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Kevin Rose Will Join Google

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Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#141

Post by anigbrowl »

zerostar07 wrote: post #97
jayliew wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To quote pg: "A hacker who has learned what to make, and not just how to make, is extraordinarily powerful." As a developer, it is frustrating to see fellow developers place too much importance on being able to code as a necessary ingredient for startup success. As a hacker, I'd say that most hackers know how to make, but don't know what to make. That is to say, most startups from these type of hackers with the "if I…

Sometimes there may be obstacles to what you propose. Being good at networking etc. is basically a performance skill that doesn't just depend on mindset, but also on good looks, race/culture, age, sex, general likability or other external factors. This is not mentioned often, and I might be wrong but I think it is a factor, despite the fact that the startup world presents itself as the ultimate meritocracy.

I was at an academic conference earlier this month, and several of the speakers made affectionate jokes about one of the speakers - how he couldn't shut up, how he was impossibly argumentative, how he was terribly rude, and basically how he was a bit of a troll. And they were right, he was all those things, plus he looked a bit like a frog. Imagine a short frog with glasses, a thick Noo Yawk accent, and the social graces of a falling brick.

And yet he was such a persuasive and entertaining speaker than even when I thought he was dead wrong I wanted to hear more and find common ground with him. I liked him even when he was being an ass, and even in cases where I knew he was wrong (eg when he deliberately skipped over some significant issue because it undermined the argument he was making).

The things you mention help, but are by no means essential. You don't even need to believe in yourself, as long as you believe sufficiently in your idea.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#142

Post by amorphid »

waldes wrote: post #119

Good for him! I've been a fan since tech TV days. I think this board is suffering from an overdose of hateraid. Yeah Digg blew up and then sunk, but to be involved in so many sucessful businesses this guy is talented.

Agreed. I met Kevin at a launch party a couple years ago. Upon seeing him, my first thought was "Hey, it's the Dark Tipper!" I prefer to focus on someone's positive traits. The fact that Kevin still works and tries to make a difference is admirable. Even if Digg is his only big hit, that's still an impressive accomlishment.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#143

Post by krschultz »

zerostar07 wrote: post #97
jayliew wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To quote pg: "A hacker who has learned what to make, and not just how to make, is extraordinarily powerful." As a developer, it is frustrating to see fellow developers place too much importance on being able to code as a necessary ingredient for startup success. As a hacker, I'd say that most hackers know how to make, but don't know what to make. That is to say, most startups from these type of hackers with the "if I…

Sometimes there may be obstacles to what you propose. Being good at networking etc. is basically a performance skill that doesn't just depend on mindset, but also on good looks, race/culture, age, sex, general likability or other external factors. This is not mentioned often, and I might be wrong but I think it is a factor, despite the fact that the startup world presents itself as the ultimate meritocracy.

I don't think 'good looks' matter as much as 'clean looks'.

Shave. Shower. Get a haircut. Despite the 'hoodie chic' look, make sure it's a clean hoodie. Or better yet, wear something nicer. (no, not a suit, but a step up from a hoodie will help people take you seriously).

As far as general likeability goes, usually that stems from people either complaining or saying offense things.

All of that is under your control.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#145

Post by dsolomon »

Talk about Google scraping the bottom of the barrel.

"Remember, digg failed because it alienated the users, attempted to wrap too much UI around the content; limiting the consumption rate, and pandering to media channels."

Bingo. Unless users fell in lock-step with Kevin Rose's thoughts he'd institute the ban hammer.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#146

Post by ChuckMcM »

mikeryan wrote: post #135
ChuckMcM wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh. Developer angst. Very common. Specific comments on your rant: 1) "Ideas" types do well at Google, they reward people for starting new things, not so much finishing things. 2) "it seems like people in the industry get by based on one previous successful project." - works both ways, people also get tarred with one unsuccessful project. And like success depending on how hard the fail was it can be an influence on t…

People also get tarred with one unsuccessful project. This doesn't actually seem to be the case. The startup space is littered with ex-CEO's who can still raise capital. These folks are seen as battle hardened. I think all of the Color guys are going to end up fine despite that debacle.

Good point, but there are flavors of fail. There is the 'you reached to high and fell off the ladder' flavors which are generally seen as a good thing, and then there is the 'selling bungee harnesses to teenagers' flavor where people say "What exactly were you thinking would happen?"

I tried to help Ed Patterman build a Golf magazine on the web in '95 it failed because it was too early. Sony tried to create an e-reader where they charged money to put out of copyright works in PDF on to it for you to read. It failed because it was a stupid idea.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#147

Post by zerostar07 »

jayliew wrote: post #104
zerostar07 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes there may be obstacles to what you propose. Being good at networking etc. is basically a performance skill that doesn't just depend on mindset, but also on good looks, race/culture, age, sex, general likability or other external factors. This is not mentioned often, and I might be wrong but I think it is a factor, despite the fact that the startup world presents itself as the ultimate meritocracy.

People's natural tendency to associate good looks with intelligence, etc. has been documented (IIRC), but I completely disagree that it cannot be overcome if YOU decide you will "fix" it. Example: Sean Stephenson http://timetostand.com/ (see short video) Not attacking you personally - but anybody, .. anybody at all who gives me that response are basically chickening out. Consider this the opposite problem of "busines…

Yeah this is not meant to be an excuse at all. But it used to be that code/innovation mattered more than words, PR etc. Certainly the oldest tech companies were of the "build it and they will come" type. If nowadays who you hang around with matters so much, does that mean that information tech has somehow already peaked?

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#148

Post by smacktoward »

samstave wrote: post #137
joering2 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you were worth getting $1.7MM to piss away you would have had $1.7MM to piss away. So you are implying that a luck and contacts and more other things such as your experience, geolocation, etc. don't matter as long as you are worth getting $X, you will have $X to piss away. uhm, is there any website to sign up? I want to try my skills against it -- perhaps I am "worth it".

Yeah he is saying that money is the only meaningful measure of success.

And that everybody earns every penny that they really should. Nobody's ever born the wrong color or gender or nationality, or ever has bad luck that prevents them from fulfilling their potential.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#149

Post by grokaholic »

joelmaat wrote: post #118
grokaholic wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Listen to how Vic Gundotra talks about Google+ as opposed to how Zuckerberg talks about Facebook." Many similarities and differences in how they talk--which particular differences do you have in mind?

"Vic's" ego is getting bigger. That usually spells failure.

"...ego is getting bigger. That usually spells failure."

Many historical counter-examples.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#150

Post by wavephorm »

bentlegen wrote: post #140
revorad wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That half-baked idea got hundreds of thousands of users in 3 months. That is success. Just because your definition of skills is limited to writing code does not mean having connections, being good at marketing, PR or selling has no value. It's exactly the same mentality we developers hate when idea-men want to hire us as code-monkeys to implement their perfect vision. Reading stories on tech blogs does not mean you k…

I thought success was measured in dollars, not a shuttered web service.

That's exactly the issue, Kevin Rose is getting dollars for shuttering an unsuccessful web service. Why does Kevin Rose get to cash out for being a failure, simply because his name is Kevin Rose, while all the hardworking nobody engineers slave away to build successful companies without any help or millions of dollars splashing down on them for their supposed greatness which is unsupported by evidence?
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