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Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy

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Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy

#261

Post by wolco »

htfu wrote: post #249
wolco wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn't ask for that information in that way. Most places would say because it's faster or why would you use anything else? Not give you any company history. Ask who makes technical decisions. Or what debt structure they have. Not why they choose aws over azure.

Assuming you're not desperate for work you're interviewing them just as much as they are you. Perfectly valid. And you clearly misunderstood what they meant by technical debt.

Your interviewing them but in this case it was a pointless question asked at the wrong time with no possibility of anything of value coming from it.

This place uses php. It's in the job description (either that or the parent had no knowledge of what the company did before the interview) so the discovery should have happened earlier in the process.

By asking that question in that way the parent poster is signaling that he is modern but at the same time saying the company isn't modern by phrasing it that way. Wanting to understand how a company makes decisions is valid. Making judgement statements through questions is not valid.

And yes misunderstood company for technical debt reference.

Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy

#262

Post by sweeneyrod »

xnyan wrote: post #119
wolco wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ability to find php developers is usually a reason to choose php. It's actually harder to find good js developers. Javascript frameworks work nicely with php acting as an api. An even better approach is a hybrid that allows you to use a framework like Vue/React or a libruary like jQuery but also allows you to use php to power your pages. This gives you the ability to have an spa per section. A common approach is to u…

Hey! New dev honestly trying to learn why PHP matters at all in 2019. Is PHP something I should stop learning JS for? In all my (very limited) experience, PHP does not solve any problem JavaScript can't, and JS is also far more in demand.

If we're talking about JS/PHP, we're talking about web development. Front-end stuff has to be done in JS (you can use something else that compiles to JS but I expect you would find that difficult with zero JS knowledge). Back-end stuff can be done in any language, although some (e.g. PHP, Ruby, Python, JS) are more common than say C++. So you can do web development using only JS. But different languages have different pros/cons/approaches, so it's definitely worth venturing outside the JS world at some point. However, if you're still relatively new to JS you should focus on getting to a decent level in that first.

Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy

#263

Post by sweeneyrod »

wolco wrote: post #98
RandallBrown wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point isn't that those choices are older and therefore worse, it's that there are now more choices. They should be able to say why they went with PHP over something else that was available at the time they started.

Why would you ask that and expect an answer? Was the person who orginally wrote the application in the room? Did you think to ask why they were using windows instead of macs? Or why leather seats? What were you hoping to get out of your question? Did you want to show the interviewer how hype you were? Were you hoping that you could educate them why using a javascript would be better? This was at an interview correct…

If they were all using windows, I think asking about that would be extremely reasonable.

Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy

#264

Post by adjkant »

jwilk wrote: post #257
the_watcher wrote: post #142

> Wag looked like tech's next Big Thing Uhh, what? No, it didn't. Even the bull case never imagined it as anything like a "next big thing."

What's "bull case"?

It's a stock term - bull vs bear: https://www.investopedia.com/insights/digging-deeper-bull-an...

Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy

#265

Post by Can_Not »

swatcoder wrote: post #172
sedachv wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Had no real way of submitting it other than emailing it to the interviewer as a zip. Being good at email (ex: not relying on GMail, knowing basic things about line length, top-posting, signature, having your own domain(s), using an actual email client instead of webmail crap, Sieve filters and mailing list management, actually knowing how mailing-list based development works and being able to use (git) patch/diff,…

On the contrary, I wouldn’t _usually_ expect a lot of value from someone who did all that. My first intuitions would be that they’re likely reluctant to make practical compromises, slow to accept norms, and that they’re prone to chasing rabbits. They might have a role on a large team or for a very specific project, but there’s be some wariness for sure.

This is going to be a person who spends all day solving every problem my business doesn't have.

Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy

#266

Post by goldenkey »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #102
ashelmire wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber works because of the rider-driver matching, not the routing. Everyone has google maps.

Gig workers can replace tax drivers because of google maps...

Which is funny in itself since Google Maps is "free." Quotes because a lot of features are buggy when your location is turned off.

Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy

#267

Post by adrianN »

ekianjo wrote: post #259
adrianN wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Human civilization can die much easier than mankind. Civilizations have collapsed multiple times before. Back then the effects were localized because civilizations were localized. In today's globalized world the effects could be much more serious.

> Civilizations have collapsed multiple times before Yeah but it's not like the variables at work before are the same at work today. With the current set of variables, even LESS likely than ever than what you call the "current civilization" would collapse completely, because it's massively decentralized in terms of knowledge.

That is of course true, but I think that the number of variables is so huge that nobody really knows why civilizations collapse. For example, while as you say knowledge is more distributed today, a lot fewer people know how to life self-sufficiently and knowledge is a lot more specialized that it used to be the cause. Proverbially nobody knows how to make a pencil from scratch.

Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy

#269

Post by hogFeast »

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #175
hogFeast wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Without overcomplicating things, Saudi are the dumbest money out there. They have no idea at all. Even the ones that have worked at IBanks, have no real understanding of basic finance (and likely only got the job so the bank could try to bribe members of their family). To get an investment, you just need to bribe the right people...that is how they invest (I used to know two very junior royal family members, they…

Why not just put it index funds? If you already have far more money than you need, the average market rate of return should be acceptable. There's no need to try and 10x or 100x without, well, losing all of it, since the type of investments with that potential high of an upside are incredibly risky. Don't bet the farm.

Too much money. Once you pass a certain amount of money, it is very hard to diversify because you are such a large share of the market. I am not exactly sure where this number lies nowadays but once you pass $10bn or so, you can't own much outside the S&P500 without running into liquidity problems.

The only market with infinite liquidity is US Treasuries (that is where the Chinese put their $3trn of foreign currency reserves). Mortgage-backed were liquid until GFC, and liquidity in corporates is falling because dealers can't carry inventory (afaik, not expert...MBS pre-GFC was ultra liquid for sure though and seen as an alternative to USTs).

The Saudis own $150bn here (and growing because of Trump/MBS relationship apparently) but I think the issue the Saudis have is that they have a fucking huge budget deficit. There are tons of people on do-nothing, civil servant jobs (mainly royal family members), they have to spend a ton on defence (ostensibly against external threat but the royal family is terrified of an uprising too), and they spend a ton on welfare to buy popularity.

They are definitely investing for a return.

Re: Dog-walking startup Wag raised $300M, then things got messy

#270

Post by htfu »

wolco wrote: post #261
htfu wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming you're not desperate for work you're interviewing them just as much as they are you. Perfectly valid. And you clearly misunderstood what they meant by technical debt.

Your interviewing them but in this case it was a pointless question asked at the wrong time with no possibility of anything of value coming from it. This place uses php. It's in the job description (either that or the parent had no knowledge of what the company did before the interview) so the discovery should have happened earlier in the process. By asking that question in that way the parent poster is signaling tha…

Now I get you, completely fair. I think that would mostly come down to tone though.
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