“Facebook turned me down” (2009) • Hacker News Board

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#41

Post by ghshephard » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:32 AM UTC

datawander wrote: post #40

NYTimes actually pointed out another curiously-related Tweet [0] from the other co-founder, Jan Koum: "totally agree with Vinod Khosla. people starting companies for a quick sale are a disgrace to the valley... 3:47 AM - 17 Jul 2012" [0] https://twitter.com/jankoum/statuses/225134737285578752 edit : I am not criticizing Jan at all and would gladly do the same given the same position.

Whatsapp may be many things, but one thing it isn't is a "quick sale" - it's something of lasting and useful value. I'm willing to wager 5 years from now, Whatsapp will still have a significant portion of the world's messaging traffic.

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#42

Post by gojomo » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:36 AM UTC

Note that per Forbes [1], Brian Acton was Yahoo employee #44.

So it's not like Facebook (or Twitter) was overlooking a diamond-in-the-rough. More likely, it was some other key-role/compensation/fit mismatch.

[1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/02/19/exclusive-...

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#43

Post by Untit1ed » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:39 AM UTC

If success is the best revenge, this guy is god-tier.

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#44

Post by datawander » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:41 AM UTC

ghshephard wrote: post #41

datawander wrote: post #40

NYTimes actually pointed out another curiously-related Tweet [0] from the other co-founder, Jan Koum: "totally agree with Vinod Khosla. people starting companies for a quick sale are a disgrace to the valley... 3:47 AM - 17 Jul 2012" [0] https://twitter.com/jankoum/statuses/225134737285578752 edit : I am not criticizing Jan at all and would gladly do the same given the same position.

Whatsapp may be many things, but one thing it isn't is a "quick sale" - it's something of lasting and useful value. I'm willing to wager 5 years from now, Whatsapp will still have a significant portion of the world's messaging traffic.

Wasn't criticizing the sale at all (edited to clarify tone), just found it interestingly related.

I use it myself, but not sure about the 5 years wager. One of the main reasons quite a few people I know use it is precisely because it wasn't Facebook. My bet is FB guts it and tries to {force, gently-push} everyone to switch to their well-designed app. But the FB app is probably too bandwidth-hungry for most WhatsApp users.

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#45

Post by vagarwa » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:43 AM UTC

Well he turned Surfmark down and decided to follow his gut :) (Some 'gut' that was!) https://twitter.com/brianacton/status/1997180708

And I have 'immortalized' this using...surfmark http://www.surfmark.com/viewsm/GzFRmNKFeUqCGZBiZRzChw#page1

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#46

Post by scep12 » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:45 AM UTC

technotony wrote: post #37

scep12 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Better to let the market sift out the successful founders than to payroll a hundred of them, hoping for a big win. Sorry, I can't help myself, but at a salary of $160k a year, payrolling "a hundred of them" per year would only cost 1/10th of what FB just paid for whatsapp. It's too bad companies like FB and Twitter would rather let the 'founder' types slip by than to take more chances. When Facebook last tried to r…

I think you mean 1/1000th of what FB just paid... seems like it would be a good investment to me!

I meant to write 1/100th - still a mental math fail!

Stated in a different way - Facebook could have paid 1,000 teams of 10 (founders + engineers) at 160k/yr per person, for 10 years... for what they just paid for whatsapp. The collective diversity of products developed by said teams would probably be worth more than whatsapp.

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#47

Post by oscargrouch » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:47 AM UTC

integraton wrote: post #12

It's interesting how neither of the founders fit any of the stereotypical valley founder profiles. They don't look like Mark Zuckerberg, they are older, Brian Acton barely used twitter, and his tech background is more traditional (C, C++, Perl, etc).

Thats good.. because stereotypes for people are a stupid thing.. human beings will break all of them..

Someday it will be a elderly woman, a kid, etc.. The Ocidental culture has a severe problem dealing with the impermanence and the unpredictable.. we need to get over it.. more zen-budhism, please?! :)

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#48

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:47 AM UTC

technotony wrote: post #37

scep12 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Better to let the market sift out the successful founders than to payroll a hundred of them, hoping for a big win. Sorry, I can't help myself, but at a salary of $160k a year, payrolling "a hundred of them" per year would only cost 1/10th of what FB just paid for whatsapp. It's too bad companies like FB and Twitter would rather let the 'founder' types slip by than to take more chances. When Facebook last tried to r…

I think you mean 1/1000th of what FB just paid... seems like it would be a good investment to me!

[deleted]

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#49

Post by gojomo » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:49 AM UTC

integraton wrote: post #12

It's interesting how neither of the founders fit any of the stereotypical valley founder profiles. They don't look like Mark Zuckerberg, they are older, Brian Acton barely used twitter, and his tech background is more traditional (C, C++, Perl, etc).

You may be getting your stereotypes from the wrong teen-beat outlets!

Koum: No-nonsense immigrant from group persecuted in home country, family emphasis on education, using computers since a teen, drops out of college when career responsibilities grow.

Acton: Early employee at one of the most-successful companies of an era, lots of deep systems experience, takes time to consider "next adventure", cofounds with prior coworker and leans on other colleagues for seed funding.

That's about as stereotypical as real Valley founders get.

Re: “Facebook turned me down” (2009)

#50

Post by presty » Thu, Feb 20, 2014, 2:53 AM UTC

pyrrhotech wrote: post #23

wpietri wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You overplay your hand. There is a very large luck component to it, sure. But I mentor at entrepreneurship events, and there is a very wide distribution of people who want to start companies. Some of those people are obviously more suited to the work than others. I think that's especially true for people who, like WhatsApp, do things that are different than the common wisdom [1]. I had dinner recently with a friend w…

If Mark Zuckerberg was a freshman in college again in 2014, what chances do you give him of creating a $170B company in the next decade? How about in his lifetime? How about a $1B company in his lifetime? I'd say on the order of 1. 1 in a billion 2. 1 in 100 million. 2. 1 in a million. Sure he is smart and driven and has had every opportunity available to the one guy on planet earth who will achieve what he has. But…

If in this "what if" scenario we assume the 2014 freshman Zuckerberg has the same drive as the 2004 one, then I would say that the odds of him becoming decently successful (whatever that might mean) would be pretty high.

If you look back at his history, he had a string of very college-student-useful projects before Facebook. He knew he was onto something. Assuming that he would have the same kind of curiosity/initiative/wtv in 2014, chances are he would find new problems to solve.