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Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

blog.samaltman.com

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Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#151

Post by gasull »

pg wrote: post #128

Sam was just telling me how much he regretted looking at this thread. "Oh, you should never read Hacker News comments about anything you write," I told him. Whereupon it immediately struck me how strange and sad it was to be saying this, as the person who started HN. Seriously, some of the comments on this thread are HN at its very worst: bitter, willful misinterpretations of what Sam is saying.

I wonder if the upvote/downvote system should be based on karma, so e.g. a downvote/upvote from someone wouldn't be equal to -1/+1 but to something proportional to their karma.

This will be more similar to how peer-review works in universities. A peer-review from a professor with a long-standing reputation is worth more than the peer-review of a new professor.

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#152

Post by beat »

pc86 wrote: post #148
beat wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've shown her exactly what "entry level graphic designer salary" is on the 'net. Moreover, she's been told that if she isn't delivering 100%, I'll let her go, because the company needs that full-tilt startup delivery. She knows what she's getting into. She's actually thrilled with it - she instinctively understands the value of giving 100% as a measure of self-worth. Keep in mind she has no education beyond high sch…

If you cannot afford a "full-tilt startup" designer, you should question the morality of taking advantage of a teenage girl to try and get that. > she instinctively understands the value of giving 100% as a measure of self-worth. Instead of money, of course. She's not worth that. > she has no education beyond high school Completely irrelevant. > when her skills are rounded out and the money is there, I'll pay her goi…

The money isn't there. This is an unfunded, bootstrapped startup right now. I'm paying her out of my pocket from the day job I keep to get us far enough to get funding. She can participate for equity now, or wait until I have money for a salary.

By "take advantage", you mean offering her a direct path into her intended career.

As for how much I'm planning to pay her when we can get funded: I was planning on $30k salary. Per indeed.com, "entry level graphic designer minneapolis" is $31k. At the national level, that number can go as high as $50k, but frankly, she doesn't have the skills (yet) to get a $50k job. After a couple of years, she will.

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#153

Post by pg »

tuacker wrote: post #138
pg wrote: post #128

Sam was just telling me how much he regretted looking at this thread. "Oh, you should never read Hacker News comments about anything you write," I told him. Whereupon it immediately struck me how strange and sad it was to be saying this, as the person who started HN. Seriously, some of the comments on this thread are HN at its very worst: bitter, willful misinterpretations of what Sam is saying.

I've been thinking about why open forums tend to go eternal September and I've come to think it has a lot to do with how veteran users act. In the early days of a site like this if a new user comes along and makes negative/snarky comments which don't fit the community it is pointed out, politely. Usually someone posts a reply friendly reminding that this sort of behavior is not welcome. This helps both the offender i…

You may be right that the solution is to depend on the established users. I have some ideas for how to do that that I may try when I have time.

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#154

Post by beat »

FakeSamAltman wrote: post #117
selimthegrim wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've met and had the opportunity to learn from top people at Microsoft Research in Santa Barbara. I guarantee you Sam Altman isn't fit to tie their shoelaces. No disrespect to him and not saying he couldn't get there, but they're just in a totally different ballpark and level of problem solving and execution. They're solving problems people don't even realize they're going to have yet.

They are solving problems people won't ever realize they're going to have.

Because if Microsoft is good at anything, it's creating new problems for their users. :)

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#155

Post by beat »

pg wrote: post #128

Sam was just telling me how much he regretted looking at this thread. "Oh, you should never read Hacker News comments about anything you write," I told him. Whereupon it immediately struck me how strange and sad it was to be saying this, as the person who started HN. Seriously, some of the comments on this thread are HN at its very worst: bitter, willful misinterpretations of what Sam is saying.

I thought it was brilliant myself. Yeah, the comments have been very frustrating, but comments on HN obviously are. No different than Slashdot used to be back in the day, or anywhere else cool on the 'net.

Here's my favorite quote from the post: No matter what you choose, build stuff and be around smart people. “Stuff” can be a lot of different things—open source projects outside of class, a startup, a new sales process at a company you work at—but, obviously, sitting around talking with your friends about how you guys really should build a website together does not count.

Doing real work with smart people (preferably smarter than you, preferably much smarter than you) is what matters. It's what makes you a better person. Doesn't matter if it pays well, or if it's secure.

Ambition isn't a purely financial thing. It's "I want to be a better person, and I'm willing to work for it", and a clear concept of what "better" is. Better can be rich, or powerful, or creative, or famous, or happy. It could just be creating a family. But wandering aimlessly and letting fear drive you to the nearest safe-looking hole... that's not ambition.

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#156

Post by johnobrien1010 »

pg wrote: post #153
tuacker wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been thinking about why open forums tend to go eternal September and I've come to think it has a lot to do with how veteran users act. In the early days of a site like this if a new user comes along and makes negative/snarky comments which don't fit the community it is pointed out, politely. Usually someone posts a reply friendly reminding that this sort of behavior is not welcome. This helps both the offender i…

You may be right that the solution is to depend on the established users. I have some ideas for how to do that that I may try when I have time.

I think there is a life cycle. A user starts fresh and new, and then tentatively puts forth a comment or submission. If the comment or submission isn't immediately lauded, I think the user my temporarily become snarky and/or bitter. Then I think they come around again and more maturely interact.

Maybe you have to have wait 30 days after registration before you can comment? Or comments within 30 days of registration have special "new user" formatting?

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#157

Post by selimthegrim »

FakeSamAltman wrote: post #117
selimthegrim wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've met and had the opportunity to learn from top people at Microsoft Research in Santa Barbara. I guarantee you Sam Altman isn't fit to tie their shoelaces. No disrespect to him and not saying he couldn't get there, but they're just in a totally different ballpark and level of problem solving and execution. They're solving problems people don't even realize they're going to have yet.

They are solving problems people won't ever realize they're going to have.

This is a fair point. But what's that saying about talent hitting the target in front of you, but genius hitting the target no one knew was there?

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#158

Post by selimthegrim »

barry-cotter wrote: post #135
selimthegrim wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've met and had the opportunity to learn from top people at Microsoft Research in Santa Barbara. I guarantee you Sam Altman isn't fit to tie their shoelaces. No disrespect to him and not saying he couldn't get there, but they're just in a totally different ballpark and level of problem solving and execution. They're solving problems people don't even realize they're going to have yet.

I guarantee you Sam Altman isn't fit to tie their shoelaces. No disrespect to him. My ass.

When Sam Altman becomes a Fields Medalist or invents a new kind of particle (that was subsequently discovered!), then we can talk about the same playing field.

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#159

Post by barry-cotter »

selimthegrim wrote: post #158
barry-cotter wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guarantee you Sam Altman isn't fit to tie their shoelaces. No disrespect to him. My ass.

When Sam Altman becomes a Fields Medalist or invents a new kind of particle (that was subsequently discovered!), then we can talk about the same playing field.

He's not even trying to play the same game as them. Sam Altman 's ideal looks a great deal more like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates than Djikstra. Would you consider Bill Gates fit to tie a Fields Medalist's shoelaces?

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#160

Post by pc86 »

beat wrote: post #152
pc86 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you cannot afford a "full-tilt startup" designer, you should question the morality of taking advantage of a teenage girl to try and get that. > she instinctively understands the value of giving 100% as a measure of self-worth. Instead of money, of course. She's not worth that. > she has no education beyond high school Completely irrelevant. > when her skills are rounded out and the money is there, I'll pay her goi…

The money isn't there . This is an unfunded, bootstrapped startup right now. I'm paying her out of my pocket from the day job I keep to get us far enough to get funding. She can participate for equity now, or wait until I have money for a salary. By "take advantage", you mean offering her a direct path into her intended career. As for how much I'm planning to pay her when we can get funded: I was planning on $30k sal…

You're offering her "a direct path" just as much as anyone on Craigslist willing to "let" someone develop their for idea "for the exposure."

So just based on what you've said in this comment, you're giving her the choice of either working for a small percentage of 0 ("equity") or she can wait until you have the money. Should you ever get the money, you're going to pay her just under market for an entry-level job. If you don't get money for 2 years, she's clearly no longer entry-level, you've gotten years of work from an impressionable young girl for free, and you're going to do her the favor of paying below-market wages.

Maybe your intentions are good and it's just the execution that is piss poor, but judging on the comments on this post you are seriously taking this girl for a ride and you should be ashamed of yourself.

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