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Kevin Rose Will Join Google

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Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#231

Post by jayliew »

zerostar07 wrote: post #147
jayliew wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Customers don't care about your cool technology, they pay you to solve a real problem they have. That has always been the case. If you see a successful company with cool technology, it's because it ALSO solved a real pain the customer had. There's plenty of startups doing "cool stuff" but it doesn't solve a problem, and therefore it doesn't go anywhere.

So I'd reframe the question: it's more about solving real problems. If you can solve it with cool new innovation/code, great. I assume the goal we're talking about here is to build a for-profit business.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#232

Post by ahoyhere »

krschultz wrote: post #143
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.

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.

Body posture is more important than actual innate attractiveness. Body posture creates attractiveness.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#234

Post by Tobu »

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.

> People also get tarred with one unsuccessful project.

Kevin Rose himself would be a counterexample. If he was responsible for Digg's rise, he is also responsible for it losing its audience and relevance.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#235

Post by ahoyhere »

wavephorm wrote: post #205
temphn wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Their startups have no users and they are just scraping by because they are terrible at marketing, or at knowing what people want. Achieving a low cost-of-customer-acquisition is a real, quantifiable skill. There are basically zero hot startups that have…

Yeah well Kevin Rose's startup had a couple hundred thousand users and made $0. So what makes Kevin Rose so amazing that he deserves a bailout, while the rest of the startup world whose name isn't Kevin Rose has to do things the hard way, like grinding it out, or EARNING a job at Google, or starting another startup?

It's funny that you think that "deserve" has anything to do with it. Makes me think of "nice guys" who get passive aggressive when the girl they like doesn't want to go out with them, because they did nice things for her and they "deserve" it. But of course, that's not how it works.

This is the way the game is played. If you don't like it, play another game. Raging against how the rules aren't fair and people aren't getting what they "deserve" just smacks of denial.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#236

Post by ahoyhere »

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.

Not in the acquisitions game, and certainly not in the acquihire game.

Otherwise most startups that get bought wouldn't get bought, since most of them don't have any revenue (much less profit).

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#237

Post by ahoyhere »

wavephorm wrote: post #225
paulhauggis wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not for you to decide. Why do NBA stars get millions of dollars for being able to throw a ball in a hoop really well?

You're implying that Kevin Rose is like an NBA superstar, but his startup didn't earn a single penny and got shuttered. How is that anything like a basketball star who throws the ball in a hoop well?

NBA superstars don't get paid purely for skill, they get paid for because they bring in crowds of people and sell merchandise. That's where the money comes from.

Acquisitions are not a meritocracy. If you don't like it, go into a business where what goes on is more like a meritocracy.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#239

Post by chernevik »

sanderjd wrote: post #219
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…

Here's an idea from a non-idea-guy: do for those of us who have no clue how to approach your list of non-technical skills what Codecademy has done for those with no idea how to approach programming. Start us slow, treat us like we know nothing, but give us the chance to prove otherwise. Allow us to work on our own time, and charge us orders of magnitude less than an MBA costs. I would pay for that.

Probably not doable. Not good at this stuff myself, but at core it seems to be driven by recognition of emotional states and making emotionally intelligent responses. This sort of thing isn't beyond learning -- disciplines like art, music, sports develop the core skills, and we can all become more self-aware. But it doesn't lend itself verbally stated principles.

Re: Kevin Rose Will Join Google

#240

Post by Drbble »

pknerd wrote: post #157
glanch wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And anyone who has ever been concerned about online privacy has been operating under the assumption that it doesn't exist. Your point?

Very simple. His plate is not empty. He offered the plate which was accepted. Simple.

You think oink has some personal information google doesn't already know about a user?
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