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Founding a startup with zero revenue is better than working for Goldman Sachs

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Re: Founding a startup with zero revenue is better than working for Goldman Sachs

#31

So. This is funny. I actually work at Goldman, work in the system he talks about, and have been doing so for 5 years. You can get numbed by the experience of working here, but you don't have to be. I've become friendly with some of the best hackers I know, and for us, finance always takes a backseat to writing amazing code. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we fail, but we try to never say, "Meh. Good enough." Wall Str…

Anything that takes up half of your waking hours shouldn't be "just" anything.

Re: Founding a startup with zero revenue is better than working for Goldman Sachs

#32

So. This is funny. I actually work at Goldman, work in the system he talks about, and have been doing so for 5 years. You can get numbed by the experience of working here, but you don't have to be. I've become friendly with some of the best hackers I know, and for us, finance always takes a backseat to writing amazing code. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we fail, but we try to never say, "Meh. Good enough." Wall Str…

I'd prefer working where I don't need to detach. That's an option too.

Re: Founding a startup with zero revenue is better than working for Goldman Sachs

#33

So. This is funny. I actually work at Goldman, work in the system he talks about, and have been doing so for 5 years. You can get numbed by the experience of working here, but you don't have to be. I've become friendly with some of the best hackers I know, and for us, finance always takes a backseat to writing amazing code. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we fail, but we try to never say, "Meh. Good enough." Wall Str…

My understanding is GS is company that wants to "beat the market" meaning someone else in the market is loosing. And Google's goal is to make the worlds information available to everyone and show them ads. Google seems more like a everyone wins company.

for every dollar of ads google sells, that's a dollar their competitors don't get. they are as cut throat as anybody else, they just do a better job of making computer people feel good about it. ask their sales department if they're an "everyone wins" company.

Re: Founding a startup with zero revenue is better than working for Goldman Sachs

#35
post #14

> with the attention span of an ADHD kid hopped up on meth and Jolly Ranchers Well, I'm very disappointed to find this. 1. One of the more common (and certainly well-known) medications for ADHD is Ritalin, which is methylphenidate. It's mildly related to meth. The long story short is that giving meth to someone with ADHD would not cause them to be able to focus less ; rather, to be able to focus more . 2. Studies hav…

It was just a passing comparison. He didn't mean to offend or disparage anyone, chill out. Its the same thing as saying, "the 800 pound guerrilla." Sure, most guerrillas are nowhere near 800 pounds and may take offence to us calling them heavy. But thats not the point at all.

Most guerrillas are not apes, either. (guerrilla war vs. gorilla ape)

Re: Founding a startup with zero revenue is better than working for Goldman Sachs

#36

So. This is funny. I actually work at Goldman, work in the system he talks about, and have been doing so for 5 years. You can get numbed by the experience of working here, but you don't have to be. I've become friendly with some of the best hackers I know, and for us, finance always takes a backseat to writing amazing code. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we fail, but we try to never say, "Meh. Good enough." Wall Str…

My understanding is GS is company that wants to "beat the market" meaning someone else in the market is loosing. And Google's goal is to make the worlds information available to everyone and show them ads. Google seems more like a everyone wins company.

The following is from a talk at the New York Public Library.

ERIC SCHMIDT: But in fairness to those people[finance people], had they come to Silicon Valley in 1999 they would have received a far greater payoff during our little bubble. So who are we to criticize the Wall Street folks for having their bubble? It was just a bigger bubble.

WALTER ISAACSON: Do you think though that Google creates something that’s more real than somebody on Wall Street creating a financial instrument?

ERIC SCHMIDT: To be honest, not really. When I walked into the company, I said, “People pay you for this thing, these little ads?”

http://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/events/live_2009_11_...

Re: Founding a startup with zero revenue is better than working for Goldman Sachs

#38

> with the attention span of an ADHD kid hopped up on meth and Jolly Ranchers Well, I'm very disappointed to find this. 1. One of the more common (and certainly well-known) medications for ADHD is Ritalin, which is methylphenidate. It's mildly related to meth. The long story short is that giving meth to someone with ADHD would not cause them to be able to focus less ; rather, to be able to focus more . 2. Studies hav…

I hope the author visits here and is educated on his misinformed analogy.

Re: Founding a startup with zero revenue is better than working for Goldman Sachs

#39

So. This is funny. I actually work at Goldman, work in the system he talks about, and have been doing so for 5 years. You can get numbed by the experience of working here, but you don't have to be. I've become friendly with some of the best hackers I know, and for us, finance always takes a backseat to writing amazing code. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we fail, but we try to never say, "Meh. Good enough." Wall Str…

My understanding is GS is company that wants to "beat the market" meaning someone else in the market is loosing. And Google's goal is to make the worlds information available to everyone and show them ads. Google seems more like a everyone wins company.

Everyone wants to "beat the market." For every dollar McDonalds gets, Burger King is not. For every dollar Microsoft gets, Apple is not. There are no group hugs unless you work for a non-profit (and even then, for every dollar your non-profit gets, some other, equally deserving non-profit is not).

Re: Founding a startup with zero revenue is better than working for Goldman Sachs

#40
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give him a break and substitute cracked out for hopped up on meth. I also would guess the medical dose of ritalin is anywhere near the recreational meth dosage, but I don't know. What studies show that sugar doesn't cause hyperactivity in children? Anecdotal evidence and extensive field work with my brother's kids has shown me otherwise. You feed them a ton of sugar at the carnival and they go wild and then crash a f…

A quick search found this: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=52... As far as "giving him a break" - why doesn't he give me a break and not perpetuate inaccurate and hurtful stereotypes?

Sure, it was uninformed, but I honestly don't see how that was a hurtful stereotype. He wasn't implying that everybody with ADHD loves meth and Jolly Ranchers. How is the misconception that meth decreases attention span a hurtful stereotype against those with ADHD? I just don't see it.
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