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Thank you, GitHub

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Re: Thank you, GitHub

#151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nat was originally on the Microsoft side when GitHub was acquired, not the GitHub side.

Does not change the fact that he stepped into the company he co-founded with vesting shares 3 years ago.

I still can't tell what you're alluding to. The company he founded was acquired 5 years ago, not 3.

Re: Thank you, GitHub

#152
post #60
post #11

If I read another piece of American corporate crap --- plastic, formulaic, always-be-selling --- I'm gonna throw up on my keyboard. The write-up is rife with stock phrases, and vapid emotionalism. Somewhere when the rest of us are busy there's a room somewhere where people get the cheat-sheet, fill-in-the-blank training that produces this junk. Look the guy probably had some success and met some great people. So why…

Nat is a mogul in SV. Everyone knows him, many even before GitHub. Simply walking away from GitHub without much of a speech would make it seem like he didn't care or left on bad terms, optics-wise. That would have a potentially serious effect on perception and thus shareholders would be affected. This clearly isn't his intent. I offer a contrary point of view: why does it bother you so much? Simply do not read it.

>thus shareholders would be affected

Why not just tell it like it is then? Dear shareholders, I'm leaving because I'm rich / bored with Github and not because there was a falling-out.

>why does it bother you so much? Simply do not read it.

So you're suggesting people should just not read or listen to anything that they don't like? And just keep quiet?

Re: Thank you, GitHub

#153
post #46
post #11

If I read another piece of American corporate crap --- plastic, formulaic, always-be-selling --- I'm gonna throw up on my keyboard. The write-up is rife with stock phrases, and vapid emotionalism. Somewhere when the rest of us are busy there's a room somewhere where people get the cheat-sheet, fill-in-the-blank training that produces this junk. Look the guy probably had some success and met some great people. So why…

I always wonder how much of these statements are PR driven vs PR edited... what percentage of these words actually belong to Nat vs the corporate communications team.

Sometimes I truly wonder if people can actually =talk= like that for reals. The 'blog' is practically unreadable mess, esp. given its name 'blog'.

Re: Thank you, GitHub

#154
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does not change the fact that he stepped into the company he co-founded with vesting shares 3 years ago.

Nat was not a cofounder of GitHub.

sorry my mistake, I had the idea he went full circle when were assigned as the CEO

Re: Thank you, GitHub

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is one particular corporate leader who speaks their mind and has made a tremendous impact on the world. So, it's not clear if it has anything to do with polished big-corp language. I'd rather listen to someone who is straightforward than Sundar Pichai speaking entirely in corporate-speak while saying absolutely nothing of value or substance. Completely uninspiring. All corporate speak is rather an invention of…

Ah yes Elon Musk also tweets about “TITS university”. I’m sure there’s no one that finds issue with that, but doesn’t have the power to speak against it.

There are over 7 billion people on this planet. I'm sure that for every utterance you could construct in the English language, you could find someone who "finds issue with that, but doesn’t have the power to speak against it".

Re: Thank you, GitHub

#156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nat was originally on the Microsoft side when GitHub was acquired, not the GitHub side.

Does not change the fact that he stepped into the company he co-founded with vesting shares 3 years ago.

Nat has had the privilege of working on some large projects and startups. I doubt money is something he's too concerned about at this point.

Re: Thank you, GitHub

#157
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you are a company leader, your words can have a material effect on your business. This is doubly so true at a disruptive point like leadership exits. Of course words are going to be delicately chosen? That being said I didn't notice anything particularly offensive about this letter. He describes the accomplishments under his watch, expresses gratitude for employees, and expresses confidence in his successor.

Mostly started by Google as "Do No Evil" PR, and later by Apple's creating products that “enrich people's lives.” I dont think it is this letter in particular. So may be it is not fair to criticise it. But my guess is that the accumulation of these cooperate speaks, PR, and the past 10 years of main stream media riding along these PR to new height, just happen to tricker OP this time around. And it doesn't seems to b…

This stuff easily predates Google's founding, and isn't remotely limited to tech. It's been standard "big corporation" stuff for a very long time.

Re: Thank you, GitHub

#158

If person's legacy is a list of all the good things (or bad things) they've done during their time, Nat's legacy as the CEO of GitHub can also be summed into a list. Let me get started...I only remember this one thing but other users of HN can help add more I supposed: - That one time when Nat spoke against DMCA law and said taking down youtube-dl was wrong and he actively pushed for their reinstatement. [1] [1] http…

Made Github available again in Iran [1]

[1] https://twitter.com/natfriedman/status/1346517148357648385

Re: Thank you, GitHub

#159
post #11

If I read another piece of American corporate crap --- plastic, formulaic, always-be-selling --- I'm gonna throw up on my keyboard. The write-up is rife with stock phrases, and vapid emotionalism. Somewhere when the rest of us are busy there's a room somewhere where people get the cheat-sheet, fill-in-the-blank training that produces this junk. Look the guy probably had some success and met some great people. So why…

The mind numbing boringness is entirely the point. The real message is that there’s nothing to see here, everyone is on the same page, everyone loves the successor, if you’re an investor or an employee this is definitely not an event that should make you reconsider your relationship with the company.

Re: Thank you, GitHub

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is one particular corporate leader who speaks their mind and has made a tremendous impact on the world. So, it's not clear if it has anything to do with polished big-corp language. I'd rather listen to someone who is straightforward than Sundar Pichai speaking entirely in corporate-speak while saying absolutely nothing of value or substance. Completely uninspiring. All corporate speak is rather an invention of…

Ah yes Elon Musk also tweets about “TITS university”. I’m sure there’s no one that finds issue with that, but doesn’t have the power to speak against it.

If someone finds issue with it but doesn't have the power to speak against it, then who cares that they find issue with it? If Elon was worried about making sure he didn't offend anyone, he wouldn't speak the way he does.
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