Exploiting Silicon Valley For Profit (and Maybe Fun) • Hacker News Board

Re: Exploiting Silicon Valley For Profit (and Maybe Fun)

#11

Post by tptacek » Thu, Jun 21, 2012, 7:09 PM UTC

diego wrote: post #7

tptacek wrote: post #4

So I liked this, like everything else Diego writes, but this graf doesn't ring true to me: Joe and Wayne work on building something they know GooBook could acquire without looking stupid. Something they might be able to do in-house, except their most talented engineers are desperately working on ways to extract more money out of ads, or to reduce the costs of their gargantuan infrastructure. Some are stationed in Ant…

Of course it's awesome to work on those problems. The point I was trying to make is that in this case the company has to choose between innovating for the long term, and solving urgent problems that mean lots of $ in the short term. Internal venture projects tend to be put on the back burner when your best engineers could save 50M by optimizing the hell out of your backend.

I took that point; it's just the way you wrote it: derisively (sorry, that's just the most appropriate word; I'm not harumphing at you).

Re: Exploiting Silicon Valley For Profit (and Maybe Fun)

#12

Post by dsrguru » Thu, Jun 21, 2012, 7:10 PM UTC

bengl3rt wrote: post #6

tptacek wrote: post #4

So I liked this, like everything else Diego writes, but this graf doesn't ring true to me: Joe and Wayne work on building something they know GooBook could acquire without looking stupid. Something they might be able to do in-house, except their most talented engineers are desperately working on ways to extract more money out of ads, or to reduce the costs of their gargantuan infrastructure. Some are stationed in Ant…

Also, $6m really isn't that much these days. Might get you a nice house in the Silly Valley and a few years of living expenses, but that's not "set for life" money if you're in your 20s.

Hacker News is one of the few forums where being able to lock in a six-figure salary (100k USD) for 60 years isn't viewed as being set for life. The wonders of entrepreneurship and the cost of living in the Bay Area.

Re: Exploiting Silicon Valley For Profit (and Maybe Fun)

#13

Post by vertr » Thu, Jun 21, 2012, 7:11 PM UTC

seiji wrote: post #5

Disturbingly accurate. • Make a sufficiently shiny, yet imminently disposable product. • Hoard employees (each one bumps your valuation by ~$1.5 million), be loud, get acquired. • Kill product. (You never cared about it anyway -- it was just a vehicle for ego and attention. Now that you've got your $5 million, you don't need the validation of all those silly pawns/customers anymore.)

If new startups agreed that they wouldn't leave their users out to dry if they got acquired would you be more likely to trust them and use their service?

Re: Exploiting Silicon Valley For Profit (and Maybe Fun)

#14

Post by diego » Thu, Jun 21, 2012, 7:12 PM UTC

bengl3rt wrote: post #6

tptacek wrote: post #4

So I liked this, like everything else Diego writes, but this graf doesn't ring true to me: Joe and Wayne work on building something they know GooBook could acquire without looking stupid. Something they might be able to do in-house, except their most talented engineers are desperately working on ways to extract more money out of ads, or to reduce the costs of their gargantuan infrastructure. Some are stationed in Ant…

Also, $6m really isn't that much these days. Might get you a nice house in the Silly Valley and a few years of living expenses, but that's not "set for life" money if you're in your 20s.

Possibly true. However, I'd argue that the quantum difference between student debt and a few million in the bank is higher in terms of utility than the one between $5M and billions. Most of your money problems are solved with a few million: you get to work on what you want, can take a year off whenever, etc. You can still die of pancreatic cancer, suffer an ugly divorce, etc.

That's a different post, though.

Re: Exploiting Silicon Valley For Profit (and Maybe Fun)

#15

Post by maxko87 » Thu, Jun 21, 2012, 7:12 PM UTC

This is exactly why people consider the valley to be a huge bubble. This kind of "innovation" isn't sustainable at all.

Re: Exploiting Silicon Valley For Profit (and Maybe Fun)

#16

Post by tptacek » Thu, Jun 21, 2012, 7:13 PM UTC

bengl3rt wrote: post #10

vertr wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you serious? $6m sounds like more than enough to retire on at any point for most people.

If you want to live like a 20-something for the rest of your life, sure. Your cost structure changes as you get older and have things like houses, spouses, cars, and children.

Do you have a house or kids? I do. The near-certainty that I could afford college, house payments, and a humane retirement would be an intense motivator for me. I'm not conservative by any means --- I work for a company I cofounded --- but I think it's easy to forget that adults like us live with a pretty fucking high cortisol load.

Re: Exploiting Silicon Valley For Profit (and Maybe Fun)

#17

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jun 21, 2012, 7:13 PM UTC

vertr wrote: post #8

bengl3rt wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, $6m really isn't that much these days. Might get you a nice house in the Silly Valley and a few years of living expenses, but that's not "set for life" money if you're in your 20s.

Are you serious? $6m sounds like more than enough to retire on at any point for most people.

[deleted]

Re: Exploiting Silicon Valley For Profit (and Maybe Fun)

#18

Post by diego » Thu, Jun 21, 2012, 7:14 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #11

diego wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it's awesome to work on those problems. The point I was trying to make is that in this case the company has to choose between innovating for the long term, and solving urgent problems that mean lots of $ in the short term. Internal venture projects tend to be put on the back burner when your best engineers could save 50M by optimizing the hell out of your backend.

I took that point; it's just the way you wrote it: derisively (sorry, that's just the most appropriate word; I'm not harumphing at you).

No worries, you make a fair point and I take no offense :)

Re: Exploiting Silicon Valley For Profit (and Maybe Fun)

#19

Post by tptacek » Thu, Jun 21, 2012, 7:14 PM UTC

diego wrote: post #18

tptacek wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took that point; it's just the way you wrote it: derisively (sorry, that's just the most appropriate word; I'm not harumphing at you).

No worries, you make a fair point and I take no offense :)

HOLY IT'S A HACKER NEWS MIRACLE SOMEONE TELL PAUL!

:)

Re: Exploiting Silicon Valley For Profit (and Maybe Fun)

#20

Post by vertr » Thu, Jun 21, 2012, 7:14 PM UTC

bengl3rt wrote: post #10

vertr wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you serious? $6m sounds like more than enough to retire on at any point for most people.

If you want to live like a 20-something for the rest of your life, sure. Your cost structure changes as you get older and have things like houses, spouses, cars, and children.

If you have high expectations about the amount and 'quality' of your personal possessions, then sure. I'm sure most every one else can make due on that amount.

I think with wise spending and decent investments I could easily make that amount last my entire life and have quite a bit to give away at the end.