bad thing (VCs are really bad at understanding media, he's working in an area with large arbitrage opportunities).

But his largest investments have been outside media. Anki, Qik, Sigma Networks, Equinix, Asana. He's certainly not out of his element when he isn't talking media.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#18

Post by smacktoward »

6stringmerc wrote: post #4

> So if technological change were going to cause elimination of jobs, one presumes we would have seen it by now. ...considering this statement was delivered while the US Workforce Participation is at 30+ year lows while productivity and technological change has made significant inroads during that time (ex: Macintosh 512k vs. iPhone 7), I think he's missing a large chunk of the, uh, big picture. Then, contrast one of…

When he talks about "what if you don't have to worry about driving," what I hear is: what if your car is one more place where we can show you ads?

Right now we can't show you ads in your car, of course, because you're in command of two tons of steel moving at high speed, so your attention needs to be fully concentrated on that task. But if the car could drive itself, think of all the ways we could monetize that newly tappable reservoir of attention! It'd be a gold rush!

He doesn't say that, of course, because the vision of a world where you can spend your commute playing with your kid is a much easier sell than the vision of a world where your car becomes a kind of rolling Skinner box, with you a literally captive audience (what are you going to do, step out of a moving vehicle?) to be bombarded with messages by the highest bidder. But... yeah.

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#19

Post by TarpitCarnivore »

bredren wrote: post #13
sjg007 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the problem is you still spend an hour in the car away from your family and friends. Are you taking your kid to work, or dropping them off somewhere (school?).. most kids go to their neighborhood school... I mean self driving cars will be great but the work commute will still be like taking the train. For that 1 hour long commute you can't work on your house, do chores, be present at home... A 10 minute walk or…

This commute thing is a big deal. Changing the way it feels to commute and what you can do while in motion will reduce housing pressure in urban places and has the potential to lift up previously rural communities. His quotes are more like anecdotal illustrations to a bigger point.

But why not encourage people to build offices closer to these rural places or places in need up an uptick (Cleveland, Detroit, etc)?

Why is the solution always to commute into cities?

Re: Marc Andreessen: “Take the Ego Out of Ideas”

#20

Post by d--b »

I would say more broadly "take the ego out of work".

In tech, we meet so many people who are emotionally attached to their work, who would treat their production as 'their baby'. This is a terribly common counterproductive bias. It prevents from:

- taking criticism productively: people "put their soul" in their work, and then someone tells them it's perhaps not the best way. Do hear them.

- assessing one's position objectively: people who are attached to their work often misconstrue their vision with the reality of the work. They tend to minimize weak points and emphasize strong points.

- delegating your job away: people infatuated with their work have a hard time giving it away. Necessarily, the delegate will screw it up.

That should be rule number 0 of all jobs: Be invested in the mission, not in the solution

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