The Columbia Math Professor Every NYC Startup & VC Should Know
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The Columbia Math Professor Every NYC Startup & VC Should Know
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Re: The Columbia Math Professor Every NYC Startup & VC Should Know
#2This dude is awesome. He's a genuine force for good in NYC and has access to one of the scarcest resources in the city: high quality technical talent.
Re: The Columbia Math Professor Every NYC Startup & VC Should Know
#3He has a good frame of reference: “I see this as an opportunity for academics in New York to contribute to start-up culture,” says Wiggins, referring to the pivotal role that Stanford’s dean of engineering, Frederick Terman, played in the rise of Silicon Valley.
Stanford is what it is today thanks to Terman's meddling and the army (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo). If Wiggins is NYC's Terman, what's NYC's army equivalent?
Re: The Columbia Math Professor Every NYC Startup & VC Should Know
#4He has a good frame of reference: “I see this as an opportunity for academics in New York to contribute to start-up culture,” says Wiggins, referring to the pivotal role that Stanford’s dean of engineering, Frederick Terman, played in the rise of Silicon Valley. Stanford is what it is today thanks to Terman's meddling and the army ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo ). If Wiggins is NYC's Terman, what's NYC'…
Hmm. Perhaps the army is...FourSquare?
Re: The Columbia Math Professor Every NYC Startup & VC Should Know
#5He has a good frame of reference: “I see this as an opportunity for academics in New York to contribute to start-up culture,” says Wiggins, referring to the pivotal role that Stanford’s dean of engineering, Frederick Terman, played in the rise of Silicon Valley. Stanford is what it is today thanks to Terman's meddling and the army ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo ). If Wiggins is NYC's Terman, what's NYC'…
Hmm. Perhaps the army is...FourSquare?
Well, I suppose the army was like a wave and the initial startups surfed that wave. FourSquare is surfing alright, but which wave?
Re: The Columbia Math Professor Every NYC Startup & VC Should Know
#6Re: The Columbia Math Professor Every NYC Startup & VC Should Know
#7loved the original title, i'm trying to get off "the Street" myself
Re: The Columbia Math Professor Every NYC Startup & VC Should Know
#8loved the original title, i'm trying to get off "the Street" myself
Is "the Street" like Hotel California: "you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave"? If not, you have no one to blame but yourself for not following your dreams. You may find pity here on HN, but that will hardly advance your goals, right?
Re: The Columbia Math Professor Every NYC Startup & VC Should Know
#9loved the original title, i'm trying to get off "the Street" myself
Is "the Street" like Hotel California : "you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave"? If not, you have no one to blame but yourself for not following your dreams. You may find pity here on HN, but that will hardly advance your goals, right?
How idealistic. The problem is that when you start working in a very high paying job, as finance jobs tend to be, there is a catch. All of that money. By the time you have a mortgage, a care, and a vacation home, it's very hard to get away and you get stuck on the treadmill.
The other side of it is that you could live frugally and save up a massive war chest to fund a startup but most people don't go that route. It's not weakness, it's human nature.
Re: The Columbia Math Professor Every NYC Startup & VC Should Know
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is "the Street" like Hotel California : "you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave"? If not, you have no one to blame but yourself for not following your dreams. You may find pity here on HN, but that will hardly advance your goals, right?
How idealistic. The problem is that when you start working in a very high paying job, as finance jobs tend to be, there is a catch. All of that money. By the time you have a mortgage, a care, and a vacation home, it's very hard to get away and you get stuck on the treadmill. The other side of it is that you could live frugally and save up a massive war chest to fund a startup but most people don't go that route. It's…
No one forces you to live lavishly. You can rent a small apartment instead of buying a house and having to pay a mortgage, you can travel on a modest budget instead of buying a Summer house you'll use only 2 weeks per year. You don't need a trophy wife if you have some game. You have no one to blame but yourself for your weaknesses. Yes, because living to impress others is weakness.
A couple of friends did what you mentioned. Lived frugally, saved a lot of money, then started their own companies. They're both millionaires now. The guys who were too weak to pull that off are still in "the Street", they lead comfortable lives, but they are miserable... they are slaves to their vanity and to their trophy wives who have a lot to gain from divorce.
This has nothing to do with idealism. It has to do with willpower. Most people lack the will to improve themselves simply because it's too much work and effort...