Jeff Lawson steps down as CEO of Twilio • Hacker News Board

Re: Jeff Lawson steps down as CEO of Twilio

#261

Post by LewisVerstappen » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 12:18 AM UTC

Phurist wrote: post #240

LewisVerstappen wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I tried to create a Twilio account 2 weeks ago and it was the worse developer experience I've ever had by far . Like seriously. They first make you deposit $20 to get started. THEN, they tell you to talk to customer support to activate your account (customer support took forever to reply). Oh and then I had to fill out like 3 applications and my text messages are still randomly getting blocked - I have n…

You have to thanks the abusers and scammers for that. All nice things have to be locked down :(

okay but if I only need to text ONE phone number (and I can prove ownership over that phone number), then why so many restrictions?

There should be an easier way to just test out the API.

Re: Jeff Lawson steps down as CEO of Twilio

#262

Post by dools » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 12:25 AM UTC

1tao wrote: post #234

dools wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

QE and ZIRP are deflationary policies because they reduce the amount of interest payments (which are no different from any other transfer payment) paid by the government.

as a first order effect, sure. but do you agree they have resulted in the inflation which causes our debt-burden/GDP to rise?

No I don’t, there was potentially some inflation due to fiscal stimulus but mostly due to supply chain issues. The continuing inflation is caused by interest rate increases, ie. the interest rate sets the inflation rate.

Re: Jeff Lawson steps down as CEO of Twilio

#263

Post by dragonwriter » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 12:30 AM UTC

dools wrote: post #204

acchow wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wanna build a video game that teaches developers how to code and use Twilio? Let's try it! Wanna build an AI application with Tony Hawk and have Tony Hawk debug the code live on stage? Sure! These are the strange effects of ZIRP and infinite QE. Many companies never had to care at all about profit and could just do things "for fun", and still see valuations skyrocket as long as they hired more people. What a time.

QE and ZIRP are deflationary policies because they reduce the amount of interest payments (which are no different from any other transfer payment) paid by the government.

> QE and ZIRP are deflationary policies

No, they are inflationary policies; fear of deflation was one of the factors motivating them.

> because they reduce the amount of interest payments (which are no different

That's...mostly irrelevant. Yes, government interest payments would be inflationary because some of them go back into the domestic economy, but flooding the domestic economy with money through loose monetary policy is not net deflationary; the reduction in money pumped into the economy in interest payments is far less than the amount of money that is pumped into the economy to effect that reduction.

Re: Jeff Lawson steps down as CEO of Twilio

#264

Post by dragonwriter » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 12:32 AM UTC

dools wrote: post #262

1tao wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

as a first order effect, sure. but do you agree they have resulted in the inflation which causes our debt-burden/GDP to rise?

No I don’t, there was potentially some inflation due to fiscal stimulus but mostly due to supply chain issues. The continuing inflation is caused by interest rate increases, ie. the interest rate sets the inflation rate.

If nothing else, your argument that monetary policy levers work exactly the opposite way that conventional economics says they do is amusing.

Re: Jeff Lawson steps down as CEO of Twilio

#265

Post by itinerantwarble » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 1:00 AM UTC

LewisVerstappen wrote: post #208

shakes wrote: post #38

I worked at Twilio for nearly 10 years and it's hard to overstate what a gift it was to work there and see Jeff operate as CEO up-close. He created an environment where (at our best) we could have fun doing work that had a real impact, and we could it with people we enjoyed doing the work with. He pushed us to be creative to authentically empower and inspire developers. Wanna build a video game that teaches developer…

Interesting. I tried to create a Twilio account 2 weeks ago and it was the worse developer experience I've ever had by far . Like seriously. They first make you deposit $20 to get started. THEN, they tell you to talk to customer support to activate your account (customer support took forever to reply). Oh and then I had to fill out like 3 applications and my text messages are still randomly getting blocked - I have n…

This is industry self-regulation. See A2P 10DLC. Dealing with it at scale has sucked. If you want to send SMS, it's the price of admission everywhere--not just at Twilio. I know you said you wanted to send yourself an SMS, but you can test without sending using test credentials and magic numbers: https://www.twilio.com/docs/messaging/tutorials/automate-tes...

Re: Jeff Lawson steps down as CEO of Twilio

#266

Post by rakkhi » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 1:07 AM UTC

shakes wrote: post #38

I worked at Twilio for nearly 10 years and it's hard to overstate what a gift it was to work there and see Jeff operate as CEO up-close. He created an environment where (at our best) we could have fun doing work that had a real impact, and we could it with people we enjoyed doing the work with. He pushed us to be creative to authentically empower and inspire developers. Wanna build a video game that teaches developer…

Interesting examples, sounds like a great developer playground but not so much on achieving shareholder objectives? Maybe another reason he was fired?

Re: Jeff Lawson steps down as CEO of Twilio

#267

Post by Aeolun » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 1:32 AM UTC

kwindla wrote: post #255

Aeolun wrote: post #23

They recently cancelled their video offering and recommend we move to zoom. Maybe the ship is sinking?

I have a dog in this fight, but strongly recommend that you do not move to [the] Zoom [Video SDK]. tldr: architecture that doesn't work for web apps, performance issues, missing features https://www.daily.co/blog/zoom-web-sdk-technical-notes/

I’d much prefer not moving at all, even if the Twilio product never changes, but unfortunately that’s not an option.

Re: Jeff Lawson steps down as CEO of Twilio

#268

Post by radiojosh » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 1:50 AM UTC

rakkhi wrote: post #266

shakes wrote: post #38

I worked at Twilio for nearly 10 years and it's hard to overstate what a gift it was to work there and see Jeff operate as CEO up-close. He created an environment where (at our best) we could have fun doing work that had a real impact, and we could it with people we enjoyed doing the work with. He pushed us to be creative to authentically empower and inspire developers. Wanna build a video game that teaches developer…

Interesting examples, sounds like a great developer playground but not so much on achieving shareholder objectives? Maybe another reason he was fired?

Probably as good at delivering shareholder value as anyone. Probably just didn't want to play ball when investors started asking him to strip out all the value to the customer and put the screws to the employees and purge anything and everything that might be mistaken for humanity and goodness. They love to do that shit and then pretend their new hollowed out strip mine is "lean".

Re: Jeff Lawson steps down as CEO of Twilio

#269

Post by dools » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 2:06 AM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #264

dools wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No I don’t, there was potentially some inflation due to fiscal stimulus but mostly due to supply chain issues. The continuing inflation is caused by interest rate increases, ie. the interest rate sets the inflation rate.

If nothing else, your argument that monetary policy levers work exactly the opposite way that conventional economics says they do is amusing.

Even more amusing is that I’m right!

Re: Jeff Lawson steps down as CEO of Twilio

#270

Post by dools » Tue, Jan 09, 2024, 2:09 AM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #263

dools wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

QE and ZIRP are deflationary policies because they reduce the amount of interest payments (which are no different from any other transfer payment) paid by the government.

> QE and ZIRP are deflationary policies No, they are inflationary policies; fear of deflation was one of the factors motivating them. > because they reduce the amount of interest payments (which are no different That's...mostly irrelevant. Yes, government interest payments would be inflationary because some of them go back into the domestic economy, but flooding the domestic economy with money through loose monetary…

QE simply swaps one form of government liability (treasuries) for another (reserves).

They pay less interest on reserves.

The effect on the economy of banks holding reserves rather than securities is otherwise negligible because both securities and reserves can be used to satisfy any liquidity requirements, so reserves and securities are functionally identical.

That’s why it’s so dumb that people get in a flap over the idea of the Treasury issuing reserves “out of thin air” but they are fine with the Tresury issuing new securities “out of thin air”.

They’re more or less the same operation.