Best title ever.
Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy
111–120 of 289 posts
Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy
#112I think Softbank's main problem is that they fund opportunity without considering execution at all. It's very possible that a dog walking service could be a multibillion opportunity (millennials/gen Z choosing to have pets over kids in greater numbers and working FT), but was there really anything special about this specific team that would lead anyone to believe they could execute with a $300m injection? I don't thi…
But.. they said they are all experts and care about animals! And the founders are super-genius hackers from MIT!
Don't blame the founders the expertised ex-yahoo put the nail into any growth by killing the marketing budget.
Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy
#113These on demand - fulfilled by gig contracting platforms can _only_ provide value if there has been a big technological change that undermines expertise in a job. Uber works because of google maps knowing a faster route than even the 20 year veteran tax driver. There hasn't been a revolutionary technology in dog walking, just people who need cash but dont know pets. There hasnt been a revolutionary technology in groc…
Just give it a few years: drone-based dog walking.
A heavier Boston Dynamics Spot.. dog walking a dog.
Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
Masa Son in 1999: loses $70bn in net worth in half year. Masa Son in 2019: hold my beer, watch dis.
TIL Masayoshi Son has the distinction of losing the most money in history (approximately $70bn during the dot com crash of 2000). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masayoshi_Son
I remember reading some commentary about how losing billions is perversely a good thing to have on your resume, as it implies:
- someone trusted you with billions
- you weren't too paralyzed by fear of risk to do anything useful
- you might even have learned from the experience
Also see The "Parable of the Talents", in Matthew 25:14–30.
Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy
#115I applied to this company right at the beginning of there expansion. The person that interviewed me said he had been sleeping on couches for the last year or so, (around 2017) and working insane hours. They gave me a php coding test to implement some kind of pub/sub. I finished it. Had no real way of submitting it other than emailing it to the interviewer as a zip. The moment the interviewer told me they worked with…
A php stack is the right stack for 2017 or 2019 for a company like Wag. What would a javascript framework offer them? Their core product is connecting people and dogs. A php stack with laravel means they have a working website with authentication on day 1. What would a javascript framework offer them? Emailing tests or documents is very common during the interview process if the company is a startup. Offer them a git…
> Offer them a github link with the code if you want to standout.
Make sure it's a private GitHub repo, or you ask first. Many companies prefer their coding tests to not be published online. It happens, it's unavoidable, but companies can often get by with the same test for a while if people don't post them on GitHub too much.
Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
uber has their own mapping. and no, it or google maps is decidedly not better than local knowledge.
> is decidedly not better than local knowledge. any proof? I will say it falls down w/ construction zones and road changes.
In my town it doesn't seem to be aware of the roads that taxis can use but which are closed to 'normal' traffic.
Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy
#117I applied to this company right at the beginning of there expansion. The person that interviewed me said he had been sleeping on couches for the last year or so, (around 2017) and working insane hours. They gave me a php coding test to implement some kind of pub/sub. I finished it. Had no real way of submitting it other than emailing it to the interviewer as a zip. The moment the interviewer told me they worked with…
A php stack is the right stack for 2017 or 2019 for a company like Wag. What would a javascript framework offer them? Their core product is connecting people and dogs. A php stack with laravel means they have a working website with authentication on day 1. What would a javascript framework offer them? Emailing tests or documents is very common during the interview process if the company is a startup. Offer them a git…
Maybe I'm dumb - Can anyone tell me why PHP vs JS for a "generic" web application?
\In 2019 there are far far far more developers with real experience developing in Javascript vs PHP. There are obviously a lot of other factors in considering the base dev language, but unless you can make a strong case for PHP vs JS, I'm picking JS every time because in the generic case they both meet my needs but a lot more devs work with JS vs PHP. This is not a moral argument, but rather a practical one. What is the practical argument for PHP?
Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
uber has their own mapping. and no, it or google maps is decidedly not better than local knowledge.
> is decidedly not better than local knowledge. any proof? I will say it falls down w/ construction zones and road changes.
All of the mapping programs are good at longer flows, they all suck in cities with lights and arbitrary delays.
I just did a drive from Tampa, FL to Albany, NY. Waze and Google calculated the drive time within 10 minutes.
My commute is about 12 minutes. Both Google and Waze will dump you on routes that will double or triple that.
Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
Too late. Javascript would have made it far easier to hire talent, and develop a much better user experience without multiple page refreshes. In some cases it would even be easier to develop a cross platform mobile application if you use Javascript as well.
Ability to find php developers is usually a reason to choose php. It's actually harder to find good js developers. Javascript frameworks work nicely with php acting as an api. An even better approach is a hybrid that allows you to use a framework like Vue/React or a libruary like jQuery but also allows you to use php to power your pages. This gives you the ability to have an spa per section. A common approach is to u…
Hey! New dev honestly trying to learn why PHP matters at all in 2019. Is PHP something I should stop learning JS for? In all my (very limited) experience, PHP does not solve any problem JavaScript can't, and JS is also far more in demand.
Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would you ask that and expect an answer? Was the person who orginally wrote the application in the room? Did you think to ask why they were using windows instead of macs? Or why leather seats? What were you hoping to get out of your question? Did you want to show the interviewer how hype you were? Were you hoping that you could educate them why using a javascript would be better? This was at an interview correct…
I'm not the person that asked Wag this question, but I do think it was a valid one. I'll try and explain why. Even if they weren't the person that made the choice, them knowing the reasoning behind the choice tells you a lot about the team. I usually expect new members of teams to ask questions about why the application was written the way it was. This shows a general curiosity among team members and it shows that th…
You wouldn't ask for that information in that way.
Most places would say because it's faster or why would you use anything else? Not give you any company history.
Ask who makes technical decisions. Or what debt structure they have. Not why they choose aws over azure.