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Some advice from Jeff Bezos

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Re: Some advice from Jeff Bezos

#131

Post by drumdance »

slindstr wrote: post #121
seivan wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh really, what did the MBA teach you? What tools are useful in your arsenal of building a great business and product?

I also got my MBA after getting my BS in Computer Science and while I think I could have learned most everything we talked about by reading books, I did learn: - public speaking because we had to do a presentation just about every other week - how business people with little or no technology experience think and their perceptions about technology - how to talk to the people in the above bullet about technology - firi…

I almost got an MBA in my twenties but decided to start a company instead. My reasoning was that it would cost me $40-50k to acquire, at which point I would need to take a job for 3-4 years to pay it off. I always knew I wanted to start a company so I figured I'd use those 5-6 years educating myself.

I don't regret the choice, but I think an MBA from a top school can expose you to more complex and big $$$ business environments than you're likely to discover on your own as an outsider without much experience.

Re: Some advice from Jeff Bezos

#132

Post by theplatypus »

wissler wrote: post #82
locopati wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Contradictions do not exist' is nonsense. Contradictions exist all over the place. Any time you get two people together you'll have contradictions due to viewpoint, experience, perspectives. Denying that contradictions exist is a child-like view of the world. Working with the contradictions of life, now that's the fun and the challenge, isn't it?

"Anyone who denies the law of non-contradiction should be beaten and burned until he admits that to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten, and to be burned is not the same as not to be burned."--Avicenna

A human brain is but a finite machine, therefore there are only finitely many propositions which you believe. Let us label these propositions p1, p2, ..., pn, where n is the number of propositions you believe. So you believe each of the propositions p1, p2, ..., pn. Yet, unless you are conceited, you know that you sometimes make mistakes, hence not everything you believe is true. Therefore, if you are not conceited, you know that at least one of the propositions, p1, p2, ..., pn is false. Yet you believe each of the propositions p1, p2, ..., pn.

Re: Some advice from Jeff Bezos

#134

Post by davesims »

cynicalkane wrote: post #117
davesims wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great comment. I appreciate the principle you're working towards, and largely agree with it. But I wonder if the analogy with Physics works well as a broad metaphor for "intelligence." The gaps between Newtonian, Quantum and Relativity model physics are singular instances of a peculiar, nearly paradoxical set of apparent contradictions that of course have yet to be fully resolved. Each is correct within its own domai…

Newtonian physics aren't contradictory with relativistic physics; the former is just a special case of the latter. QM is also consistent with special relativity.

I did say "apparent" contradictions.

And anyway isn't the idea of a "special case" another way of saying, "at certain scales/speeds the rules of the former don't apply in the context of the latter"?

But we digress...

Re: Some advice from Jeff Bezos

#135

Post by a5seo »

seivan wrote: post #119
a5seo wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I started as a programmer and got an MBA from an ok school (top 20). The combination is very valuable (at least to me) for exactly the reason you cite: the best decisions require wading around in the mucky details. The MBA gives you a few tools that are helpful, but mainly it's a way to brand yourself and have people give you the benefit of the doubt that you can do things other than strictly build stuff. I personall…

Oh really, what did the MBA teach you? What tools are useful in your arsenal of building a great business and product?

- accounting and financial statement analysis (useful in pricing and fundraising)

- quantitative marketing models (useful in forecasting + modeling)

- market research techniques (probably the most valuable skill to building products)

- VC from two internships @ early stage funds (useful in understanding how VC's think)

- negotiations

- entrepreneurship classes on opportunity analysis, fundraising, and valuation (useful in helping to avoid solving the wrong problems; articulating the business to investors; building with the end/exit in mind)

Re: Some advice from Jeff Bezos

#136

Post by wissler »

theplatypus wrote: post #132
wissler wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Anyone who denies the law of non-contradiction should be beaten and burned until he admits that to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten, and to be burned is not the same as not to be burned."--Avicenna

A human brain is but a finite machine, therefore there are only finitely many propositions which you believe. Let us label these propositions p1, p2, ..., pn, where n is the number of propositions you believe. So you believe each of the propositions p1, p2, ..., pn. Yet, unless you are conceited, you know that you sometimes make mistakes, hence not everything you believe is true. Therefore, if you are not conceited,…

Humor?

Re: Some advice from Jeff Bezos

#137

Post by dthtvwls »

wissler wrote: post #82
locopati wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Contradictions do not exist' is nonsense. Contradictions exist all over the place. Any time you get two people together you'll have contradictions due to viewpoint, experience, perspectives. Denying that contradictions exist is a child-like view of the world. Working with the contradictions of life, now that's the fun and the challenge, isn't it?

"Anyone who denies the law of non-contradiction should be beaten and burned until he admits that to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten, and to be burned is not the same as not to be burned."--Avicenna

What about the quantum superposition of burned and not-burned?

Re: Some advice from Jeff Bezos

#138

Post by pullo »

goblin89 wrote: post #124
davesims wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great comment. I appreciate the principle you're working towards, and largely agree with it. But I wonder if the analogy with Physics works well as a broad metaphor for "intelligence." The gaps between Newtonian, Quantum and Relativity model physics are singular instances of a peculiar, nearly paradoxical set of apparent contradictions that of course have yet to be fully resolved. Each is correct within its own domai…

A quote from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance comes to mind: > You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it's going to rise tomorrow. When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals, it's always because these dogmas or goals are in doubt.

..or, you are seem fanatically dedicated to something because you are trying to defend the fact that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. :) I read recently that a great way to test a persons understanding of a problem, is to ask them to argue for the opposing point of view.

Re: Some advice from Jeff Bezos

#139

Post by wissler »

dthtvwls wrote: post #137
wissler wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Anyone who denies the law of non-contradiction should be beaten and burned until he admits that to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten, and to be burned is not the same as not to be burned."--Avicenna

What about the quantum superposition of burned and not-burned?

Pseudo-scientific unwarranted conclusion -- the metaphysical implications of QM are not conclusive.

Re: Some advice from Jeff Bezos

#140

Post by efsavage »

edw519 wrote: post #7

If someone can’t climb out of the details, and see the bigger picture from multiple angles, they’re often wrong most of the time. This works both ways. If someone can't get more than one level below the surface and understand the details that form the whole, they’re also often wrong much of the time. Just ask any boss I've ever had.

Sounds like you need to pick better bosses!
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