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Six Degrees of YC Separation

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Re: Six Degrees of YC Separation

#31

Post by wolco »

microcolonel wrote: post #10
jadbox wrote: post #8

I thought that since this author's startup is sorta a 'reddit for politics', I'll plug my own startup (currently self-funded) which is a 'chatroulette/duolingo for politics': https://dinnertable.chat/

Cool, seems like it'd attract exactly the people who don't need it though. ;- ) I'll sign up I think! Edit: While I was signing up, I tried copying the verification code from the email, and it copied with the period from the email, so when I pasted it into the site it didn't work. Maybe put a zero-width space in there (U+200B) or ditch the period altogether. ;- ) Edit 2: The "start login" page didn't work the first t…

Not the author but good feedback for all.

Montserrat doesn't support OpenType number variants which causes a flicker.

Re: Six Degrees of YC Separation

#32

Post by garmaine »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #30
garmaine wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Valve.

Rumor has it that the environment is toxic, and that a hierarchy and tribalism formed in the vacuum of leadership and a defined culture. https://www.reddit.com/r/valve/comments/8zmp07/former_valve_...

Perhaps true... but they are wildly successful as a company (if profits == success). There are a few other examples of flat organizations out there that have been successes, including Github (for a while).

Re: Six Degrees of YC Separation

#33

Post by watwut »

lbotos wrote: post #5
kamac wrote: post #3

> Hiring people that have a track record of taking projects from inception to delivery and who actively seek out projects to own is critical Doesn't that regard the first few early hires (who'd take some form of senior/management positions later on)? For me a person who delivers projects means somebody who's very involved in the process; somebody that calls significant decisions about the product. Should all hires be…

> Should all hires be like that? Isn't being able to execute the tasks you're assigned enough? If you manage to build an org where everyone is a self-starter who takes on projects from ideation to delivery repeatedly you work in a crazy awesome env. There are some people that are really good at getting work done, but if you don't give them a clearly defined task, they will flounder. When you are in startup land, most…

Such or will have horrible politics as all those autonomous people fight with each other over who will call the shots and who will control non-existent resources.

There is handling uncertainty and there is organizing workplace to maximise unceirtenity. You described the latter.

Re: Six Degrees of YC Separation

#34

Post by webmaven »

gav wrote: post #11
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would go one step further and say if you have full of go getters, some might get bored when the inevitable “just execute the assigned tasks” work comes up. This is what I hear happening at Google a lot: they only hire A players, but many get bored (and eventually leave) when they are assigned B or C-level work that needs to get done.

I was visiting a large successful startup that had a "no managers" mantra--they hired engineering A players who were expected to work on the right things. It turns out that people want to work on the fun and challenging tasks. Nobody put the effort into the billing system and they were doing a poor job of collecting money from their customers. That's the thing about any organization, there's plenty of grunt work and…

Well, that can still work out if an A player is hired that thinks billing is an interesting problem to work on (Money! Whoo!), and in general, folks that, when given "boring" grunt work, will automate the heck out of it.

This does require attention to diversity of thought and background, but not necessarily the sort that results in B and C players being hired.

Re: Six Degrees of YC Separation

#35

Post by microcolonel »

jadbox wrote: post #23
microcolonel wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cool, seems like it'd attract exactly the people who don't need it though. ;- ) I'll sign up I think! Edit: While I was signing up, I tried copying the verification code from the email, and it copied with the period from the email, so when I pasted it into the site it didn't work. Maybe put a zero-width space in there (U+200B) or ditch the period altogether. ;- ) Edit 2: The "start login" page didn't work the first t…

"seems like it'd attract exactly the people who don't need it though" I know you're joking a little, but aren't the people that hold incorrect beliefs exactly the type of people that need an emotional way to connect to others (the opposites) that are informed to resolve these differences? Often I find that people with strongly held views are able to reach small compromises via personal communication, rather than any…

> I know you're joking a little, but aren't the people that hold incorrect beliefs exactly the type of people that need an emotional way to connect to others (the opposites) that are informed to resolve these differences?

I agree whole-heartedly, and I've seen this happen a lot on Twitter (though clearly it is not the norm there, from what most people say). My point was more that you'll have to work pretty hard to find and attract people who actually need your platform, because being closed-minded is seemingly what got them into that mess in the first place.

Re: Six Degrees of YC Separation

#36

Post by jadbox »

wolco wrote: post #31
microcolonel wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cool, seems like it'd attract exactly the people who don't need it though. ;- ) I'll sign up I think! Edit: While I was signing up, I tried copying the verification code from the email, and it copied with the period from the email, so when I pasted it into the site it didn't work. Maybe put a zero-width space in there (U+200B) or ditch the period altogether. ;- ) Edit 2: The "start login" page didn't work the first t…

Not the author but good feedback for all. Montserrat doesn't support OpenType number variants which causes a flicker.

Thanks for the help, I'm not sure what you mean exactly by 'OpenType number variant' flicking, however I've since updated the countdown clock with a monospace font.

Re: Six Degrees of YC Separation

#37

Post by jadbox »

microcolonel wrote: post #10
jadbox wrote: post #8

I thought that since this author's startup is sorta a 'reddit for politics', I'll plug my own startup (currently self-funded) which is a 'chatroulette/duolingo for politics': https://dinnertable.chat/

Cool, seems like it'd attract exactly the people who don't need it though. ;- ) I'll sign up I think! Edit: While I was signing up, I tried copying the verification code from the email, and it copied with the period from the email, so when I pasted it into the site it didn't work. Maybe put a zero-width space in there (U+200B) or ditch the period altogether. ;- ) Edit 2: The "start login" page didn't work the first t…

Update: thanks again for all the suggestions! Here's what I've done...

re Edit) removed the period, hopefully that helps

re Edit 2) fixed the 404 issue: was a rare bug

User flow) I've now added Guest Pass login which will improve user flow in areas. I'm curious what exactly are some of the flow issues you hit more specifically.

re Edit 3) I switched to a monospaced font for the timer :)

EDIT #A: I've made the "signup/login" banner button to navigate to the registration page (with option to see login) instead of the login page by default. This should a much better flow as most users clicking the button will be those registering. Thanks for the tip!

Re: Six Degrees of YC Separation

#38

Post by jadbox »

microcolonel wrote: post #35
jadbox wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"seems like it'd attract exactly the people who don't need it though" I know you're joking a little, but aren't the people that hold incorrect beliefs exactly the type of people that need an emotional way to connect to others (the opposites) that are informed to resolve these differences? Often I find that people with strongly held views are able to reach small compromises via personal communication, rather than any…

> I know you're joking a little, but aren't the people that hold incorrect beliefs exactly the type of people that need an emotional way to connect to others (the opposites) that are informed to resolve these differences? I agree whole-heartedly, and I've seen this happen a lot on Twitter (though clearly it is not the norm there, from what most people say). My point was more that you'll have to work pretty hard to fi…

> My point was more that you'll have to work pretty hard to find and attract people who actually need your platform,

Revisiting this: I've curious if you have any suggestions on how you might try to solve this problem?

Re: Six Degrees of YC Separation

#39

Post by jadbox »

tlow wrote: post #12
jadbox wrote: post #8

I thought that since this author's startup is sorta a 'reddit for politics', I'll plug my own startup (currently self-funded) which is a 'chatroulette/duolingo for politics': https://dinnertable.chat/

Putting a log in requirement to even see what your app does may provide a filter on usage that you don't want. While there may be advantages, I think you'd be hard pressed to overcome the drop off from potential users who will bounce. Furthermore, you're not delivering a clear value proposition "JOIN THE CONVERSATION you're invited to our dinner party beta". And then you have an ambiguous call to action "start login"…

Just an update, couple things:

I took your feedback and added a guest login to the site to help reduce the bounce. I've also updated the banner with a better 1-liner about the platform.

So now dinnertable.chat has a simple progressive engagement flow, although it can still be polished a lot... but I'm hoping this will help.

Thanks again for all your feedback, and please do let me know if you have more! :]

Re: Six Degrees of YC Separation

#40

Post by jadbox »

jadbox wrote: post #37
microcolonel wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cool, seems like it'd attract exactly the people who don't need it though. ;- ) I'll sign up I think! Edit: While I was signing up, I tried copying the verification code from the email, and it copied with the period from the email, so when I pasted it into the site it didn't work. Maybe put a zero-width space in there (U+200B) or ditch the period altogether. ;- ) Edit 2: The "start login" page didn't work the first t…

Update: thanks again for all the suggestions! Here's what I've done... re Edit) removed the period, hopefully that helps re Edit 2) fixed the 404 issue: was a rare bug User flow) I've now added Guest Pass login which will improve user flow in areas. I'm curious what exactly are some of the flow issues you hit more specifically. re Edit 3) I switched to a monospaced font for the timer :) EDIT #A: I've made the "signup…

Another update: I've made the "signup/login" banner button to navigate to the registration page (with option to see login) instead of the login page by default. This should a much better flow as most users clicking the button will be those registering. Thanks for the tip!
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