171–180 of 191 posts
I made some notes while watching/listening. Might include minor errors or misinterpretation on my side 4 critical parts: Idea, Team, Product, Execution 1. Idea -> Good startups take about 10 years -> Startup should feel like an important mission -> Hardest part coming up with great ideas: best look terriblea t the beginning (e.g. search engine, social networks limited to college students without money, a way to stay…
FYI Bret Taylor, with one T in Bret
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure the two view points really contradict. While early microcomputers, BackRub and early Facebook may have seemed like toys I sure some of those folks were aware they could become "important." I think Gates and the Apple guys were aware microcomputers would become widespread and the Google guys were aware better search could be a big deal. I think from interviews Zuckerberg was a bit surprised by how theFace…
It's easy to write grand vision statements in retrospect. At the time though, Page and Brin said looking at Sean Parker, "We'll never be as famous as him", as per a story Ron Conway once told at Startup school.
I've been watching it for 8 minutes as of now and despite the fact that the content looks good it really bores me to death that he is reading the whole thing like a robot. It does not sound like a natural converstation or presentation. Does anyone else share this feeling?
I really enjoyed sama's delivery. It was easy to digest; not too fast, not too slow; important ideas/concepts were repeated but not overly so; the choice and sequence of topics covered was very good. Length was just about right too. I hate it when speakers "over engage" and keep throwing in jokes, personal anecdotes, rhetorical questions, funny slides etc. in a perceived need to keep people's attention. If a presenta…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, if you're amoral but don't commit any crimes, you'll go free. If you're amoral, commit a crime and don't get caught, you'll also go free. There's a difference in the eyes of the law, but I don't think abusing the lack of efficient legislation gets you off the hook for doing wrong, though. Extending this kind of reasoning leads to condoning such great corporate pioneers as Union Carbide and Dow Chemical (althoug…
You may take issue with it, but it's a fact that a large number of very profitable companies have avoided hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes over recent years. Trying to shame an individual who wants to save a few hundred thousand for retirement is not only stupid, but inefficient. Contrary to popular belief, not all tax evasion is created equal. A few hundred thousand by an individual is literally a rounding e…
Which is why I said: "All that said, if you sneak away a million US or so, go for it. It makes no difference what any one individual does as such(...)".
> (...) it's a fact that a large number of very profitable companies have avoided hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes over recent years. (...) Take your tax crusade to Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and the rest of the billion dollar club who are stealing your precious taxes by the hundreds of billions.
Doing one does not preclude the other. If a company destroys wetlands by dumping chemical waste, that does not make it ok for an individual to destroy a small grove by doing the same.
What I probably failed to get across is that my main point is that I don't think it is OK to dodge taxes; I'm fully aware that pretty much anything any one individual does becomes a rounding error compared to what a big corporation does. But corporations are made up of people, and those people are guided by among other things prevailing sentiment. So the young whipper-snapper that starts out by dodging some taxes today, might think little of dodging billions in the capacity as CFO in thirty years.
There are easier ways to get rich? For Stanford Graduates, maybe. For those who don't have a degree in an ultra-paying job, I'd really like to know an easier way. I'm usually sceptical about start-up chances, I know how much work it means, and I know that a lot of early-stage employees get rich, too. Yet, I don't think you can get rich this fast/easy with a modest degree... Even as early-stage employee often you'll s…
I think some fairly average people become millionaires along the lines of manage a McDonnald's for a bit, get finance to have your own one, expand to have 2 or 3 at which point you'd likely be worth $1m+
Sam mentioned that the idea was actually quite important. I recall PG saying that YC would often invest in the team because ideas change and aren't as important as good founders. Anyone have thoughts on this?
Like a good startup YC wanted to validate their assumptions and experimented with "no-idea" teams. Considering they don't have that option anymore, I'd venture to guess that they disproved PG's original saying and are now realizing that a good idea correlates with success. That's my guess.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Get a job at AmaGooBookSoft. Execute competently, getting the standard bonus and equity packages. Continue for 10 years. Congrats, you're a millionaire. [This was even easier for folks who joined Google / Facebook between the times when they were clearly unstoppable juggernauts and when they IPOed.] Start a boutique consultancy with a buddy. Hire up until you get to ~8 employees. Continue for 10 years. Congrats, you'…
Really? 10 years at one of these companies (AmaGooBookSoft) and you're a millionaire?
I made some notes while watching/listening. Might include minor errors or misinterpretation on my side 4 critical parts: Idea, Team, Product, Execution 1. Idea -> Good startups take about 10 years -> Startup should feel like an important mission -> Hardest part coming up with great ideas: best look terriblea t the beginning (e.g. search engine, social networks limited to college students without money, a way to stay…
The surprising thing was that Sam's advice about working on a big mission and something "important" seems directly contradicting what pg has been writing for years. Just as trying to think up startup ideas tends to produce bad ones, working on things that could be dismissed as "toys" often produces good ones. When something is described as a toy, that means it has everything an idea needs except being important. It's…
One thing that bothered me about the lecture was reinforcement of the idea that working hard is the same as working long. I can appreciate the fact that at times as a founder you have to work all hours of the day, but surely this is not the optimum scenario for maximum productivity. If I look at my own work situation currently, it's abundantly apparent to me that the law of diminishing returns affects me strongly aft…