Congratulations Marco, to you and your team. Your writeup is great to read-- the history and growth of Tumblr firsthand. I'm excited to see what you all build.
Marco left Tumblr a while ago to work on Instapaper.
The One-Person Product
61–70 of 107 posts
Re: The One-Person Product
#62Classic: "I won’t be switching to dedicated day and night iPhones." hahah!
Re: The One-Person Product
#63I know very little about David Karp. But after reading this, I'm a bit surprised that he decided to sell Tumblr. The way Marco talks about David's disinterest in money, and his singular obsession with Tumblr, made me think he wouldn't even consider selling it to someone else. I'd be curious to hear his reasons for selling, as oppose to doing a strategic investment like Facebook did with Microsoft at one point.
I think that's actually the point of the piece: David is so focused on product that he doesn't want to deal with things like operations or revenue that the deal makes sense. Yahoo will take care of those things, and David can focus on the only thing he cares about, product.
This seems disingenuous to me. A key part of creating a great "product" is that it continues to support itself. Having a great product without having some sort of a revenue stream isn't being hyper-focused - it's being negligent.
Congrats to David on everything, but it seems very odd to try & separate "product" from the revenue that it should generate if it's going to be a business.
Re: The One-Person Product
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that's actually the point of the piece: David is so focused on product that he doesn't want to deal with things like operations or revenue that the deal makes sense. Yahoo will take care of those things, and David can focus on the only thing he cares about, product.
This seems disingenuous to me. A key part of creating a great "product" is that it continues to support itself. Having a great product without having some sort of a revenue stream isn't being hyper-focused - it's being negligent. Congrats to David on everything, but it seems very odd to try & separate "product" from the revenue that it should generate if it's going to be a business.
Call it "features and experience", then, not "product".
Re: The One-Person Product
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, lots of brand new yachts can be had for mere hundreds of thousands, too. I don't think Marco has actually priced them. :)
Dock fees, fuel repair costs, insurance, and the salary for a licensed captain if your Yacht is over a certain size add up. Boats are not cheap. Even "small" (anyone with a automobile license can drive it) 40ft ones. My buddy's family owns a 45 ft Yacht and the joke at the harbor is BOAT = Break Out Another Thousand. Where they dock it they pay $10 per foot per month in dock fees which is cheap for the area. 5 miles…
Well he can certainly afford day and night iPhones.
Re: The One-Person Product
#66Curious: What does the day-and-night-iPhone reference mean? [Edit: Genuine thanks for the explanation everyone, but boy am I sorry I asked.]
“I have two iPhones, one for day and one for the night. When the day phone runs out, the night phone takes over. I never have to worry.” It's an advanced Self-Important Internet Dude move. Best not imitated by amateurs.
Do be fair, he is clearly saying that he uses second phone when battery in the first one runs out.
Re: The One-Person Product
#67Curious: What does the day-and-night-iPhone reference mean? [Edit: Genuine thanks for the explanation everyone, but boy am I sorry I asked.]
it's a reference to a segment on the Accidental Tech Podcast (hosted by Marco, John Siracusa and Casey Liss) where at one point they brought up a guy (sorry I can't recall the name) who has two iPhones: one for day use and another for night use. The idea is separation of private info and work info. IIRC Marco could see some merit to it, but certainly couldn't justify the price for himself. http://atp.fm/
I bought a Samsung something-or-other Duos so that I could have a business number and my private number route to the same phone. It takes two SIM cards.
Re: The One-Person Product
#68I know very little about David Karp. But after reading this, I'm a bit surprised that he decided to sell Tumblr. The way Marco talks about David's disinterest in money, and his singular obsession with Tumblr, made me think he wouldn't even consider selling it to someone else. I'd be curious to hear his reasons for selling, as oppose to doing a strategic investment like Facebook did with Microsoft at one point.
Maybe this could explain :
http://jesuschristsiliconvalley.tumblr.com/post/50931471868/...
Re: The One-Person Product
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Reminds me of the adage that a boat is a hole in the water that you throw money into.
Or the one that says owning a boat only makes you happy two times: when you buy it and when you sell it.
Or that yachting is like standing under a cold shower tearing up £50 notes.
Re: The One-Person Product
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
That actually makes me more wary of reddit than tumblr. For others, the llinked-to reddit seems to be mostly about laughing at and sometimes harassing people on tumblr that have pride in alternative lifestyles or viewpoints.
Laughing at sure, but the people in that subreddit do not condone bullying or harrasing those people.
Except it is turning into that, like r/cringe.
r/tumblrinaction was great in pointing out the ridiculous beliefs and lengths others would go to in the name of "social justice." However, I've seen a surge in activity of making fun of overweight people[1] and even the mods breaking rule one[2]. I'm not surprised by these activities because I expect such group mentality to bring about the same kind of people that social justice warriors did. People make a mockery of "others," it's human nature.
[1]http://www.reddit.com/r/TumblrInAction/comments/1ekf0f/thin_... [2]http://www.reddit.com/r/TumblrInAction/comments/1eefjc/its_o...