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Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

techcrunch.com

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Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#141

Post by opportune »

vkou wrote: post #131
xraystyle wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem here is that Evan isn't Steve Jobs so much as he's just cargo-culting Steve Jobs without really understanding why Jobs was successful. Steve was able to see untapped markets, holes that could be filled by new products, completely different ways of doing things. Most of Apple's biggest successes were had by coming up with something completely new and novel, not by ignoring user feedback when iterating on a…

The iPhone was new and novel in what way, exactly? It was an iterative improvement on the Blackberry.

The UI experience was completely unparalleled at the time

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#142

Post by joering2 »

mindgam3 wrote: post #80

Give credit where credit is due. Spiegel is digging deep, showing humility, and asking the right questions after Snap has been flailing for a long time. The crux of the issue is that they haven't launched anything fundamentally innovative and game-changing since the original Snapchat, which went insanely viral in the teen demographic. In this sense they are following a similar path as Bebo, where I worked before they…

Snap was first? We forgetting Google Glasses I guess.

Google tried but clearly market maturity is not there yet. Doubt it will be 2019. We need to squeeze more into chips before a regular-size glasses will be available with AR built in.

Also personally I doubt it will be iPhone of AR. Too many companies are working on it and probably will come up to light at the similar time. It will be more like cruise control that so many car makers basically invented at the same time.

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#143

Post by airstrike »

opportune wrote: post #140
grkvlt wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard various 'arguments' that the US is not a democracy, but not based on the fact that one person-one vote is untrue; what do you mean by this? Is it something to do with the electoral college system, or perhaps the large class of disenfranchised persons?

Short answer: the US has two senators for each state, some states have much more population than others, so proportionally a vote in Wyoming counts "more" than a vote in California. This has direct effects in the legislative branch (the Senate) and indirect effects in presidential elections (electoral college) and thus also indirectly in the Supreme Court (nomination + approval).

Well, the US also has the House of Representatives where representation is proportional.

A bicameral congress most certainly does not disqualify the entire system from being considered a democracy.

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#144

Post by [deleted] »

xraystyle wrote: post #130
everdev wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's multiple legends of CEOs famously shunning the rational advice of their team and charging down a path they believe in. You're a genius if it works out (ie. Steve Jobs) and second guessed if it doesn't.

The problem here is that Evan isn't Steve Jobs so much as he's just cargo-culting Steve Jobs without really understanding why Jobs was successful. Steve was able to see untapped markets, holes that could be filled by new products, completely different ways of doing things. Most of Apple's biggest successes were had by coming up with something completely new and novel, not by ignoring user feedback when iterating on a…

[deleted]

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#145

Post by jeffgreco »

joering2 wrote: post #142
mindgam3 wrote: post #80

Give credit where credit is due. Spiegel is digging deep, showing humility, and asking the right questions after Snap has been flailing for a long time. The crux of the issue is that they haven't launched anything fundamentally innovative and game-changing since the original Snapchat, which went insanely viral in the teen demographic. In this sense they are following a similar path as Bebo, where I worked before they…

Snap was first? We forgetting Google Glasses I guess. Google tried but clearly market maturity is not there yet. Doubt it will be 2019. We need to squeeze more into chips before a regular-size glasses will be available with AR built in. Also personally I doubt it will be iPhone of AR. Too many companies are working on it and probably will come up to light at the similar time. It will be more like cruise control that…

I don't think we can consider Google's $1500 "explorer edition" Glass as a consumer product.

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#146

Post by mindgam3 »

joering2 wrote: post #142
mindgam3 wrote: post #80

Give credit where credit is due. Spiegel is digging deep, showing humility, and asking the right questions after Snap has been flailing for a long time. The crux of the issue is that they haven't launched anything fundamentally innovative and game-changing since the original Snapchat, which went insanely viral in the teen demographic. In this sense they are following a similar path as Bebo, where I worked before they…

Snap was first? We forgetting Google Glasses I guess. Google tried but clearly market maturity is not there yet. Doubt it will be 2019. We need to squeeze more into chips before a regular-size glasses will be available with AR built in. Also personally I doubt it will be iPhone of AR. Too many companies are working on it and probably will come up to light at the similar time. It will be more like cruise control that…

Correction: first to put camera on glasses with enough fashion sense not to spawn a brand new word to describe just how much their owners looked like Borg assholes. I’m referring of course to “glasshole.”

All signs point to Apple launching their glasses in 2019 or maybe 2020 if they slip. I don’t have insider info at Apple but if you look at the rate they are hoovering up AR companies it’s clear they’re prepping for a big move. If they don’t launch by 2019 somebody else will steal their thunder with the first consumer smartglasses that don’t totally suck, most likely a fast moving startup with a killer niche product.

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#147

Post by bearmcbearsly »

sireat wrote: post #95
asmithmd1 wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> then the board should absolutely give him the boot in the next 24 months. Very funny, Snapchat has two classes of stock and he owns enough of the kind that matters that no one can oust him. I looked through the S-1 when they were going public and decided owning the shares they were selling to the public was the equivalent of a "board observer" seat. You are free to watch him run his company, but it is still his com…

The sad thing is that it applies to many other companies these days, most notably Facebook, Google et al. Why do people buy common shares which give them no voting rights as a shareholder? Sure while company is minting money (or debt and marketshare) you can find a greater fool to offload your shares. However when things turn the Zynga way, what recourse do you have with these no vote shares? At least Bond holders an…

> Why do people buy common shares which give them no voting rights as a shareholder?

Because they trust the founders to protect the long-term interests of the company more than activist investors trying to maximize short-term profit?

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#148

Post by mindgam3 »

jeffgreco wrote: post #145
joering2 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Snap was first? We forgetting Google Glasses I guess. Google tried but clearly market maturity is not there yet. Doubt it will be 2019. We need to squeeze more into chips before a regular-size glasses will be available with AR built in. Also personally I doubt it will be iPhone of AR. Too many companies are working on it and probably will come up to light at the similar time. It will be more like cruise control that…

I don't think we can consider Google's $1500 "explorer edition" Glass as a consumer product.

It was borderline. But they were clearly supposed to be the precursor to wider scale consumer glasses. Google would never have committed that much time and money if it was originally intended to be an enterprise product.

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#149

Post by Blackthorn »

grkvlt wrote: post #138
Blackthorn wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, in an actual democracy you'd have one person being worth one vote. That certainly doesn't exist where I live (USA), and it doesn't exist with corporate voting shares either (where money = votes), so that analogy is pretty much bunk at the start.

I've heard various 'arguments' that the US is not a democracy, but not based on the fact that one person-one vote is untrue; what do you mean by this? Is it something to do with the electoral college system, or perhaps the large class of disenfranchised persons?

Here's an example. There are 600,000 people in Wyoming. They have 2 senators.

There are 700,000 people in Washington DC. They have zero senators. There are over 3 million people in Puerto Rico. They also have zero senators.

Re: Snapchat CEO’s leaked memo on survival

#150

Post by jiveturkey »

dwaltrip wrote: post #82
jsonne wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your experience is similar to mine. I'm a marketing consultant so I get to work with a lot of different teams. People that either over-rely on Founder vision AND people that overly rely on data tend to not do well. It's why I've stopped saying data-driven and now say data informed. The best teams have a solid vision, but let the data guide the specific implementation of said vision. You need a healthy mix of both.

I really like "data-informed" as an alternative to "data-driven". I'm going to copy that! It is important to honestly acknowledge the limitations of the data.

me too
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