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A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company

boss.blogs.nytimes.com

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Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company

#51

Post by gknoy »

michaelochurch wrote: post #48
jonmrodriguez wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What. A. Fucking. Bitch. Although I agree with your general assessment of Campbell, I think you should change your wording here. It's not right (IMHO) to use gendered insults. That sounds sexist, I think. Much better to just say "What. A. Fucking. Asshole." and leave gender out of it.

I used the right word for her attitude. There are probably 10 usages of "bitch" and some are gendered and legitimately offense, while others are not. (I've called men "bitch" before.) This use of the word "bitch" means "mean-tempered person with unearned wealth or social standing". It's not gendered. You could use it on an ill-tempered male trustafarian and it would work.

It might simply be what part of the country I grew up in (southern CA), but I never "bitch" used in that way about men. It had an entirely different meaning, similar to serf or 'gofer' -- whereas when people used it about a woman, it basically meant the same as "asshole".

I hardly believe I've typed these words out. Blech. In any case, I think that for a large part of your audience, and perhaps US society in general, "bitch" definitely has a gendered connotation -- even if you did not intend one.

Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company

#52

Post by shanacarp »

michaelochurch wrote: post #49
swombat wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> She sounds horrible and I hope she fails. That's a horrible thing to say. I hope you withdraw it.

That's a horrible thing to say. No it's not. She's taking up resources ($500,000 of seed capital, and a spot on the New York Times) that someone else could have. People of substance, like me, are often out-competed in the race for resources (e.g. fundings) by douchebags like her of no merit, but with contacts. The more people like her fail, and preferably embarrassingly so, the sooner we can have a Flight to Substanc…

As a ladygal in the tech world in NY, who has taught myself something about code, and whose grandmother did buy her a silver spoon* on birth:

These people do exist in the NY tech world. However, so what. Despite literally being given a silver spoon, this didn't equal contacts in the tech world.

I went out and made them. I cold emailed people, I messaged people on blogs, and I helped people out. I push people to talk to me. And I still do all of these things.

COuld I lean into my parents's contacts more - yes (and I might for certain aspects of my startup, since it takes years, 10 something years in some cases, to get to know the right people at some places) Do I most of the time - no.

Developing a book of contacts is a skill. You can learn it.

*My grandma did this because I was her first grandchild. It was her thing, apparently.

Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company

#53

Post by tmzt »

shanacarp wrote: post #52
michaelochurch wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a horrible thing to say. No it's not. She's taking up resources ($500,000 of seed capital, and a spot on the New York Times) that someone else could have. People of substance, like me, are often out-competed in the race for resources (e.g. fundings) by douchebags like her of no merit, but with contacts. The more people like her fail, and preferably embarrassingly so, the sooner we can have a Flight to Substanc…

As a ladygal in the tech world in NY, who has taught myself something about code, and whose grandmother did buy her a silver spoon* on birth: These people do exist in the NY tech world. However, so what. Despite literally being given a silver spoon, this didn't equal contacts in the tech world. I went out and made them. I cold emailed people, I messaged people on blogs, and I helped people out. I push people to talk…

Hey, shana. Haven't seen you on here before.

Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company

#54

Post by shanacarp »

tmzt wrote: post #53
shanacarp wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a ladygal in the tech world in NY, who has taught myself something about code, and whose grandmother did buy her a silver spoon* on birth: These people do exist in the NY tech world. However, so what. Despite literally being given a silver spoon, this didn't equal contacts in the tech world. I went out and made them. I cold emailed people, I messaged people on blogs, and I helped people out. I push people to talk…

Hey, shana. Haven't seen you on here before.

i'm a reader more than a member

Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company

#55

Post by rohshu »

jonmrodriguez wrote: post #33
michaelochurch wrote: post #13

She sounds horrible and I hope she fails. First, there's her focus on hours. Our team didn’t seem driven; they all finished work each day at 5:30. I remember watching “The Social Network” and admiring the passion and intelligence of the group of young engineers. My team didn’t look like that. She wasn't unhappy because of the bugs. She was unhappy because her team didn't look like a star team. (How many stars would p…

> What. A. Fucking. Bitch. Although I agree with your general assessment of Campbell, I think you should change your wording here. It's not right (IMHO) to use gendered insults. That sounds sexist, I think. Much better to just say "What. A. Fucking. Asshole." and leave gender out of it.

Except that an "asshole" is decidedly female. And apologizes for out concern-trolling you.

Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company

#56

Post by captainmojo »

angersock wrote: post #25
ironchef wrote: post #3

"I’ve also discovered that nothing is more motivating than a high profile, non-negotiable deadline." Sweet jesus no. If you don't understand what is required do NOT sign your team up for that. That's what causes death marches. Now if you had the team already analyze the opportunity and prototype "the hard parts" then by all means go for it :)

Had a conversation with two of our C-level folks a week or two ago specifically about deadlines. They'd used the word "crunch", and also were talking about "marathon, not sprint". I explained that they really shouldn't use the C-word unless they were ready to deal with the consequences--especially with folks from the gamedev industry or startup stuff, there is a lot of psychic baggage with that. ~ If you tell me that…

I've gone through more of these than I can count. They've all ended as victories, but that's just because my luck hasn't changed yet.

Thanks for messaging this up, angersock. Double thanks if you're one of the kind souls who shields delirious coders from having to communicate with stakeholders.

Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company

#57

Post by IsaacL »

mattm wrote: post #15
ironchef wrote: post #3

"I’ve also discovered that nothing is more motivating than a high profile, non-negotiable deadline." Sweet jesus no. If you don't understand what is required do NOT sign your team up for that. That's what causes death marches. Now if you had the team already analyze the opportunity and prototype "the hard parts" then by all means go for it :)

> Within a few months, we had a team of four. Development seemed slow and our live site was littered with bugs. Our team didn’t seem driven; they all finished work each day at 5:30. I remember watching “The Social Network” and admiring the passion and intelligence of the group of young engineers. My team didn’t look like that. I think the real lesson is she hired the wrong team. In all fairness, it's a tough thing to…

I agree with you, and I don't think you deserve the downvotes. (Especially as people shouldn't downvote you just because they disagree).

She sounds like a competent founder but one who started out with almost no knowledge of managing developers. No-one is born knowing how to manage developers and it does sound like she is learning. I think she expressed herself ineloquently in this article, which makes her sound like a bit of a slave-driver, but I think it's misleading to draw that conclusion.

I can empathise with devs who find themselves stuck on projects with clueless managers, but I can also empathise with passionate product founders who see their vision and savings wasted on crappy contract developers. Hard to say which situation this is.

Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company

#58

Post by mempko »

michaelochurch wrote: post #49
swombat wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> She sounds horrible and I hope she fails. That's a horrible thing to say. I hope you withdraw it.

That's a horrible thing to say. No it's not. She's taking up resources ($500,000 of seed capital, and a spot on the New York Times) that someone else could have. People of substance, like me, are often out-competed in the race for resources (e.g. fundings) by douchebags like her of no merit, but with contacts. The more people like her fail, and preferably embarrassingly so, the sooner we can have a Flight to Substanc…

So you prefer a society that rewards winning the genetic lottery? I guess the others that lose can just serve the likes of you their entire life? What kind of talents do you suppose are from nature vs nurture?

Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company

#59

Post by ldng »

notastartup wrote: post #28

It’s an unwritten law of nature that development always takes longer than predicted. Because I’m a non-techie boss, my engineers know that I don’t understand how much time they will need to complete a task, a deficiency that I’m sure they sometimes exploit and that I find incredibly frustrating. A) Doesn't understand domain, doesn't understand the problem. B) Automatically assumes some weird laws of nature. C) Indulg…

F) Profit. Literally. Sadly.

Re: A Non-Techie Tries to Build a Tech Company

#60

Post by swombat »

michaelochurch wrote: post #49
swombat wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> She sounds horrible and I hope she fails. That's a horrible thing to say. I hope you withdraw it.

That's a horrible thing to say. No it's not. She's taking up resources ($500,000 of seed capital, and a spot on the New York Times) that someone else could have. People of substance, like me, are often out-competed in the race for resources (e.g. fundings) by douchebags like her of no merit, but with contacts. The more people like her fail, and preferably embarrassingly so, the sooner we can have a Flight to Substanc…

Would you say that to her face?

Would you say that to anyone's face?

Or is it just something you're willing to say from a comfortable distance on the internet, where you're not actually saying that about an actual human being, just about some kind of abstract, distant thing?

You can express those feelings without being harsh, insulting, abrasive, etc. Take a chill pill and think about whether adding all this negativity to the discussion actually makes things better.

Also, I feel compelled to point out that people of substance rarely feel the need to point it out on online forums.

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