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Kevin Rose Will Join Google

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Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#191

Post by xpose2000 »

m0th87 wrote: post #56
xpose2000 wrote: post #16

Sorry if this sounds harsh, and I know he has a lot of fans out there. But this guy struck gold 5 years ago with Digg. Sure, he deserves props for this. However, he's not a developer. He's an "ideas guy" as far as I can tell. As a developer, I hate these kinds of people because more often than not their ideas suck. In any case, what I am saying is that it seems like people in the industry get by based on one previous…

Alexis Ohanian isn't a developer, but he's one of the names behind reddit and hipmunk. I don't think anyone would argue he hasn't had a big role in either company's success. Clearly you can be a non-developer founder without being that "ideas guy".

Great point. I love the fact that Alexis also documented all of his start-up ideas on his blog. Interestingly only a few came to be successful.

However, if I had to bet on which one had staying power, it'd be Alexis. I have a lot of respect and admiration for him.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#192

Post by jrockway »

ohgodthecat wrote: post #23
ot wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate?

Idk jgc's opinion but personally this seems like nothing more than a PR move I mean the only thing Kevin seems to be able to do is attract buzz.

A PR move? Do you think anyone that hasn't heard of Google has heard of Kevin Rose?

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#193

Post by xpose2000 »

anigbrowl wrote: post #131
xpose2000 wrote: post #16

Sorry if this sounds harsh, and I know he has a lot of fans out there. But this guy struck gold 5 years ago with Digg. Sure, he deserves props for this. However, he's not a developer. He's an "ideas guy" as far as I can tell. As a developer, I hate these kinds of people because more often than not their ideas suck. In any case, what I am saying is that it seems like people in the industry get by based on one previous…

What could he possibly be bringing to the table with Google? Knowledge of how things fail, as much as how they are started. He's not just an ideas person, he's also a signing-the-checks person and a making-the-deals person and a catching-the-flak person. In short, a business guy. I have never liked or used Digg so I'm not carrying any water for him. But I've had that 'I do all the work and he gets all the credit' fee…

Very well said.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#194

Post by tibbon »

ootachi wrote: post #187
untog wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what you mean to say is "it's hard to get a job as a developer if you're not a good candidate".

More like "it's hard to get a job as a developer because companies' perceptions of 'good candidates' exclude everybody".

If you're actually a good developer (and easy person to get along with, not a serial murderer, etc) and in the bay area and can't find a programming gig... I don't know what you're doing wrong.

I'm not the best developer in the world, and I practically get offers in just going to bars in SF...

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#195

Post by mattdeboard »

ootachi wrote: post #170
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…

In fact, I'd say you should do more. Stop being a programmer. It's hard to get a job as a developer these days, and it'll all be outsourced to India and China soon anyway. Instead, you should go into sales and marketing.

Can you please provide some advice on how to transition from my dead-end career as a programmer into a lucrative and fulfilling future in sales or marketing?

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#196

Post by joelmaat »

grokaholic wrote: post #149
joelmaat wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

"...ego is getting bigger. That usually spells failure." Many historical counter-examples.

In his case, it seems to be making him dumber. Sloppy. He's starting to believe his BS. Doesn't matter now, but if it keeps up..

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#197

Post by codepost »

xpose2000 wrote: post #16

Sorry if this sounds harsh, and I know he has a lot of fans out there. But this guy struck gold 5 years ago with Digg. Sure, he deserves props for this. However, he's not a developer. He's an "ideas guy" as far as I can tell. As a developer, I hate these kinds of people because more often than not their ideas suck. In any case, what I am saying is that it seems like people in the industry get by based on one previous…

Lets see what could he bring to google?? He studied computer science and university and has spent basically his whole life working in the tech industry. Oink had 150,000 downloads in a month. He's probably one of the most influential people in the tech industry and he obviously knows social (which google struggles with). Plus he had an awesome team thats going with him to google. Some of the best designers and DEVELOPERS that he (again one of the most influential people in the tech industry) could get to work for him. Thats just off the top of my head.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#199

Post by robryan »

revorad wrote: post #84
wavephorm wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's jealousy and hatred, then it's not because of being jealous of success. A lot of developers work really, really hard on their startups for years bootstrapping, just scraping by, and being ignored by investors because they're not famous. And Kevin Rose comes along with a half-baked idea of posting pictures of the food you're eating to the Internet, and his "startup" that he's "really dedicated to" get's almost…

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 would be surprised if it would have got many users if it hadn't got the press it did and have the Kevin Rose name attached. Of course anyone who has this power to market is going to take full advantage of it, you would be stupid not to.

What it does though is translate into a lot of people giving the app a try, that marketing isn't going to have people continue to use something if it isn't any good. Obviously it wasn't good enough to hold peoples attention, user retention or engagement must have been bad for them to shut it down.

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