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The Equity Equation

paulgraham.com

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Re: The Equity Equation

#91

Post by sanj »

sanj wrote: post #19
cperciva wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it's a bold statement. But if I wasn't bold, I wouldn't have started university at age 13, set three world records for calculating pi (a stunt, I admit), ranked in the top six mathematics undergraduates in North America, received a $100k+ scholarship to Oxford University (not the Rhodes, unfortunately -- their mistake), received a doctorate in computer science from said university, and become the security o…

Did you win the Putnam? If not, please don't be "bolder" than this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Vakil

Damn. I'm totally busted.

Just the once, though, huh?

Re: The Equity Equation

#92

Post by sanj »

nostrademons wrote: post #42
cperciva wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Again you're right, and I'm sorry about the attitude. Over the past year I've started to get rather defensive when people have suggested that I'm wasting my time on this project...

I get a whole lot of that (even from my family: my sister told me "So, mom and I were talking in the car, and it's great that you're doing this startup, but honestly I don't think you'll succeed.") When I gave notice today, I had to listen to my boss go on about how I was too young to start a startup (I'm 26), how he spent about 15 years after getting his Ph.D learning about business and working in the industry, how…

Great analysis.

I have a friend who (years ago) told me "Damn you're lucky! You have a horseshoe stuck up your [butt]. But you seem to work really hard for it..."

I never forgot that, and in the intervening years I've attributed the majority of my success to luck, rather than skill. Luck, however, that I work hard to create.

The reason is this: If you believe that your success is due to your own skill, you become lax. Complacent. Entitled. You've succeeded so far, so clearly you're da man and you should succeed going forward.

If, on the other hand, you ascribe it to luck, you acknowledge that there's little that you did to make it work. And so you have to keep working hard and scrambling to make the next project successful. Because your previous successes have little bearing on future performance.

Re: The Equity Equation

#93

Post by cperciva »

sanj wrote: post #91
sanj wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you win the Putnam? If not, please don't be "bolder" than this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Vakil

Damn. I'm totally busted. Just the once, though, huh?

Yes, only once. But I actually consider my first score on the Putnam (53, ranked 53.5th in North America) to be my most impressive performance on the Putnam, considering that I was only 14 years old at the time.

Re: The Equity Equation

#94

Post by palish »

cperciva wrote: post #82
pg wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Outcome" means the output of the utility function, not the input.

Then you're still wrong. I quote from the article: "For example, suppose Y Combinator offers to fund you in return for 6% of your company. In this case, n is .06 and 1/(1 - n) is 1.064. So you should take the deal if you believe we can improve your average outcome by more than 6.4%." If by "average outcome" you mean "expected value of the utility function", and assuming that my utility-of-money function is sqrt($), I…

If a man is wrong, you don't need to tell him so. Just give it a rest and let others form their own opinions.

Seriously, these issues, and a lot of other issues, are covered in "How to Win Friends and Influence People". Read it. If I could figure out a way to get you to feel like you came up with the idea to read it, I would, but I can't, so just read it.

Re: The Equity Equation

#95

Post by palish »

cperciva wrote: post #83
create_account wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since you're good at math and know something about finance, why not just get a job at a hedge fund? You'll get rich, and you won't get heckled by a bunch of startup founders.

I know something about economics, but far less about finance. :-) In any case, finance really doesn't interest me. I routinely tell Wall Street headhunters to stop bothering me because I would rather create something impressive than own something impressive. I'm not in this for the money.

Well, your demeanor is very ingrained into your personality. I doubt you can change it without a lot of effort. Even saying little things like "I routinely tell Wall Street headhunters to stop bothering me..." comes off as arrogant. Do you really not see that? Or do you just not care?

Let's put it this way: How arrogant you are perceived as can be measured by how many times you say "I".

Re: The Equity Equation

#96

Post by far33d »

cperciva wrote: post #17
ivankirigin wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Or even 90% of YC-funded-startup founders for that matter" Not to deny this, as I don't know anything about you, but... that is a very bold statement.

Of course it's a bold statement. But if I wasn't bold, I wouldn't have started university at age 13, set three world records for calculating pi (a stunt, I admit), ranked in the top six mathematics undergraduates in North America, received a $100k+ scholarship to Oxford University (not the Rhodes, unfortunately -- their mistake), received a doctorate in computer science from said university, and become the security o…

Wow. You really need to read this:

http://paulgraham.com/bronze.html

Re: The Equity Equation

#97

Post by gibsonf1 »

euccastro wrote: post #89
gibsonf1 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It looks like a great idea - except - the sucking up of bandwidth to make the first backup. I'm definitely looking for a better remote backup service for my Architecture firm, for which I currently pay far too much, but my server unfortunately is Windows SBS 2003 - whose OS I truly dislike. I am forced to do this for compatibility with my Revit BIM software unfortunately, so I guess your product won't help me.

If that would be a problem, give that first upload for free. Or is your concern about something other than cost?

As a major bandwidth user, mainly bandwidth actually. But having the first upload for free would be a great incentive.

I think it took several days to move my data to the current system remotely which was not fun. I think its just an unavoidable problem. The severity was lessened by the service calibrating the upload to occur in the middle of the night, which really did help a lot. All of the incremental uploads also are scheduled at night, which is an obvious move.

Re: The Equity Equation

#98

Post by euccastro »

gibsonf1 wrote: post #97
euccastro wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that would be a problem, give that first upload for free. Or is your concern about something other than cost?

As a major bandwidth user, mainly bandwidth actually. But having the first upload for free would be a great incentive. I think it took several days to move my data to the current system remotely which was not fun. I think its just an unavoidable problem. The severity was lessened by the service calibrating the upload to occur in the middle of the night, which really did help a lot. All of the incremental uploads also…

Hm, what about FedEx-ing a HD with the encrypted data? It might be faster/cheaper/more practical?

Edit: That's assuming cperciva has physical access to his server, rather than working with e.g., EC2, or that he has more bandwith to spare.

Re: The Equity Equation

#99

Post by pg »

cperciva wrote: post #82
pg wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Outcome" means the output of the utility function, not the input.

Then you're still wrong. I quote from the article: "For example, suppose Y Combinator offers to fund you in return for 6% of your company. In this case, n is .06 and 1/(1 - n) is 1.064. So you should take the deal if you believe we can improve your average outcome by more than 6.4%." If by "average outcome" you mean "expected value of the utility function", and assuming that my utility-of-money function is sqrt($), I…

Suppose your present hope of future utility from your startup varies linearly with the number of shares. (This is not a radical assumption; essentially all startup shareholders feel this, at least for numbers near that of shares they own.) Suppose you trade 6% of your stock in a deal that will increase your average future utility by 6.4%. You've made a straight trade of hope of future utility for future utility. We don't even have to introduce money.

Re: The Equity Equation

#100

Post by pg »

palish wrote: post #94
cperciva wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you're still wrong. I quote from the article: "For example, suppose Y Combinator offers to fund you in return for 6% of your company. In this case, n is .06 and 1/(1 - n) is 1.064. So you should take the deal if you believe we can improve your average outcome by more than 6.4%." If by "average outcome" you mean "expected value of the utility function", and assuming that my utility-of-money function is sqrt($), I…

If a man is wrong, you don't need to tell him so. Just give it a rest and let others form their own opinions. Seriously, these issues, and a lot of other issues, are covered in "How to Win Friends and Influence People". Read it. If I could figure out a way to get you to feel like you came up with the idea to read it, I would, but I can't, so just read it.

Actually, if someone is wrong about math you probably should tell him so.
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