Why I left Google to join Grab • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I left Google to join Grab

#161

Post by ozten » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 2:23 AM UTC

crispinb wrote: post #20

How depressing. Our living planet is collapsing at a dizzying and increasing pace, and not only do our 'best and brightest' (if that's what they are) work largely on trivia designed to accelerate the collapsing trend, they advertise their superficiality with this crude purported messianic zeal. Froth and bubble atop the dank turbid waters.

I found this essay a little shocking, because his last message I saw was the OSCON 2011 talk "What Would You Do With Your Own Google" [1]

Something like - Let's all spend 5 years studying hard sciences and then go to work on important, world changing problems.

The war metaphors and the Uber problems space caught me off guard.

[1] https://conferences.oreilly.com/oscon/oscon2011/public/sched...

Re: Why I left Google to join Grab

#162

Post by bogomipz » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 2:29 AM UTC

So much of this post reeks of venture-capital colonialism:

>"Aside from Singapore, the traffic infrastructure ranges from bad to terrible to near-nonexistent. (I mean, c’mon, Indonesia alone is 17,000 islands.) The credit-card industry is near-nonexistent."

>"And it is growing more rapidly in Southeast Asia, because — as any Asian person will happily tell you — they love their food more than you do."

>"I’m getting myself involved in a land war in Asia."

>"Asians use smartphones possibly more than anyone else in the world."

>"Not so in SEA. Everyone stares happily into their smart phones all the time."

It's not the 1300s anymore, many of us "Westerners" have spent time in South East Asia. And one of the great experiences there is going out to dine at night markets, hawker centers and food stalls. Getting food delivered ... not so interesting.

I get it that you came back from a company offsite and were eager to show management your enthusiasm but oh how cringeworthy this piece is.

Also talking crap about your previous employer as a means of getting publicity for your new one is incredibly tacky. More especially so considering you spent 13 years with them.

Re: Why I left Google to join Grab

#163

Post by brisance » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 2:53 AM UTC

woolvalley wrote: post #25

Did he try talking to Uber or Lyft? What he described is fairly similar to the other ride sharing companies' realities. As for Didi vs Uber, I think there were some 'government' realities that made it a bit more skewed compared to the rest of the world, much like many other non-chinese companies in China.

No horse in the race, but in South-East Asia, Grab does seem to be kicking Uber's ass. In terms of visibility and mindshare. Mainly has to do with the amount of money Softbank and the various government-linked investment companies are pouring into it.

Re: Why I left Google to join Grab

#164

Post by bogomipz » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 3:42 AM UTC

zeveb wrote: post #99

altern8tif wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish more people would work on ideas that would impact the poorer half of the human race.

I imagine that getting better food options to millions of people and enabling tens of thousands to start businesses does impact the poorer half of mankind positively. We've seen for decades that the typical Western approach of throwing money at the elites of a poor country really doesn't help improve life for the impoverished; it's when we create opportunities for them that their lives become measurably better. Contr…

>"I imagine that getting better food options to millions of people and enabling tens of thousands to start businesses does impact the poorer half of mankind positively."

Better food options? Is there a better food option than something locally grown with sustainable agriculture?

How exactly does VC-funded motorcycle and car taxis burning fossil fuels "impact poorer half of mankind positively"?

>"We've seen for decades that the typical Western approach of throwing money at the elites of a poor country really doesn't help improve life for the impoverished;"

Which has given rise to alternatives in the form of NGOs, PVOs and micro-finance initiatives. Do you really believe that some VC firms on Sand Hill Road is going to help lift the world out of poverty?

Re: Why I left Google to join Grab

#165

Post by Tsagadai » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 3:50 AM UTC

magic_beans wrote: post #138

masklinn wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actual permalink to the tweet: https://twitter.com/RealSexyCyborg/status/940058014886780928 The previous tweets in the thread seem more relevant here: https://twitter.com/BeijingPalmer/status/940010649010233344 > I'm generally skeptical of anyone who makes a week-long trip to China and comes back awed by 'how advanced they are in X.' In my experience Chinese academics and firms lie their ass off to visitors. https://…

Her profile pics are basically NSFW...

Which has no bearing on what she is saying at all.

Re: Why I left Google to join Grab

#166

Post by rmason » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 4:48 AM UTC

sgift wrote: post #55

> When this idea inevitably takes off, people are going to be able to order take-out from their neighbors, from anyone in the city who wants to cook their family recipe. It will change cuisine forever. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. As if such things as hygiene regulations didn't exist and you can just open a restaurant by hanging a sign out and telling someone to deliver whatever you just produced in y…

What's to stop the WeWork of commercial kitchens from developing? I truly believe that it could, emphasize could result in a boom of small family restaurants.

There was a startup in Britain that was killing it with mom cooking and Dad doing the deliveries. But health authorities cracked down and the company cratered.

The customers loved the service but even with the help of an executive chef doing inspections the government wasn't satisfied.

Re: Why I left Google to join Grab

#167

Post by celdon25 » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 5:53 AM UTC

Luff wrote: post #110

altern8tif wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish more people would work on ideas that would impact the poorer half of the human race.

You can't earn money by making things for people that have no money. We need to solve that first.

https://gems.org/ might disagree with that statement. It's a project that I have high hopes for. And they even make a good argument why they have decided to go the blockchain route, while others in the space have by and large failed to make their case.

Re: Why I left Google to join Grab

#168

Post by jstandard » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 6:19 AM UTC

mywittyname wrote: post #87

notyourday wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I always find it funny when those who cut their teeth in a software industry ( which based on profit margins is a toddler ) think that their skills translate into well established industries such as restaurants.

We live in an era where every company is a software company.

Having founded a daily deals company a few years back, I can say this mindset can easily be a trap. Software plays a larger role in many companies and can be part of your offering, but I strongly disagree you should run every company like a software company.

Re: Why I left Google to join Grab

#169

Post by crispinb » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 6:35 AM UTC

ozten wrote: post #161

crispinb wrote: post #20

How depressing. Our living planet is collapsing at a dizzying and increasing pace, and not only do our 'best and brightest' (if that's what they are) work largely on trivia designed to accelerate the collapsing trend, they advertise their superficiality with this crude purported messianic zeal. Froth and bubble atop the dank turbid waters.

I found this essay a little shocking, because his last message I saw was the OSCON 2011 talk "What Would You Do With Your Own Google" [1] Something like - Let's all spend 5 years studying hard sciences and then go to work on important, world changing problems. The war metaphors and the Uber problems space caught me off guard. [1] https://conferences.oreilly.com/oscon/oscon2011/public/sched...

> The war metaphors and the Uber problems space caught me off guard

Quite, me too. It may be deserving of a serious & respectful critique, but not having time or inclination for it, a few sentences of ad hominem dismissal can be tempting. Best resisted.

Re: Why I left Google to join Grab

#170

Post by szh14 » Thu, Jan 25, 2018, 6:35 AM UTC

jondubois wrote: post #59

>> This is not hyperbole. This morning I saw a spy photo of an Indonesian mafia-run operation: a big seedy-looking room full of guys with stacks of phones doing fake ride bookings. WTF? Why would the mafia do fake ride bookings? Who is paying them? Sounds like a certain company is trying to pump up their numbers artificially. The whole ride-sharing thing is a massive bubble and OP's blind enthusiasm only confirms thi…

>> WTF? Why would the mafia do fake ride bookings? Who is paying them? Sounds like a certain company is trying to pump up their numbers artificially.

I've heard this is common in markets where startups (/multi-sided platforms) dump a ton of VC money in the form of incentives and offers, in the absence strict ID verification. Even if the customer only pays $x, the driver gets paid $(x+d), and you can make the extra $d per transaction if you played both customer and supplier.