21–30 of 35 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I used to think the Max Klein posts were somewhat inspirational, but at this point I just assume he's pulled a '419' on everyone. There's a healthy dose of fiction mixed into whatever facts may be contained in his blog posts.
Why do you describe my blog as '419'?
419 = scam/fake/fraud (loosely)
(I tossed my login details but i'm the same guy who posted this http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1353050 ) The best lie is a half truth. "Max" the reason people read your articles is because you've said you make $40K a month from niche iphone apps. Mark (lets drop the pretense) you sound like you have read Positioning by Ries, A. and Trout,J ( http://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Battle-Your-Al-Ries/dp/044... ). Your…
So what? HN also rabidly follows a guy that sells bingo cards. It's not about what you do, what's interesting is how you do it, and the story you tell doing that.
Project management and bug tracking software is pretty boring, if you ask me. But the lessons from joel and 37s are anything but boring.
In fact, I would be very interested in blogs from someone who runs a sucessful porn site, just because the challenges involved are emblematic of any startup -- how do you acquire customers in such a commoditized market? How do you keep them coming back, how do you monetize them? The technical side (scaling, etc) would make for good reading, too.
(I tossed my login details but i'm the same guy who posted this http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1353050 ) The best lie is a half truth. "Max" the reason people read your articles is because you've said you make $40K a month from niche iphone apps. Mark (lets drop the pretense) you sound like you have read Positioning by Ries, A. and Trout,J ( http://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Battle-Your-Al-Ries/dp/044... ). Your…
> That's only half the story though isn't it? The reality is your $40K a month is made from these apps ( http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/feather-moor-ltd/id3053457... ) 1 star apps with content ripped from sites like ehow.com. So what? HN also rabidly follows a guy that sells bingo cards. It's not about what you do, what's interesting is how you do it, and the story you tell doing that. Project management and bug t…
HN rabidly follows a guy who tells us he sells bingo cards, and who actually sells bingo cards. It's interesting to hear him talk about it, because when he tells us about a challenge he overcame, it's a legitimate challenge to his actual business.
Is "Max" telling us the truth about his actual business, and telling us actual lessons learned and challenges overcome, or just spinning clever tales? BlackwoodHolt seems to think it's mostly clever tales, and Max hasn't done a good job of dispelling that yet.
I, too, would be interested to hear from someone who ran a successful porn site. But I wouldn't want to hear lessons about making a living on bingo cards from someone who actually made their money at porn and only had a tiny bingo card business on the side.
(I tossed my login details but i'm the same guy who posted this http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1353050 ) The best lie is a half truth. "Max" the reason people read your articles is because you've said you make $40K a month from niche iphone apps. Mark (lets drop the pretense) you sound like you have read Positioning by Ries, A. and Trout,J ( http://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Battle-Your-Al-Ries/dp/044... ). Your…
> That's only half the story though isn't it? The reality is your $40K a month is made from these apps ( http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/feather-moor-ltd/id3053457... ) 1 star apps with content ripped from sites like ehow.com. So what? HN also rabidly follows a guy that sells bingo cards. It's not about what you do, what's interesting is how you do it, and the story you tell doing that. Project management and bug t…
If he was upfront like patio11 (the bingo card guy) i would never of done any digging. However everything i've seen from Mark seems like a calculated manipulation to be viewed in a certain way.
patio11 appears to genuinely be here to share. Marks actions appear to be about building an audience for some unknown future purpose (ebook?,conference talks?,who knows).
(I tossed my login details but i'm the same guy who posted this http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1353050 ) The best lie is a half truth. "Max" the reason people read your articles is because you've said you make $40K a month from niche iphone apps. Mark (lets drop the pretense) you sound like you have read Positioning by Ries, A. and Trout,J ( http://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Battle-Your-Al-Ries/dp/044... ). Your…
> That's only half the story though isn't it? The reality is your $40K a month is made from these apps ( http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/feather-moor-ltd/id3053457... ) 1 star apps with content ripped from sites like ehow.com. So what? HN also rabidly follows a guy that sells bingo cards. It's not about what you do, what's interesting is how you do it, and the story you tell doing that. Project management and bug t…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> That's only half the story though isn't it? The reality is your $40K a month is made from these apps ( http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/feather-moor-ltd/id3053457... ) 1 star apps with content ripped from sites like ehow.com. So what? HN also rabidly follows a guy that sells bingo cards. It's not about what you do, what's interesting is how you do it, and the story you tell doing that. Project management and bug t…
I completely agree, the point i was trying to make with those examples was that those people are up front in how they made their money. Mark is not, he either outright avoids the question or claims that he is doing niche applications and revealing them would destroy his business. If he was upfront like patio11 (the bingo card guy) i would never of done any digging. However everything i've seen from Mark seems like a…
Now, if he just outright lied, well then that's shameful. I think the digging that you have done is really interesting, but this whole thing is starting to feel like a witch hunt. He might work under pseudonyms, sure, but at least his apps/etc seem legit.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> That's only half the story though isn't it? The reality is your $40K a month is made from these apps ( http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/feather-moor-ltd/id3053457... ) 1 star apps with content ripped from sites like ehow.com. So what? HN also rabidly follows a guy that sells bingo cards. It's not about what you do, what's interesting is how you do it, and the story you tell doing that. Project management and bug t…
> HN also rabidly follows a guy that sells bingo cards. HN rabidly follows a guy who tells us he sells bingo cards, and who actually sells bingo cards . It's interesting to hear him talk about it, because when he tells us about a challenge he overcame, it's a legitimate challenge to his actual business. Is "Max" telling us the truth about his actual business, and telling us actual lessons learned and challenges overc…
Don't get me wrong, I think the investigative work going into this is interesting and it is adding another dimension to this Max character. But HN, lighten up. This place takes everything so seriously it's almost stodgy sometimes.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I completely agree, the point i was trying to make with those examples was that those people are up front in how they made their money. Mark is not, he either outright avoids the question or claims that he is doing niche applications and revealing them would destroy his business. If he was upfront like patio11 (the bingo card guy) i would never of done any digging. However everything i've seen from Mark seems like a…
Yes, Max/Mark/whoever is maddeningly vague sometimes. I'm not disputing that. I do think his paranoia is a bit unwarranted, but he does seems to value privacy. Now, if he just outright lied, well then that's shameful. I think the digging that you have done is really interesting, but this whole thing is starting to feel like a witch hunt. He might work under pseudonyms, sure, but at least his apps/etc seem legit.
His apps are legit, in that they exist but they do appear to contain content scraped from internet without any apparent attribution. Given the random mix of sources i don't think he has written permission from demand media (ehow.com) or the other random places the content comes from. His revenue claims may or may not be true, or may HAVE been true.
I will point out one last thing.
This app (http://appshopper.com/education/paintings-you-should-know) now deleted "Paintings you should know", was previously uploaded to the feather moor account. The one app that appeared on Maxs now deleted "Cube Of M" site was this "Art you should know" (http://itunes.apple.com/app/art-you-should-know/id356153267?...) its obviously the same app.
Notice "Seller:Mark-Anthony Essien", so that links Max to Mark.
More importantly though his second name is Anthony not Max or Klein (like he claims in that blog article).
This combined with Marks willingness to actually meet people in real life as Max makes me question why he writes and his end goal with his writings and half truths.
I'll leave it there, people have the information that is out there and that was my only goal posting these messages, to inform.
(I tossed my login details but i'm the same guy who posted this http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1353050 ) The best lie is a half truth. "Max" the reason people read your articles is because you've said you make $40K a month from niche iphone apps. Mark (lets drop the pretense) you sound like you have read Positioning by Ries, A. and Trout,J ( http://www.amazon.com/Positioning-Battle-Your-Al-Ries/dp/044... ). Your…
If there is an aspiring journalist in the audience, now would be a good time to track down Mr. Essien and the various other players involved, interview them and put together a definitive account of as much as is known. It would make a decent cover article for Fast Company, or do it as a blog with raw information dumps and crowdsourcing the factchecking.
It's all rather undramatic, I'm afraid.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> That's only half the story though isn't it? The reality is your $40K a month is made from these apps ( http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/feather-moor-ltd/id3053457... ) 1 star apps with content ripped from sites like ehow.com. So what? HN also rabidly follows a guy that sells bingo cards. It's not about what you do, what's interesting is how you do it, and the story you tell doing that. Project management and bug t…
I completely agree, the point i was trying to make with those examples was that those people are up front in how they made their money. Mark is not, he either outright avoids the question or claims that he is doing niche applications and revealing them would destroy his business. If he was upfront like patio11 (the bingo card guy) i would never of done any digging. However everything i've seen from Mark seems like a…
I'm writing because I've been writing on the internet since 1999, and on this website for more than 3 years.
I write, not because it's a big conspiracy or I'm trying to sell you vitamin pills that will allow you pleasure your woman all night, but because I enjoy writing. It's just a hobby - there is no commercial gain - no ads, no trying to sell you my products, no conferences, etc.
That's why 37signals and all those people write. They are selling you shit. I'm not - I'm just a normal hobbyist blogger.
There is really no conspiracy, and the details of my life are unfortunately quite boring - the interesting parts I've already written out as stories.