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Watch a VC use my name to sell a con

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Re: Watch a VC use my name to sell a con

#221

Post by larrys »

larrys wrote: post #100
kamaal wrote: post #77

Oh, C'mon. So I'm not supposed to work hard and get rich because as a side effect that some one else also is? My dad is a cab driver. He really works his life off. Under absolutely dismal financial conditions he and may mom have given their whole lives to bring us out of poverty. They got me and my sister decent education. They did what every poor family in India does. They worked hard, saved money, invested it and g…

"And sure they are getting rich too. He is using them and they are using him. That's how it all works. But he would not exist without them and vice versa." Your dad understands the "pecking order"and so do you. This is a good trait but not understood by everyone. You're lucky he has instilled this in you. Many people in this country don't understand this unfortunately and have a loser attitude.

Reason for down votes?

Re: Watch a VC use my name to sell a con

#222

Post by anothermachine »

tchon wrote: post #135
tpatke wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a big difference between PG and Arrington: PG states that you should be working for yourself. YC is set up to allow entrepreneurs to make money if they work hard and a big part of that is allowing a company to grow before being required to take VC money - allowing for a better valuation. Sleeping under your desk with .05% equity? Probably a bad investment. Sleeping under your desk for 45% equity? Well, roll…

Yes, 5 basis points is complete and utter crap. If you're going to work crazy hours, you might as well benefit from it proportionally. Gone are the days in tech when early employees would be rewarded for taking pay cuts in exchange for a higher amount of equity only to be completely diluted by each round of funding and the greediness of the MBA holding business founders.

Sadly, those days aren't gone. But the days where those are the only option are gone.

Re: Watch a VC use my name to sell a con

#223

Post by anothermachine »

wpietri wrote: post #212
1010100101 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Another one who should get some flack is Thiel. He may just be the worst, suggesting kids should forgo a university education and going so far as to actually debate the "issue" whether an education is "worth it". For some of these VC to make money, they have no need to see university degrees. But they have their own interests in mind. And, lo and behold, most of them have university degrees.

I haven't heard his whole pitch, but the summary version I've heard doesn't seem crazy to me. There are some fields where what really matters is talent and practical experience, not book learning. A lot of the best techies I know either have no degree or have it in something unrelated. The same is true of entrepreneurs and musicians, and probably other fields. Consider also the absurdly rising cost of education: "Med…

Except those numbers simply are not true. Sticker price is nowhere close to actual price for college. No one leaves Harvard (or any Ivy League college) with $150K in debt. Either their families can easily afford to pay the price, or Harvard picks up almost all of the tab.

Also, um, not everyone is due to be an entrepreneur. Outside of the Twitter Bootstrap startup world, the entrepreneurs need well-educated professionals to do the work, and will pay for talent.

Re: Watch a VC use my name to sell a con

#224

Post by dextorious »

rapind wrote: post #209
antirez wrote: post #168

Humans are not designed to: 1) Stay long hours sitted, immobile. It ruins your health. 2) To provide a steady high quality output in creative disciplines (writing code qualifies) for more than a 4/5 hours a day (add to this the time to do breaks, install your updates, check news sites, fix the email client, and you'll reach the 7/8 hours per day figure). It makes sense in a startup to work hard in crucial weeks, you…

I respect your opinion Antirez, but I hear so much speculation about work habits that I have to ask you: Is this your opinion / experience, or is it based on some specific research / study you can point to? As a fellow developer I'd love this to be true, however a meme / fad started during my working career in rich cultures stating that hard work isn't rewarding or is unnecessary. I question this. My father taught me…

"""My father taught me to work hard, as his father taught him, etc, and this basically states that my father was being scammed. """

He was. It's called the "protestant work ethic".

For one, you should work smart, not hard. Second, you should work hard only if you enjoy the task or you get a benefit from working harder.

Hard work in itself doesn't mean anything.

Re: Watch a VC use my name to sell a con

#225

Post by bigohms »

Joss451 wrote: post #200

I've lived through a programmer's career already. Everything was good until age 50 when my body punished me for punishing it for 25 years. Seven heart surgeries. High blood pressure. Damaged kidneys. Removal of an inner ear (from flying while ill and not getting to a doc in some place or another). Take care of your body, blokes. It's the only thing keeping your brain intact. The cummulative effect of stress over a nu…

Thanks for this

Re: Watch a VC use my name to sell a con

#226

Post by anothermachine »

nostrademons wrote: post #116
larrys wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Almost every industry out there manages to make good profits without their employees having to give up their lives." Medicine and law being two exceptions.

Note the pattern: medicine, law, and engineering are 3 industries where the employees carry significant human capital with them (finance is another one, and i-bankers also give up their lives). I suspect the reason for this is because human capital makes the payoff for additional hours worked non-linear. One cashier working 80 hours a week should be just about as productive as two cashiers working 40 hours a week (a…

The reason an employer prefers a single "80 hour" employee is because either (a) an 80-hour employee costs less than 2 40-hour employees (worker willing to be abused), or (b) there is a labor shortage (either natural or artificial (lawyers, doctors, dealmakers with connections) so there are not enough qualified/capable staff.

Re: Watch a VC use my name to sell a con

#227

Post by tdfx »

nik_0_0 wrote: post #189
kristofferR wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This may be slightly off topic, but for solving #1 a standing desk is a great idea. My energy levels have improved dramatically and I've also lost some weight since I got my standing desk.

If the human body isn't built for sitting 8 hours a day, I'm damn sure its not made for standing 8 hours a day (not mine at least!)

I've found that by standing at my desk I walk around MUCH more when I stop to think about a problem. Instead of leaning back in my chair and staring into space, I'll pace around the room and return. It doesn't seem like much, but it adds up very quickly.

Re: Watch a VC use my name to sell a con

#228

Post by anothermachine »

sector wrote: post #161
corin_ wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Afraid not (afraid I don't know, not you're wrong) - how does a VC make money if a company they invested in goes bust and shuts down?

VCs are (primarily) investing other people's money. The basic overview is this: VC raises a $100m fund that is expected to last for 10 years. They charge a 2%/yr management fee, for their work as investors. Then, they also keep 20% of the gains from their investments. So if the fund operates for 10 years and exits for $400m, my understanding is that they'd take $20m for managing the fund, plus $60m "carried interest"…

That seems insane. Why would a wealthy (and presumably intelligent) investor hand over 20% of gains to someone with no skin in the game?

I guess if the VC had a track record from which to estimate expected returns, it could be a big deal, but no one has a track record, because these business cycles are so short.

If were a multi-millionaire, why wouldn't I say "Hey Mr. VC, if you think you can turn $100M into $400M, why don't you borrow it from me and pay 10% interest?"

Re: Watch a VC use my name to sell a con

#229

Post by tdfx »

quanticle wrote: post #198
nostromo wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you guys are being unduly cynical. Thiel recently debated this on NPR ( http://intelligencesquaredus.org/index.php/past-debates/too-... ) and I found him very convincing. He repeatedly talked about the concern of young people leaving college with 200k+ in debt -- which I think is very fair.

>He repeatedly talked about the concern of young people leaving college with 200k+ in debt -- which I think is very fair. But is that a real problem? The statistics I've seen show that the proportion of students with more than $100,000 in debt is tiny . Most students graduate with ~$25,000 in debt. At that debt level, a college education is still a no-brainer. I'd be willing to argue that if you've managed to rack up…

  At that debt level, a college education is still a no-brainer.
I would argue that depends heavily on which degree you're coming out with. I know a lot of communications and psychology majors who are working in food service 3-4 years after graduating, still living at home, and getting assistance from their regretful parents who cosigned on their student loans.

Re: Watch a VC use my name to sell a con

#230

Post by dextorious »

corin_ wrote: post #136
felipemnoa wrote: post #8

>>Follow the fucking money. When a VC tells you what's good for you, check your wallet, then count your fingers. This is just gold.

It struck me more as simple than gold. If a VC that invested in a company gives them advice then obviously his goal is to make more money... but that goal will, in turn make you more money too. If you don't like the fact that a VC has the potential to make more money than you, the solution is to not take investment from one, not to ignore them after they take investment. Also remember that yes, they're not putting in…

"""It struck me more as simple than gold. If a VC that invested in a company gives them advice then obviously his goal is to make more money... but that goal will, in turn make you more money too."""

You'd be surprised...

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