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Instagram’s Co-Founders Said to Step Down from Company

nytimes.com

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Re: Instagram’s Co-Founders Said to Step Down from Company

#181

Post by stochastic_monk »

ardy42 wrote: post #78
khuey wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Messrs" is pretty old fashioned language. It's uncommon to see it in modern use.

> "Messrs" is pretty old fashioned language. It's uncommon to see it in modern use. Though it may be part of the WSJ's house style, so you might see it in its pages quote a bit (the paywall means I don't read it enough to know). For a similar example, see the New Yorker's continued archaic use of the diaeresis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaeresis_(diacritic)#English

I know I'm reading a New Yorker quote when I see the superfluous diaeresis in coördination or a similar word. Some words, such as Noël, have a legitimate reason due to counterintuitive pronunciation or as a sign of its archaicness.

In any other context, I mostly think of Spinal Tap.

Re: Instagram’s Co-Founders Said to Step Down from Company

#182

Post by lloeki »

baud147258 wrote: post #130
checkyoursudo wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Specifically, it's an abbreviation of the French messieurs , which is just multiple misters. Maybe it's more formal now, but it was ordinary and frequently used in the past in both French and English writing. (Obviously, still quite commonly used in, um, French today.) E.g., English https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=messrs&case_in... French https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=messrs&case_in...

As a French, it feels weird to learn something about my language on an English site :|. I don't remember seeing it written in French. Or I saw it, understood the meaning and forgot.

That's because it's largely unused nowadays, the current abbreviation being MM. (which doubles the M. – not Mr! – abbreviation for monsieur).

Re: Instagram’s Co-Founders Said to Step Down from Company

#184

Post by MrEfficiency »

fsloth wrote: post #142
laurieg wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of commenters seem to be bemoaning this poster as missing out on endless riches. Why? we already know that being super rich doesn't really make you all that much happier compared to being rich (and if you are a programmer in work in then you are pretty rich). I feel that they missed out more on the rocketship journey of being on a startup. And even then that's not everyone's cup of tea.

"and if you are a programmer in work in then you are pretty rich" Incidentally, I'm not sure if this statement has any validity outside US. I wonder why that is.

DELETED For asking a question but getting too many downvotes

Re: Instagram’s Co-Founders Said to Step Down from Company

#185

Post by mcny »

neuroptera wrote: post #176
news_hacker wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From later on in the Twitter thread: > Without the founders around, Instagram is likely to become more tightly integrated with Facebook, making it more of a product division than a company within Facebook, sources say Given the "brand tax" of Facebook in the current climate, I really hope they avoid this for their own sake.

Curious as to what you mean by 'the "brand tax" of Facebook in the current climate.'

There were multiple memes with screenshots of people declaring they were quitting Facebook and using Instagram exclusively. Don't know if this was widespread though.

Re: Instagram’s Co-Founders Said to Step Down from Company

#186

Post by oblio »

013a wrote: post #62
docker_up wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have over 2 billion monthly active users. This is a global penetration rate that is the best in the world. They have done something that no other company in the world has done. They are relevant to basically the vast majority of all Internet users in the world. To say they are the least stable or that their power over most humans is waning is, quite frankly, ludicrous. To put it in perspective, they would need t…

Windows has seen an officially reported install base as high as 1.5B. This was a few years ago; their numbers have taken a hit recently. Considering the average annual revenue per U.S. Facebook user is ~$20, startlingly less in other countries, arguably Microsoft, not Facebook, is the more interesting company. Nearly as many active users as Facebook, but substantially more revenue per user (~$50-$150 for an OEM key?…

> At best they'll remain a second-rate player in the cloud market, riding the ripples of their 90s enterprise clients until those die out as well.

https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/microsoft-beats-aws...

Re: Instagram’s Co-Founders Said to Step Down from Company

#187

Post by verelo »

MrEfficiency wrote: post #184
fsloth wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"and if you are a programmer in work in then you are pretty rich" Incidentally, I'm not sure if this statement has any validity outside US. I wonder why that is.

DELETED For asking a question but getting too many downvotes

In many cases it’s because that’s what we demand of them. The “you get what you pay for” line works well here, we demand low cost so they have low time to build anything right. Long term impact is that they never fully developed into seasoned and deeply skilled staff. Then we complain about quality, its kind of funny in a sad way...

Re: Instagram’s Co-Founders Said to Step Down from Company

#188

Post by jumbopapa »

GuiA wrote: post #164
throwaway724 wrote: post #56

Posting anon. In 2009, the startup where I was working was hitting the skids, and our investors (correctly) were not willing to back us. We all kept grinding for a month or two in honorable futility, but after a while, my bank account depleted and I had to go. To make various ends meet and to keep my mental health during the wind down however, I took up some contract work that I found through various friends in the S…

You made the best decision you could at the time. That’s the only thing and best thing you can ever do in life.

Exactly. You can only make decisions based off the information you have. Heck, for all we know if this guy did go work at Instagram then the company could have never taken off! You can never be sure of anything.

Re: Instagram’s Co-Founders Said to Step Down from Company

#189

Post by astura »

laurieg wrote: post #125
throwaway724 wrote: post #56

Posting anon. In 2009, the startup where I was working was hitting the skids, and our investors (correctly) were not willing to back us. We all kept grinding for a month or two in honorable futility, but after a while, my bank account depleted and I had to go. To make various ends meet and to keep my mental health during the wind down however, I took up some contract work that I found through various friends in the S…

A lot of commenters seem to be bemoaning this poster as missing out on endless riches. Why? we already know that being super rich doesn't really make you all that much happier compared to being rich (and if you are a programmer in work in then you are pretty rich). I feel that they missed out more on the rocketship journey of being on a startup. And even then that's not everyone's cup of tea.

There's a gigantic difference between $200,000 a year and "I don't need to work again."

The "money doesn't make you happy" camp compares $70,000/year and $200,000/year; not $200,000/year and "I have enough money to never work again if I don't feel like it."

Re: Instagram’s Co-Founders Said to Step Down from Company

#190

Post by newman8r »

confiscate wrote: post #111
weego wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the more brutal reality is that just because you had been there then instead of someone else doesn't mean Instagram would have done what it did. Maybe as a first hire you'd have jerked around more than the actual person, or missed deadlines or just made bad choices which lead to zero traction. It's egotistical to assume that it being you instead leads to the same result

Ya I agree, but on the other hand, it's possible that if you had been there instead of someone else, you would have made better choices leading to 10x traction and made Instagram 10x what it is today I mean, what signals lead you to believe one scenario is more likely than the other? It didn't sound like he was a weak employee in any way--if anything, he sounded like a strong employee because the founder of Instagram…

I could boil it down to a thought experiment: If you could trade being alive and healthy today, for hitting it rich 10 years ago but you have no idea if you'd still be alive/healthy/happy today - would you do it?
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