191–200 of 288 posts
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Having to pay $10 million per person is how far behind Yahoo! is at the moment.
I'd agree they're overpaying because they're behind, but let's not simplify this too much. They did not pay $30m to 3 people in exchange for them 3 people working with them.
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That was my thought exactly, this story sounded like an investor bailout.
Summly had tons of investors, who put in a grand total of $1.5 million. If they needed to be bailed out of that, they shouldn't have been investing in the first place.
I'm sure a lot of people are resentful or disgusted that a 17-year-old was acquired for $30 million. I just find it fucking hilarious. It's awesome, not in some dipshit "American Dream" sort of way, but in the "holy shit, this world is on crack" sense of it. I say, go him! The next time I am looking for work I am seriously considering getting rid of the resume and coming up with a bullshit startup name. It's pretty r…
I am going to give Yahoo the benefit of the doubt. I have a hard time believing that they'd pay $30M to gain five programmers. There's a lot more to this than we are aware of. C'mon folks, if you think the math doesn't add-up (as an acqui-hire) don't you think the folks at Yahoo can do basic arithmetic as well. I've also read a few posts on this thread saying as much as "there are no smart people at Yahoo" or "everyo…
That's a fairly standard acq-hire, actually. It's not just Yahoo that's paying over $5 million per head. It's ridiculous, when you consider that the value of an employment relationship (which can be ended by either party at any time) is set at 30-60 times the annual salary. (Just think about it: how is a relationship that lasts 4.5 years on average worth 50x salary?) As I said, either engineers are getting screwed, or acq-hires are signs of severe desperation and devastating information poverty. It seems to be both.
I've also read a few posts on this thread saying as much as "there are no smart people at Yahoo" or "everyone at Yahoo is an idiot" (paraphrasing). Coming from folks at HN I think these kinds of statements are really unbecoming. Of course there are a lot of amazing people at Yahoo. Tons of them.
I am dead sure that there are a lot of amazing engineers at Yahoo. It's just sad that the company is so calamitously bad at recognizing talent at the bottom that it has to hire external 17-year-olds. I'm sure they have plenty of great people who'd be thrilled to do an NLP/R&D project for just their regular salary.
If I were at Yahoo right now, after this acq-hire I'd write Marissa Mayer an email:
Dear Marissa,
Hi, I'm Michael O. Church. My salary is now $500,000 and I have full autonomy to
work on whatever project I want. Based on the rate you are paying for external
talent, this salary is justified. I am dead sure I will deliver more
economic value to Yahoo than I take from it, but I will choose my projects
from here on out. If that is not acceptable to you, Friday is my last day.
What this really underscores is that conventional capitalism provides little incentive for fundamental innovation. All this stuff we're gluing together is the product of state-funded research, mostly from the cold war era. DARPANet, the web (CERN), DARPA research on "augmented human intelligence," etc. Stuff like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJDv-zdhzMY (I bet you thought Xerox PARC invented that stuff, right? Or…
First: Je viens en paix. So, please, don't turn this into a mud-slinging competition. Also, because of the ambiguity that exists in the English language I should clarify that this is addressed to the general HN audience rather than to api. In other words, when I use "you" it is generally meant as the plural "you". I have a genuine problem understanding where anti-capitalism sentiment, particularly in HN, comes from.…
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Did you read the article? In paragraph 4 he specifically tells us he takes the founders age off the table.
I know that the OP did take it off the table. I'm not doing so. It's important, and here's why. I'm sure he's extremely talented. Most 17-year-olds aren't programming at all. However, this is an HR acquisition (they're shutting Summly down). What exactly does a 17-year-old have that merits a $30m hiring bonus? I'm not ragging on him, at all. I think it's great for him. He had the opportunity and took it. That's aweso…
On the other hand, I can only imagine what kind of internal HR issues these acqui-hires may create for Yahoo.
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I am going to give Yahoo the benefit of the doubt. I have a hard time believing that they'd pay $30M to gain five programmers. There's a lot more to this than we are aware of. C'mon folks, if you think the math doesn't add-up (as an acqui-hire) don't you think the folks at Yahoo can do basic arithmetic as well. I've also read a few posts on this thread saying as much as "there are no smart people at Yahoo" or "everyo…
I have a hard time believing that they'd pay $30M to gain five programmers. That's a fairly standard acq-hire, actually. It's not just Yahoo that's paying over $5 million per head. It's ridiculous, when you consider that the value of an employment relationship (which can be ended by either party at any time) is set at 30-60 times the annual salary. (Just think about it: how is a relationship that lasts 4.5 years on a…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know that the OP did take it off the table. I'm not doing so. It's important, and here's why. I'm sure he's extremely talented. Most 17-year-olds aren't programming at all. However, this is an HR acquisition (they're shutting Summly down). What exactly does a 17-year-old have that merits a $30m hiring bonus? I'm not ragging on him, at all. I think it's great for him. He had the opportunity and took it. That's aweso…
This "strange" deal actually did a few things for Yahoo: - people are talking about it (and not in a bad way, like it was with the telecommuting memo) - this may attract some fresh talent (just out of novelty; before, Yahoo was pretty much written off) - it's crazy enough, it's actually pretty energizing for the right kind of people on the inside On the other hand, I can only imagine what kind of internal HR issues t…
On the other hand, I can only imagine what kind of internal HR issues these acqui-hires may create for Yahoo.
Well, for fuck's sake yeah.
What Yahoo needs to do, and fast, is get better at discovering talent within. Apparently they have a problem with lazy people. Ok, so make it possible for a not-lazy employee to make a real dent-- important projects, self-direction, lots of autonomy. Give your best people an incentive to bring themselves out and shine. Honestly, if you give your most talented people basic support and autonomy instead of letting them get eaten alive by people they intimidate, you're doing better than 90+ percent of companies.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a hard time believing that they'd pay $30M to gain five programmers. That's a fairly standard acq-hire, actually. It's not just Yahoo that's paying over $5 million per head. It's ridiculous, when you consider that the value of an employment relationship (which can be ended by either party at any time) is set at 30-60 times the annual salary. (Just think about it: how is a relationship that lasts 4.5 years on a…
I'm looking forward to the compilation entitled "How to succeed at Yahoo".
I am seriously considering considering going into business as an "unfuck your culture" consultant. If you're at the point where you're paying $6 million per head for talent, then I'm a fucking steal at $2500 per hour [0]. Sure, I will talk your ear off for 200-400 hours over two months and bill you for almost a million, but I will solve your damn problem.
[0] That's my rate for large companies. Startups get a discount. Inquire within.
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I'm looking forward to the compilation entitled "How to succeed at Yahoo".
Well, first they'd have to acq-hire me. I'm cheaper than $30 million, though. I am seriously considering considering going into business as an "unfuck your culture" consultant. If you're at the point where you're paying $6 million per head for talent, then I'm a fucking steal at $2500 per hour [0]. Sure, I will talk your ear off for 200-400 hours over two months and bill you for almost a million, but I will solve you…