considering that Google's acquisitions are about about technology as much as about talent, and the fact that you hired another guy to help you with coding it is possible that they expected a team behind the technology to join them, but were disappointed when learned that you hired outsiders to help with building that technology.
How I Screwed Up My Google Acquisition
81–90 of 106 posts
Re: How I Screwed Up My Google Acquisition
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
"could care less" is actually wrong -- it literally means that you do actually care about the thing in question.
You are correct, of course. It is so frustrating that I've justified it for the incorrect as a shortening of: I could (exhibit that I) care less (because I do care less than I currently exhibit). Or, as a matter of giving the benefit of the doubt: I could (exhibit that I) care less (because I am, through effort, caring more right now than I would naturally).
How about, "I care so little that I can't even be bothered to properly pronounce that I couldn't care less."
or
"I could care less" is actually sarcasm which implicates that caring is obviously unlikely.
Both statements display a stronger degree of uncaring than "I couldn't care less" which is actually a pretty boring and to the point statement. Therefore I find "I could care less" to be the clear winner to indicate how little I actually care.
In summary, "I could care less".
Re: How I Screwed Up My Google Acquisition
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
"could care less" is actually wrong -- it literally means that you do actually care about the thing in question.
The common use of "nonplussed" means exactly the opposite of the intended meaning. It may be wrong, but it's generally understandable in context. I'd argue "could care less" works the same way.
You're not wrong. It's totally understandable within context.
Bill: "Hey Ted, check out my fancy landing / lead acquisition page for a product that doesn't exist yet".
Ted: "I could care less"
Bill: "Hold up a minute there chief. Are you saying that you do care? I'm so confused..."
Re: How I Screwed Up My Google Acquisition
#84I (a UK developer) just dealt with a company who were interested in my Pretext software, which finds text in images. I rang at 2PM their time when I rang, and when his development committee finally rejected me after a month of waiting, he said "You have written very capable and useful software - however, we want to develop in-house", I was polite and said goodbye, etc. Everything to gain. Nothing lost but a couple tr…
I didnt realise there was a market for that sort of software. I wrote a pile of it some time ago for my thesis and never did anything with it. Perhaps I should dust it off like you and try selling it.
Re: How I Screwed Up My Google Acquisition
#85Man, that royally sucks. I can't add too much to the conversation except to say that I hope your AppIgnite system works out to be a nice hit. I heard you on some podcast recently and it sounds pretty neat.
Re: How I Screwed Up My Google Acquisition
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
Getting pissed is also a good example, imo
In England that can mean either way, depends entirely on context.
Only because of the importation of the American version via movies/tv.
A pissed american will hit you. A pissed englishman will fall over.
Edit : the correct English term is 'pissed off'. As in 'he pissed me off by going to the pub and getting pissed'.
Re: How I Screwed Up My Google Acquisition
#87A somewhat similar story: around the same time I was working on Numbler, a collaborative spreadsheet that I launched (unluckily) a couple of months before google spreadsheet went live. Numbler had some cool features that would enable you to see real time changes from other collaborators, see dynamic updates when someone else changed cell formulas, integration with internet data sources, etc.
I got the attention of Google and was flown into NYC for an interview / talk with the spreadsheet team. Similarly, I was also a one man shop since my founder had bailed on me and left for Google 3 months prior! Things went pear shaped when I failed to get through the algorithm gristmill. I had one poor interview with a beaver/rat ringed kid who was eager to demonstrate his intellectual superiority (or so it felt at the time).
The frustrating part is that as an entrepreneur your thoughts are ranging from how to make money/business model to UI design to backend engineering. I was expecting that the googlers would at least show some interest in Numbler - but that wasn't how the meetings were structured. The google PM (Fuzzy was his name) was interested, but seemed hamstrung by the google process. Google never asked me about any of the tricks I used work to build the UI, COMET style networking for responsiveness, etc.
In retrospect, Numbler was an acquisition play and needed a much better strategy and larger vision to succeed. I did end up with a google NYC t-shirt...
Re: How I Screwed Up My Google Acquisition
#88A somewhat similar story: around the same time I was working on Numbler, a collaborative spreadsheet that I launched (unluckily) a couple of months before google spreadsheet went live. Numbler had some cool features that would enable you to see real time changes from other collaborators, see dynamic updates when someone else changed cell formulas, integration with internet data sources, etc. I got the attention of Go…
Yeah, I remember Numbler! It sounds like a very similar story except that you just got a little further down the road. If you'd be willing to tell it in more detail it would be fun to interview you on the podcast I co-host - TechZing (www.techzinglive.com). If you think you might be interested then please send me an email.
Re: How I Screwed Up My Google Acquisition
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
That was my first thought. If you get a call from these guys, you tell them "I'll be in town next week, when would you like to meet for 20 minutes?"
Yep. Some things have to be done face to face.
Hell, I'd say more than some. It seems to me that real business gets done on the phone and in person, much more than anywhere else in the digital realm (email, social media, etc). If someone isn't willing to take your call, then they probably aren't serious enough. If they aren't willing to meet face to face, then it's more of the same.
Re: How I Screwed Up My Google Acquisition
#90Man, that royally sucks. I can't add too much to the conversation except to say that I hope your AppIgnite system works out to be a nice hit. I heard you on some podcast recently and it sounds pretty neat.
Thanks for that. I'm trying to apply a lot of the lessons I learned from Preezo and I think it's going to make the difference. Also, I think have a good blog post brewing on the subject, so stay tuned. ;)