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A Week After Google Changes Algo, Mahalo Fires 10% of Staff

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Re: A Week After Google Changes Algo, Mahalo Fires 10% of Staff

#51

I've know Jason since the web 1.0 era in silicon alley — he's always give to his larger community (and still does with his podcast) and the one thing that Jason really taught me: If you fail, dust yourself off and startup again. Mark my words that Jason will come back. I think this is a lesson that everyone in business should learn...

No doubt he'll be back. That fat, arrogant fucker is an unkillable zombie of pure douchebaggery and dishonest bullshit.

Re: A Week After Google Changes Algo, Mahalo Fires 10% of Staff

#52
post #6

"Free advice for entitled Gen Y trophy kids: if you spend 12 months at a company over and over you look like a flake." http://twitter.com/#!/Jason/status/12621363849 Or maybe it makes you look like someone who thinks they have better opportunities elsewhere.

Regardless of the source, this is actually very good advice.

Re: A Week After Google Changes Algo, Mahalo Fires 10% of Staff

#53

1. We're working with the folks impacted to place them at whatever company they would like to join. I'm personally reaching out to folks who might want these fine people. They will all wind up on their feet and be great additions to the vibrant startup scene in Los Angeles. 2. Mahalo is doing amazing videos with experts, but our (text) articles were created by passionate writers who are not necessarily experts. Googl…

>more committed than ever to the mission.

Oh my God, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth. What mission would that be? Spamming the web with contrived content related to high-value keywords, for the money?

Re: A Week After Google Changes Algo, Mahalo Fires 10% of Staff

#54
post #15
post #13

Could someone tell me more about this Jason Calacanis fellow. He seems to be a very polarizing figure on this site. Really all I know is that he seemed to have a falling out with Michael Arrington and alot of articles seem to mention him in a slightly negative light. Is there some reason for this, and no I'm not trying to troll.

You should check out some of his shows on http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-startups/ - you can get a sense of who he is from watching a few. The general consensus on HN is that he doesn't treat people well or is somehow not very "honest". Personally, I'm a big fan. I watch every episode and I generally agree with most of what he says.

Agreed. I found him annoying when I first encountered him on TWIT (wouldn't shut up about Twitter), but after viewing a few dozen episodes of TWIST would welcome him into my home like a brother.

Re: A Week After Google Changes Algo, Mahalo Fires 10% of Staff

#55
post #13

Could someone tell me more about this Jason Calacanis fellow. He seems to be a very polarizing figure on this site. Really all I know is that he seemed to have a falling out with Michael Arrington and alot of articles seem to mention him in a slightly negative light. Is there some reason for this, and no I'm not trying to troll.

No one kicks a dead dog.

Re: A Week After Google Changes Algo, Mahalo Fires 10% of Staff

#56
After weeks of criticism on Google's results being spam'ed, it was clear that Google would react on this. The algorithm change was foreseeable.

On the other side this shows the monopolistic power of Google and how they can hurt individual companies like they want.

For us as search engine users, it is time to support other search engines, for instance DuckDuckGo.

Re: A Week After Google Changes Algo, Mahalo Fires 10% of Staff

#57
post #15
post #13

Could someone tell me more about this Jason Calacanis fellow. He seems to be a very polarizing figure on this site. Really all I know is that he seemed to have a falling out with Michael Arrington and alot of articles seem to mention him in a slightly negative light. Is there some reason for this, and no I'm not trying to troll.

You should check out some of his shows on http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-startups/ - you can get a sense of who he is from watching a few. The general consensus on HN is that he doesn't treat people well or is somehow not very "honest". Personally, I'm a big fan. I watch every episode and I generally agree with most of what he says.

Judging by the positive sentiment in these comments for TWIST and Launch - and AOL's acquisition of TechCrunch (Read: Once MA jumps, they won't be able to sustain content and traffic) - there may be a lot of good opportunities ahead for JC.

Re: A Week After Google Changes Algo, Mahalo Fires 10% of Staff

#58
post #47

1. We're working with the folks impacted to place them at whatever company they would like to join. I'm personally reaching out to folks who might want these fine people. They will all wind up on their feet and be great additions to the vibrant startup scene in Los Angeles. 2. Mahalo is doing amazing videos with experts, but our (text) articles were created by passionate writers who are not necessarily experts. Googl…

You like brutal honesty and you put yourself out there, so I think it's fair to ask you. Why don't you leave your role at Mahalo and do what you're the absolute best at? (TWiST, LAUNCH Conf, TC competitor)? Plenty of people can do a video eHow, but almost no one else could rival TC. It seems like a pride/ego/money thing from the outside. Is it something else?

It's his company. I guess he wants to keep it going himself.

Re: A Week After Google Changes Algo, Mahalo Fires 10% of Staff

#59
post #6

"Free advice for entitled Gen Y trophy kids: if you spend 12 months at a company over and over you look like a flake." http://twitter.com/#!/Jason/status/12621363849 Or maybe it makes you look like someone who thinks they have better opportunities elsewhere.

Regardless of the source, this is actually very good advice.

I guess I'm a flake - hey, what can I say; I get bored easily and feel the need to switch projects often, especially when the project enters maintenance mode.

I also have a free advice to entrepreneurs - since I'm working remotely as I don't live in the US, I have to be much better / work much harder than US developers, just so I can take home barely the minimum U.S. salary in this industry. I also don't get any equity. When that attitude changes, maybe I'll start giving a shit.

Re: A Week After Google Changes Algo, Mahalo Fires 10% of Staff

#60
post #47

1. We're working with the folks impacted to place them at whatever company they would like to join. I'm personally reaching out to folks who might want these fine people. They will all wind up on their feet and be great additions to the vibrant startup scene in Los Angeles. 2. Mahalo is doing amazing videos with experts, but our (text) articles were created by passionate writers who are not necessarily experts. Googl…

You like brutal honesty and you put yourself out there, so I think it's fair to ask you. Why don't you leave your role at Mahalo and do what you're the absolute best at? (TWiST, LAUNCH Conf, TC competitor)? Plenty of people can do a video eHow, but almost no one else could rival TC. It seems like a pride/ego/money thing from the outside. Is it something else?

Well, I really believe in the mission to build a site that helps people learn anything... and I believed in human-powered search before that (and still do to be honest).

I've got the education bug, and I want to take the promise we all see in things like Lynda.com and Kahn Academy and scale it into a brand as big as Google or Wikipedia.

LAUNCH, Angel investing and This Week in Startups are all fun, but they are not as challenging as MAHALO.

Also, keep in mind that Mahalo is a top 200/300 site with millions in revenue even with this hit. It's the most successful thing I've done.... despite the hits we've taken.

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