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Salesforce Buys Heroku (YC W08) For $212 Million In Cash

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Re: Salesforce Buys Heroku (YC W08) For $212 Million In Cash

#191

Post by axod »

justinchen wrote: post #175
axod wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whilst Amazon cloud, Heroku etc may be hot for startups who don't really mind about throwing money away, I don't think that will last. Both are significantly, prohibitively expensive for companies interested in turning a profit or having a business model. It's more like "VC funded companies throw money at hosting at the moment".

We use Amazon EC2 via EngineYard and we're a profitable bootstrapped company that's been around for 5 years.

Image how much more profitable you could be if you got a dedicated server or 10.

Re: Salesforce Buys Heroku (YC W08) For $212 Million In Cash

#193

Post by pmorelli »

synnik wrote: post #92
Nrsolis wrote: post #52

I interviewed with Salesforce and I have to tell you that I found their culture a bit ....weird. It's something I couldn't put my finger on but I just had the feeling that they were all in some sort of cult or something. I didn't get the job. Probably a good thing.

We got the same impression when evaluating them for our enterprise. 98% of their sales pitch made them sound very sharp, and their technology is impressive. But that last 2% made us scratch our heads and say, "Really?" Stuff like telling us that they cannot possibly break our apps when they push new code to the underlying platforms, that we have no need for backups because version control will suffice, etc. These thi…

as part of engineering at sfdc, I promise you we think very deeply about backups, DR and edge cases, as well as backwards compatibility, and not breaking your code/apis.

I'd like to think we have a good track record. not perfect, of course, but don't believe everything the sales dudes say. ;o)

Re: Salesforce Buys Heroku (YC W08) For $212 Million In Cash

#194

Post by kingsley_20 »

pmorelli wrote: post #193
synnik wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We got the same impression when evaluating them for our enterprise. 98% of their sales pitch made them sound very sharp, and their technology is impressive. But that last 2% made us scratch our heads and say, "Really?" Stuff like telling us that they cannot possibly break our apps when they push new code to the underlying platforms, that we have no need for backups because version control will suffice, etc. These thi…

as part of engineering at sfdc, I promise you we think very deeply about backups, DR and edge cases, as well as backwards compatibility, and not breaking your code/apis. I'd like to think we have a good track record. not perfect, of course, but don't believe everything the sales dudes say. ;o)

Have to second Peter here (hi Peter:). I used to work there, and the only weird thing for me was that they were slow to get the social web for a bunch really smart technologists. It's the enterprise DNA I suppose, but that was the only thing that didn't sit well with me. Otherwise, solid company, great people.

Re: Salesforce Buys Heroku (YC W08) For $212 Million In Cash

#195

Post by Nrsolis »

puredemo wrote: post #173
Nrsolis wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wasn't that. The office in the area I was looking at was SMALL. That wasn't so much an issue but the vibe of the place was almost like a library.

I actually might enjoy that. I don't particularly dig companies who try to force everything to be "social" inside the office. There is a time for that, sure, but getting peace and quiet to get in the hacking mindset is more important to me.

I dunno. I enjoy a collaborative work environment.

I was sufficiently spooked by their environment that I choked on a little practical exam they had set up as part of the interview process.

Anyhow...I didn't get THAT job, but I did get a BETTER one. More money, more autonomy, more interesting work.

:)

Re: Salesforce Buys Heroku (YC W08) For $212 Million In Cash

#196

Post by jasongullickson »

alain94040 wrote: post #150
tamersalama wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are these the only 2 outcomes? Why not grow a business?

Even if they grow, eventually they'll be too big to remain the "friendly cool kid next door." With 20,000 employees, it's just not the same. Either way, you can't expect a founder to stick around for 30 years with the same company and product. It takes a Steve Jobs to keep things interesting over decades.

I think you just nailed why so many modern companies suck.

100 years ago you put your name on the company and treated it's performance as your personal reputation (for better or for worse). Today the most common "strategy" is to build something just good enough that you can attract enough customers to generate a revenue stream that is interesting to someone else, and then wash your hands of it.

This punishes everyone who was willing to suffer with you while you worked out the kinks.

I'm sorry but the whole thing just seems too "deadbeat dad" to me.

Re: Salesforce Buys Heroku (YC W08) For $212 Million In Cash

#197

Post by jasongullickson »

jcapote wrote: post #151
ry0ohki wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Partly because of the changing pace of technology. A watch company could be pretty sure 100 years ago that watches would still be around in 20 years, sure the technology might need to be updated but not dramatically. You think anyone will even use Heroku in 5 years? There is a new language and technology every month now that gets hype, it's unlikely something like this will continue to grow for the long term.

I'm sorry but that's a bullshit notion. Why is anyone still using PHP today? or Java? Just cause something new comes out, it doesn't automatically displace the old. I think paperback's are more likely to go away before the last rails app is written.

Agreed. Also, why does a company have to be tied to one bit of technology?

We hear a lot that being a good programmer/designer/etc. isn't language-specific but that it is a skill-set that transcends technical knowledge. Why isn't this the same for companies and products?

Re: Salesforce Buys Heroku (YC W08) For $212 Million In Cash

#198

Post by synnik »

pmorelli wrote: post #193
synnik wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We got the same impression when evaluating them for our enterprise. 98% of their sales pitch made them sound very sharp, and their technology is impressive. But that last 2% made us scratch our heads and say, "Really?" Stuff like telling us that they cannot possibly break our apps when they push new code to the underlying platforms, that we have no need for backups because version control will suffice, etc. These thi…

as part of engineering at sfdc, I promise you we think very deeply about backups, DR and edge cases, as well as backwards compatibility, and not breaking your code/apis. I'd like to think we have a good track record. not perfect, of course, but don't believe everything the sales dudes say. ;o)

Ah, yes, the sales guys -- the guy who visited us seemed very sharp, and we did get a good impression, overall. But he was dismissive of our DR/business continuity questions, and it raised a number of eyebrows, hence leaving us with the impression above...

I have no trouble believing that this is more of a perception issue than a technical issue.

Re: Salesforce Buys Heroku (YC W08) For $212 Million In Cash

#199

Post by puredemo »

Nrsolis wrote: post #195
puredemo wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually might enjoy that. I don't particularly dig companies who try to force everything to be "social" inside the office. There is a time for that, sure, but getting peace and quiet to get in the hacking mindset is more important to me.

I dunno. I enjoy a collaborative work environment. I was sufficiently spooked by their environment that I choked on a little practical exam they had set up as part of the interview process. Anyhow...I didn't get THAT job, but I did get a BETTER one. More money, more autonomy, more interesting work. :)

Yeah, I think it tends to be a difference between introverted / extroverted personalities.

I also have somewhat severe ADD; open office layouts are fairly negatively impacting to my productivity.

Re: Salesforce Buys Heroku (YC W08) For $212 Million In Cash

#200

Post by justinchen »

axod wrote: post #191
justinchen wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We use Amazon EC2 via EngineYard and we're a profitable bootstrapped company that's been around for 5 years.

Image how much more profitable you could be if you got a dedicated server or 10.

The trade-off isn't worth it. There's 2 of us full-time and we'd much rather pay the EngineYard and EC2 premiums if that means not having to spend any time dealing with hardware or even sys-admin activities. The extra time lets us focus on the business and have more stress-free lives.
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