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Dear Mark Zuckerberg

daltoncaldwell.com

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Re: Dear Mark Zuckerberg

#201

Post by grecy »

ryguytilidie wrote: post #187
grecy wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You really wouldn't be annoyed..... You're absolutely right, I would. The OP has a point. But let's be honest here, we're talking about a multi billion dollar company with thousands of employees, now traded on the stock market, so presumably aggressively trying to spin a profit. Expecting said company to be "nice" is naive at best.

So what is wrong with documenting them not being nice? I have no issue seeing this. I'm an ex-fb employee myself and I saw behavior like this constantly. I'm just amazed at how angry it seems to make people that this guy reacted angrily to a situation where most others would have done the exact same.

> So what is wrong with documenting them not being nice?

Nothing wrong with it at all. Go for it.

Let me know how that works out.

Re: Dear Mark Zuckerberg

#202

Post by grecy »

dedward wrote: post #179
grecy wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You really wouldn't be annoyed..... You're absolutely right, I would. The OP has a point. But let's be honest here, we're talking about a multi billion dollar company with thousands of employees, now traded on the stock market, so presumably aggressively trying to spin a profit. Expecting said company to be "nice" is naive at best.

It's sad that we have to assume the worst, isn't it? I expect honesty in business dealings, large or small. That doesn't preclude me from having some mean lawyers on my side to ensure I'm covered, but the up-front negotiations aren't driven by them. I'd walk out too.

> It's sad that we have to assume the worst, isn't it?

Yes, I agree that it is a sad state of affairs.

Whether you accept it or not, this is the world we've created for ourselves.

(Obviously you do accept it, as evidenced by the lawyers you mention)

Re: Dear Mark Zuckerberg

#203

Post by daltonlp »

dalton wrote: post #101
notJim wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey dalton, I've posted my thoughts in this thread, and I'm also considering writing a blog article about this, but I have one meta thing to share with you. This letter doesn't make two things clear to me: 1) what exactly it is you're upset about and 2) what you think should have happened. Because of this, people in this thread are making a lot of assumptions which are uncharitable and inaccurate, and you come across…

1) I am unhappy that I wasted my time and energy building on a platform that encouraged me to do so, and within the matter of months changed their mind. This is the same thing that makes me unhappy with what Twitter is doing to their ecosystem: http://daltoncaldwell.com/what-twitter-could-have-been 2) Once Mark Zuckerberg gave personal blessing, he shouldn't have changed his mind. I have an interesting email thread a…

Perhaps he shouldn't have changed his mind.

But he could, and he did.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.194596-Faceboo...

Re: Dear Mark Zuckerberg

#204

Post by arquebus »

I dont know much about how a venture capitalist estimates the value of a startup that has not yet marketed their product. But we all see how big name tech companies are stuck paying huge amounts to buy up competition: ie MS paying $9B for Skype, Facebook buys Instagram for $1B. Clearly Daltan wants to create value for his company that it does not yet have. The only way he can do this is by promoting himself on social media under the guise of a "this could happen to you" story.

Re: Dear Mark Zuckerberg

#205

Post by zmmmmm »

I honestly think many people have lost the real idea of what a "platform" is these days. In my mind, in it's truest sense, a platform is something stable - a rock solid base on which to build. That's why you build on it - because you can trust it, even if you turn enemies with it, the key parts you rely on aren't going to change.

So to me, Facebook never was a "platform", nor was Twitter, nor iOS. All these things are just gambles, business bets on the future based on things you hope are true. They may be good ones, profitable ones, but you were never guaranteed anything and you should be prepared to lose it all the minute your interests and your landlord's no longer coincide.

What do I consider "true" platforms? The closest are Android, Windows (not counting future versions), OSX (up until ML), in some sense the JVM and the browser. I don't know if the new versions of OSX and Windows will qualify as true platforms ... it remains to be seen how the effect of tightening controls on them plays out.

tldr; I wish we could stop calling playing in somebody else's ever changing walled garden with no guarantee of anything a "platform".

Re: Dear Mark Zuckerberg

#207

Post by digitalpython »

This is the most juvenile rant i've heard in a long time. What do you expect from FB? This is business. They wasted your time? Do you think nobody has ever wasted Mr Zuckerberg's time? They ambushed you? Do you think Mr Zuckerberg has never been ambushed? Anybody who has done anything of real value has had sh!t thrown in their face many many times. If you expect to be successful and do well you will have worse things happen to you than this. Your rant reflects very poorly on you, I for one wouldn't want to do business with someone of this attitude. Suck it up, assess your options, make strategic decisions and move forward. Stop asking for somebody to hold your hand.

Re: Dear Mark Zuckerberg

#208

Post by TheCondor »

I don't know about airing the laundry like this, it seems more and more common and there is always a lot of missing context. And you can't really undo it, but to each his own.

Am I reading this correctly that the platform ad vp has $1billion number on his head and he is a little nervous about some competition? It looks a lot like fb is on tilt, from the bot clicks to different charge for friends to see content stories it doesn't look like all is well.

Re: Dear Mark Zuckerberg

#209

Post by paulsutter »

dalton wrote: post #48

Rather than get involved with all of these threads, I'd like to clarify something. I build a product that pre-dated App Center by several months. Facebook dev relations people tested it and actively encouraged me to build it. I was assured that it was considered "good" and "helpful" as an example of using Open Graph. At an earlier point I was offered marketing help from Facebook for my launch. I am not clear why some…

You should definitely have explained this in your original article. I can absolutely understand your frustration, given their earlier encouragement. Absent this explanation, you did come off like a ... precious snowflake.

But when you dance with Godzilla, you will eventually get stepped on. Mostly by accident. There's little evidence they acted in bad faith. Big companies change their plans all the time, and they're entitled to do so absent an NDA.

Re: Dear Mark Zuckerberg

#210

Post by javajosh »

dalton wrote: post #101
notJim wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey dalton, I've posted my thoughts in this thread, and I'm also considering writing a blog article about this, but I have one meta thing to share with you. This letter doesn't make two things clear to me: 1) what exactly it is you're upset about and 2) what you think should have happened. Because of this, people in this thread are making a lot of assumptions which are uncharitable and inaccurate, and you come across…

1) I am unhappy that I wasted my time and energy building on a platform that encouraged me to do so, and within the matter of months changed their mind. This is the same thing that makes me unhappy with what Twitter is doing to their ecosystem: http://daltoncaldwell.com/what-twitter-could-have-been 2) Once Mark Zuckerberg gave personal blessing, he shouldn't have changed his mind. I have an interesting email thread a…

>I am unhappy that I wasted my time and energy building on a platform that encouraged me to do so, and within the matter of months changed their mind.

I am no fan of facebook, but it seems like they offered to compensate you for your time. In fact, it seems like that entire meeting was designed to demonstrate to them that you'd actually built something that worked so that they could buy you off.

They didn't have to do that, they could have just squashed you. In the end, I think you should have taken their offer (perhaps all in cash and then leave ASAP , as someone else suggested) and then built something else.

The key point here is that you seem to value your autonomy, and a surprisingly few people on this board seem to see that. What I'm trying to say is that there was a way for you to exit a situation that was going to deny your autonomy in such a way that it could set you up for the next thing. Who knows? Perhaps it's not too late for that.

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