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Jerry Neumann: Resignation Letter

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Re: Jerry Neumann: Resignation Letter

#2

Post by snapcaster »

I have no idea who this person is, but I found their investment philosophy interesting food for thought. I wonder how much of their disillusionment with tech industry is due to just getting older and jaded versus an actual drop in quality/boldness/etc.

Re: Jerry Neumann: Resignation Letter

#3

Post by Pet_Ant »

> First, I’ve felt for a few years now that the startups I’m seeing don’t seem so much like progress as just shopkeeping. ... it’s just not that interesting. The excitement I had as a 14-year old in 1979 trying to understand everything there was to know about computers, because this was something that could radically improve people’s lives, ... it’s just maintaining the current status quo. It just feels, I don’t know, done.

This definitely felt true to me. All the potential of technology seems spent in computers. It seems like it's just a matter of making the existing commerce 5% faster. If I had to restart as a teenager I'd perhaps be looking into 3D printing. That seems like something that can actually make a difference. It's actually exciting. LLVMs are actually exciting, Docker/K8S, but beyond that don't know that anything really excites me.

Re: Jerry Neumann: Resignation Letter

#5

Post by nis0s »

> The excitement I had as a 14-year old in 1979 trying to understand everything there was to know about computers, because this was something that could radically improve people’s lives, ... it’s just maintaining the current status quo. It just feels, I don’t know, done.

How can anyone say this when there’s so much amazing research happening in most universities, especially in computer science and engineering. It could be that the sample of prospective startups Nuemann gets exposure to is the same few people from the same few places? There’s such a disconnect between what’s possible, what hasn’t been done, and what’s funded.

Re: Jerry Neumann: Resignation Letter

#7

Post by bsder »

> It just feels, I don’t know, done.

If you can't find something that excites you right now in the technology space, that tells me more about how boring you are than anything else.

Real Translation of VC: Wahhhh! With interest rates above zero I have to do actual work!

Re: Jerry Neumann: Resignation Letter

#8

Post by archero »

Pet_Ant wrote: post #3

> First, I’ve felt for a few years now that the startups I’m seeing don’t seem so much like progress as just shopkeeping. ... it’s just not that interesting. The excitement I had as a 14-year old in 1979 trying to understand everything there was to know about computers, because this was something that could radically improve people’s lives, ... it’s just maintaining the current status quo. It just feels, I don’t know…

I’m guessing you meant LLMs, but I choose to imagine that you’re just really excited about LLVM

Re: Jerry Neumann: Resignation Letter

#9

Post by stonogo »

nis0s wrote: post #5

> The excitement I had as a 14-year old in 1979 trying to understand everything there was to know about computers, because this was something that could radically improve people’s lives, ... it’s just maintaining the current status quo. It just feels, I don’t know, done. How can anyone say this when there’s so much amazing research happening in most universities, especially in computer science and engineering. It cou…

Your argument would benefit from some examples of amazing research. Most of what I see is better implementations of the status quo. While I am excited about CHERI and similar efforts, they're hardly revolutionary.
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