MailChimp’s founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers’ needs • Hacker News Board

Re: MailChimp’s founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers’ needs

#221

Post by joatmon-snoo » Thu, Oct 06, 2016, 6:34 AM UTC

michaelcampbell wrote: post #152

SwellJoe wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a counterpoint: My family is in Atlanta (well, just outside of it), and it's probably my least favorite major American city. The traffic is out of control (and has possibly the rudest drivers in the whole country), McMansions and suburban sprawl are a way of life (my brother-in-law has an hour long commute to his near-downtown office, and keeps an office in his house so he doesn't have to drive down every day), an…

> and has possibly the rudest drivers in the whole country) There are 2 truths I've found, having lived outside Chicago, Manhattan, Atlanta (in 3 different areas), Orlando, Tampa, and Los Angeles: 1. Wherever you are, people think the drivers there are worse than other places. 2. Wherever you are, people think the weather changes more frequently there than other places. I have NEVER lived, and rarely visited places (…

I've road tripped through Atlanta at least a few times now, and without fail, no matter where the other people in the car are from, Atlanta drivers always inspire misery.

Re: MailChimp’s founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers’ needs

#222

Post by napsterbr » Thu, Oct 06, 2016, 7:45 AM UTC

jonstokes wrote: post #30

And then somehow they managed to totally disregard their customers' needs and screw everyone with the Mandrill changeover. Seriously, has everyone forgotten that fiasco? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11170713 I'll never trust them or use them again, after that. No way no how.

+1, really bad move. I'll never use or recommend anything from Mailchimp ever again

Re: MailChimp’s founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers’ needs

#223

Post by joshmn » Thu, Oct 06, 2016, 8:05 AM UTC

ryguytilidie wrote: post #143

echelon wrote: post #37

The Atlanta tech scene is blossoming, just like our film industry. We have a couple of incubators, including a few that are funded/supported by Georgia Tech. The cost of living here is super cheap, and there are brilliant and talented people everywhere. We have satellite offices for tons of major tech companies, so there are traditional tech jobs too. Earning $200k here while the cost of living is so low is phenomina…

I always see posts like this on HN. Whether its Portland, NYC, Chicago, Philly, Atlanta, Austin, etc etc etc. Why do people feel like they need to "convince" others else to move to the place they live or that the startup scene is "more real" than they currently believe?

Pride is a thing.

Having said, don't come to Minnesota. Any of you. It is not nice here at all.

I like my little slice of paradise.

Re: MailChimp’s founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers’ needs

#224

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Re: MailChimp’s founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers’ needs

#225

Post by shostack » Thu, Oct 06, 2016, 10:21 AM UTC

55555 wrote: post #77

ilamont wrote: post #17

“MailChimp’s path was circuitous, and it came without the glory of enormous funding rounds.” It’s time to retire the idea that raising money equals “glory.” It’s not a measure of business success as much as it is a measure of founders being able to convince rich people to back them. As we know from the "XX is shutting down" stories that regularly grace HN, many if not most tales of massive fundraising success will ev…

moz.com is a good example of raising bad money. They had an excellent core product and thus a business worth millions, then raised money to try to take over the world. It turns out they couldn't take over the world, so now all they have is the same core product and business they had prior to raising money, except now they also have dozens of millions of dollars of VC preference in the event of an acquisition. I've to…

Not to mention stress that crippled the founder Rand.

Re: MailChimp’s founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers’ needs

#226

Post by kalleboo » Thu, Oct 06, 2016, 10:58 AM UTC

55555 wrote: post #73

adekok wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unless you have a revolutionary product, the bigger competition will likely stomp over you unless you have resources to grow your team and product and marketing. Or if you are comfortable with a small market share but a profitable one. Case in point, me. I started FreeRADIUS in 1999. Started making money in 2007. Incorporated in 2008. I now have multiple offices, multiple employees, and good growth. No investment.…

> I started FreeRADIUS in 1999. Started making money in 2007. It sounds like you did essentially take venture capital, and you were the investor.

That's a big difference though, since you only have to answer to yourself, and rise up to your own expectations.

Re: MailChimp’s founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers’ needs

#227

Post by enkiv2 » Thu, Oct 06, 2016, 11:50 AM UTC

echelon wrote: post #37

The Atlanta tech scene is blossoming, just like our film industry. We have a couple of incubators, including a few that are funded/supported by Georgia Tech. The cost of living here is super cheap, and there are brilliant and talented people everywhere. We have satellite offices for tons of major tech companies, so there are traditional tech jobs too. Earning $200k here while the cost of living is so low is phenomina…

Is the article implying that Atlanta is special? I feel like if you intend to start a (non-localized) business, anywhere is better than SF, and the lower the cost of living the better.

Re: MailChimp’s founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers’ needs

#228

Post by dec0dedab0de » Thu, Oct 06, 2016, 12:27 PM UTC

michaelcampbell wrote: post #152

SwellJoe wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a counterpoint: My family is in Atlanta (well, just outside of it), and it's probably my least favorite major American city. The traffic is out of control (and has possibly the rudest drivers in the whole country), McMansions and suburban sprawl are a way of life (my brother-in-law has an hour long commute to his near-downtown office, and keeps an office in his house so he doesn't have to drive down every day), an…

> and has possibly the rudest drivers in the whole country) There are 2 truths I've found, having lived outside Chicago, Manhattan, Atlanta (in 3 different areas), Orlando, Tampa, and Los Angeles: 1. Wherever you are, people think the drivers there are worse than other places. 2. Wherever you are, people think the weather changes more frequently there than other places. I have NEVER lived, and rarely visited places (…

And I'm wondering if you've ever been to south Jersey

When I was younger my friends and I would drive way more aggressively whenever we saw out of state plates. We thought it would be funny if they went home with horror stories.

Re: MailChimp’s founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers’ needs

#229

Post by chris_7 » Thu, Oct 06, 2016, 12:29 PM UTC

simonbarker87 wrote: post #178

chris_7 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have never signed up for a mailing list[1], e.g. gone to a "sign up for my newsletter" page and clicked "I would like to subscribe to your newsletter". I've been signed up for them implicitly after making a purchase, etc., but I consider this spam and flag it as such. [1] OSS mailing lists don't count.

Fair enough, that is spam in that case. Your initial comment didn't specify that you have never signed up for a mailing list (except for open source software, which is a mailing list) which I think puts you in the minority of people.

OSS mailing lists shouldn't be considered the same thing because I can send mail to them, and anyone else can as well. They are discussion forums carried out via email.

Mailing lists in the Mailchimp sense are just unwanted advertising in what I view as a communication medium - the equivalent of IRS scammer robocalls.

Re: MailChimp’s founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers’ needs

#230

Post by michaelcampbell » Thu, Oct 06, 2016, 1:15 PM UTC

defen wrote: post #182

michaelcampbell wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and has possibly the rudest drivers in the whole country) There are 2 truths I've found, having lived outside Chicago, Manhattan, Atlanta (in 3 different areas), Orlando, Tampa, and Los Angeles: 1. Wherever you are, people think the drivers there are worse than other places. 2. Wherever you are, people think the weather changes more frequently there than other places. I have NEVER lived, and rarely visited places (…

> I'm wondering if you've ever been to south Jersey or Boston, if you think Atlanta drivers are rude. I spent the first 24 years of my life in south Jersey and never perceived the drivers as particularly rude, especially compared to Boston ... can I ask where specifically?

Hoboken, Jersey City, EWR.

I think there is a cultural bias at work here somewhat, too. Wherever you learned to drive seems normal, even if it is way different than other places.

I think this is why Orlando and Atlanta are perceived as the wild west of driving; very few people are FROM there. Everyone brings their driving norms from wherever they learned, and they don't often mix well.