Sorry if this sounds harsh, and I know he has a lot of fans out there. But this guy struck gold 5 years ago with Digg. Sure, he deserves props for this. However, he's not a developer. He's an "ideas guy" as far as I can tell. As a developer, I hate these kinds of people because more often than not their ideas suck.
In any case, what I am saying is that it seems like people in the industry get by based on one previous successful project. It doesn't matter if it happened yesterday or 10 years ago. It doesn't matter whether they had a little to do with it or a lot. It doesn't matter if they understand how to code or not. Once they have that reputation as being awesome it will stick around no matter how badly they perform after their initial success.
What could he possibly be bringing to the table with Google?
Just my two cents. I'm probably alone with this opinion, but it's extremely frustrating to see this stuff happen over and over again.
To quote pg: "A hacker who has learned what to make, and not just how to make, is extraordinarily powerful."
As a developer, it is frustrating to see fellow developers place too much importance on being able to code as a necessary ingredient for startup success.
As a hacker, I'd say that most hackers know how to make, but don't know what to make. That is to say, most startups from these type of hackers with the "if I build they will come"[1] mentality end up basically degenerating into non-profits or open-source (when their intent was to become the next big for-profit company).
To my fellow hardcore hackers. Please get over yourself and learn some non-technical skills: sales, marketing, design, product UI/UX, biz dev, getting distribution, negotiation skills, heck - some people skills! (this comment not withstanding since I'm frustrated with the comment above).
If you're going to look down on people who can't code, you should get out of your own comfort zone and do all those non-technical things I've just listed above first. Kevin Rose has a rolodex, which I'm sure has benefits to whatever his entrepreneurial venture is. You don't? Why not? Learn how to hustle.
Just because you can't code, doesn't mean you can't build a business - and vice versa - just because you can code, doesn't mean you can build a business.
I don't want to be some sort of Kevin Rose defender in this thread, but I don't think it's fair to say that he just "had an idea". He had an idea and spent years working on it, iterating and improving until Digg finally hit the big time. I think he deserves credit for that.
As a developer, I agree that some "ideas guys" suck. But some of them are fantastic, and have a huge talent in taking a core concept and fleshing out requirements, objectives and so on. Often we developers are actually really bad at that, and we end up getting distracted by endless refactoring, or bringing down response times, etc. etc.
There's a distinction to be made between "idea guys" and "product people". You're criticizing "idea guys", while it seems that Kevin Rose might be more of a product person.
The "idea guy" is the guy who comes to a developer and start with "I've got this great idea for an app…", thinks it's genius but never dives down to all the details of said-app.
A product person might or might not know how to code but s/he will(/should) be able to articulate exactly what the product should do or not, how things should work together, etc. It's common for developers to think they don't need anybody to make a good product but a great product person will make a difference.
It doesn't matter if they understand how to code or not.
Indeed. That's not their role. Understanding how to code does not a good product make. There are tons of examples of that.
However, you have a point about the industry giving a pass to people with previous successful project(s). But probably with good reason: overall there aren't that many very successful projects, so if you had one, it's still much better than a lot of people.
1) "Ideas" types do well at Google, they reward people for starting new things, not so much finishing things.
2) "it seems like people in the industry get by based on one previous successful project." - works both ways, people also get tarred with one unsuccessful project. And like success depending on how hard the fail was it can be an influence on the rest of your career.
3) "What could he possibly be bringing to the table with Google?" - this guy has 'model googler' written all over him. Seriously. Lots of ideas, lots of ways to use existing technology tied together in fun ways. If the guy can convince two or three developers at Google to help him bring an idea to fruition he'll do well.
Alexis Ohanian isn't a developer, but he's one of the names behind reddit and hipmunk. I don't think anyone would argue he hasn't had a big role in either company's success. Clearly you can be a non-developer founder without being that "ideas guy".
Kevin Rose worked his way up from being a behind the scenes IT guy to doing cameos to running the Screen Savers to founding Digg[1]. Is he a coder? No, but he's at least technical enough to find and recruit pretty good engineering talent. Moreover, he's also had strong angel investments and shown an ability to do it again with Oink (a solid product with good reviews on the App Store).
As a developer, I hate these kinds of people because more
often than not their ideas suck.
But Digg obviously did not suck as an idea. It did not achieve world domination, but it was pretty damn popular as a site for a while and the category (as exemplified by Reddit and even the Like Button) is still strong.
There are people out there to hate on, but Kevin Rose is not one of them. He would be a great product manager at Google.
What could he possibly be bringing to the table with Google?
Actually, product people with experience about trendy consumerish topics is what Google needs. Too many engineers, not enough touchy-feely people there.
That being said, based on his recent changes in directions, it doesn't sound like a long-term fit just yet. Time will tell.
Google doesn't have any engineering problems, that's for sure. They want Google+ to succeed (assuming that's what he'd be involved with), but I think it's fair to say the problems they're struggling with there are at the "idea/design" level as opposed to the actual codebase.
Say what you want about Kevin Rose in terms of things he's created, but he does have a very good eye for great ideas, see early investments in Fab, Path, Zynga, Square, Foursquare, Twitter for evidence of that.
What could he possibly be bringing to the table with Google?
Knowledge of how things fail, as much as how they are started. He's not just an ideas person, he's also a signing-the-checks person and a making-the-deals person and a catching-the-flak person. In short, a business guy.
I have never liked or used Digg so I'm not carrying any water for him. But I've had that 'I do all the work and he gets all the credit' feeling, only to realize that the difference was that I had taken a job rather than starting a business. Code is just a means to an end. Sure, architecture and good code are important, but they're important so that users don't have to care what's making it work. When I walk into a store, my life is in the hands of the architects and laborers who built the structure; and having worked in construction, I can tell you that they did a hell of a lot of hard work. However, that's incidental to my purpose in entering the store, and I don't hold it against the store owner that he didn't personally build any of the structure his business operates in.
FWIW Diggnation could be considered a second, successful, project. I consider it fairly independent of Digg, as either of them could really have operated independently.
To be fair in October of 2004 Rose interviewed Rob 'cmdrtaco' Malda and one of the questions included what Rob would have done differently with slashdot if he were to do it today. Digg appeared in December following that interview. You could argue that Rose paid someone to implement Rob's idea.
Shipping ideas is hard and is a multi phased process in which technical building is only a small portion. Finding an audience, not f'ing up your product once adopted, growing your team and letting the experts do their job without hopping in to meddle is just as difficult to do. I am not the biggest fan of how Oink was handled, but this guy clearly creates and understands leverage and in 9/10 cases that is more valuable than the perfect technical product.
Why do these people become stars? Economics suggests it's because they're already proven to some degree; eg. http://www.overcomingbias.com/2009/04/why-not-superstar-slav... summarizes a Tervio article predicting superstardom when the following conditions are met:
Desired abilities are rare and lasting.
It is very expensive to try someone new.
Everyone can see which trials worked or not.
Winners are free to demand more money or walk.
#1 is arguable whether it's true, but people seem to think it's true - any endeavour by someone like Rose comes with built-in interest & buzz. Why? Personal affection? No, because people think it's better than a random newly launched project. #2 is fairly true - how do you test someone on whether they can build a successful Facebook clone or innovate on it with less than thousands of dollars of their time and other resources (at a minimum)? #3 is pretty true, especially for web communities. #4 is very true; as Hacker News people love pointing out, it's a free country.
I agree. I hope this isn't the start of those weird campaigns where an organisation start picking up recognizable names rather than deal with fundamental failures. Google of course is no failure but it seems like I roll my eyes at Google decisions more than ever before.
Like you I have no clue what this guy brings to a company as big as Google and their products.
You would understand what he brings to the table if you had any idea how difficult it is to create "one previous successful project" on the scale of Digg. Kevin has demonstrated an ability to create something with a huge following from nothing, which is a skill set that your average Google developer does not have.
It's really tough to hit two home runs in the entrepreneurial game, but one home run is really all you need to get investors to think you will come up with another success. Kevin may be an "idea guy" but he is also a "product guy" and I think this will be his role within Google. Google's main mobile app is terrible so maybe they think he can help with this product. I personally wish Google would go back to their roots and build a simple mobile app that just has a search box.
He has the skill to assemble and lead/manage a group of quality engineers & designers. He connects people. People who want to program it, who want to invest in it and users who want to use it. His ideas might not be that great (or better put, fitting) these days but that doesn't make him less useful. He's also a thought leader and someone people look up to. He's a great asset to any company really.
Not constructive at all. As far as I can tell, Kevin Rose struck gold at building a company through his efforts. As a hacker, you may value hiring developers, promotion, etc. at zero, but Digg's users do not. I'm willing to bet many HN readers could learn something useful from Kevin Rose, no matter what his formal or informal training.
I agree on people seen as successful based on one prior successful project. I have seen it playing out a few times before. It didn't matter what the circumstances were (e.g. mostly luck) or how the story was spinned, once you can place a successful exit under your name, VC's seem to fall head over heels for you.
"What could he possibly be bringing to the table with Google?"
He makes insecure high level corporate types look successful. The guy who didn't hire a famous guy this year is going to get fired. Fame is a useful product to some people.
But isn't this like hating on the architect because he didn't actually build the beautiful building by hand? You still like the building and give the architect credit for it, not the builder(s).
Huh. It was just yesterday that they shut down Oink to "work on other ideas"- so that was a total lie? Heaven forbid they should just be straightforward about what's going on.
As someone who'd love some VC money, it's a little disheartening to see $1.7 million of it thrown around and wasted based on one person's name.
He is going to "work on others' ideas" -- i.e. Ideas that are not his own.
---
What will be really commical, is if he is going to join google with the intent to work on Google+ -- as if he were some success in the "social" play.
Remember, digg failed because it alienated the users, attempted to wrap too much UI around the content; limiting the consumption rate, and pandering to media channels.
Unless KRose can pull a magical pivot on his own visioning abilities - this would be bad.
However, I will send good thoughts his way. Let's hope we see him do something truly revolutionary to + (if that is what he is going there for) and lets hope he follows the mantra of the new Reddit CEO: "Don't Fuck It Up'
Don't expect the trend to stop, just the other day were several HN threads regarding Y Combinator accepting people without ideas. You don't even need a track record anymore, if you can create a viral video on techcrunch to show what a hustler you are somebody will probably throw some money at you.
It's like VCs watched the movie Moneyball (or read the book) and are applying what they saw to the VC world... but in reverse.
Wasn't Rose the main guy who pushed Digg over the cliff and over to Reddit with the famed v4 disaster?
Don't get me wrong, the guy did great work getting Digg to where it was, but if he was behind Digg v4 he killed it within a matter of days over a decision that no one wanted, and that puts him in a worrying position at Google if he is to work on the social aspects of the company.
Didn't he also tank publicly with Pownce? Again a service with functionality that no one really wanted, that turned up at the wrong time and was eaten alive by the likes of Twitter.
In many ways these high profile failures could be a great thing for him and Google, because the best lessons comes from those who have been there and lost it all. His acquisition could stop Google from its own "v4" moment.
"Rose has also had an impressive run as an angel investor, putting money into companies like Fab, Zynga, ngmoco, Foursquare and Twitter."
Does anyone know if Rose was one of the first few to actually invest in these companies, or did he just have the connections and put his money in while they were already "hot" companies? If the latter, I wouldn't consider it that impressive...
Details in CrunchBase: http://www.crunchbase.com/person/kevin-rose Fab (Series A), Zynga (Series B), Twitter (Series B), Foursquare (Angel). Only Foursquare looks like an Angel, the rest look more like he knows the right people and/or has the right name.
I think the term everyone here is looking for is "overrated". If you really think he is, stop talking about him and go on with your business. You're giving him the attention that you claim he doesn't deserve.
Wow, if Google did not acquire Milk outright I wonder what type of deal was worked out with the investors? There would have to be some type of upside for them otherwise KR's reputation would be seriously tarnished. "Sorry guys, remember that money you gave me to start a company?. Well no more company and I'm off to bigger and better things, K tnx Bye"
This feels like a stunt on the part of Google. They have the money to throw around at ideas at the moment; KR seems to be a beneficiary of this. They get to hire a trendy name and hope that they can turn around G+ and other services.
Say what you want but Milk has a tight team that is capable of turning out high quality apps. When you compare this to the $100m+ that (supposedly) offered Path and the $220m+ they paid for Slide then this seems like a steal.
Honestly, they are paying pennies for a team that they KNOW can produce solid product and have the personalities and operating capability to do it in a tougher environment. Adding Kevin's celebrity and understanding of social and marketing is a huge bonus that will help G+.
The allthingsd article specifically says Google is NOT acquiring Milk. They have hired Kevin Rose and a few key members of the Milk team. The techcrunch article says Milk is being acqui-hired, for $15-$30 million. I wonder which is correct.
It's nice to see the investors taken care of, if that's what happened. But it doesn't sound like Milk or Oink will survive past today.
Congrats to Kevin and all who were hired. I still stand by my position that it kinda sucks that they abandoned their customers at the drop of the hat. But at least now it makes some sense.
As his last couple startups (Digg + Milk) have seen fairly bumpy roads of late, I can't blame him for wanting to leave the startup scene in favor of a little stability, courtesy of Google.
It will be interesting to see what role he ends up playing at Google. He's not much of a developer, so I suspect his role will largely be a promotional one.
Either way, I wish him luck with this latest endeavor. Having seen the Digg implosion, followed by the failure of Oink, I hope this third venture proves to be the charm.
I'm simply surprised that Google would do this, but I guess there was a foreshadow in early November when Google Ventures invested.
I don't know what they expect to come of this move, but I'm actually, all else aside, wanting for this Google+ thing to work out. I'm actually still a fan.
As for Kevin Rose, sometimes I listen to him speak and it seems like he's on the ball and has his finger on the pulse, and at other times he just sounds dumb. I was a little bit unsure if he had an in-depth understanding of what was really going on or if he was just sounding the part, but after listening to his webcam pitch and seeing the subpar Digg v4 that came of that line of thinking, I'm going to say he doesn't really understand a thing.
But maybe that doesn't matter, because knowing the Google monster he'll probably be nothing more than a pawn. Time will tell.
On another note, Google+'s problems are reallyreally obvious to me, so I'm at a loss at to why they don't just fix things. Maybe they are trying to "stage the rollout to minimize how much they spook people," but then again what sounds reasonable and true is often reduced to nothing more than another line of politics driven BS'ing with these people.
Just get on with it already!
I have no problem with the Milk team getting an exit. I am not one to be jealous of anything like that. And all this talk about Engineer-entrepreneurs working their ass off for years and not getting anywhere doesn't make me shed a tear either. There are a few Engineers for whom things just didn't work out, but by and large if you were working on something that long and had nothing come of it, then put the hard work aside-- your product/business/positioning sucked! Get over it.
It makes sense the more that I think about it. Rose has said on his podcast and in other interviews that he regrets that Digg raised so much money. They had to focus on revenue instead of building the product. I'm sure he's a little disappointed at Milk's success thus far too.
I guess he's possibly thinking that this will give him the opportunity build a huge product that he's always wanted without having to focus on the business side. If google is funding it, he doesn't have to work on raising money or increasing revenue. He'll also have hundreds of employees that can be thrown at his project.
Like I said before[1], what is up with all this Kevin Rose hate? He has a successful portfolio, seems to have a level head, and knows about tech. All this whining about "well I'm a dev and need VC why do they give him to him?" stop thinking you deserve something and get out there and make something; like he has been proven to do time and time again.
[+] [-] xpose2000|14 years ago|reply
In any case, what I am saying is that it seems like people in the industry get by based on one previous successful project. It doesn't matter if it happened yesterday or 10 years ago. It doesn't matter whether they had a little to do with it or a lot. It doesn't matter if they understand how to code or not. Once they have that reputation as being awesome it will stick around no matter how badly they perform after their initial success.
What could he possibly be bringing to the table with Google?
Just my two cents. I'm probably alone with this opinion, but it's extremely frustrating to see this stuff happen over and over again.
/end rant
[+] [-] jayliew|14 years ago|reply
As a developer, it is frustrating to see fellow developers place too much importance on being able to code as a necessary ingredient for startup success.
As a hacker, I'd say that most hackers know how to make, but don't know what to make. That is to say, most startups from these type of hackers with the "if I build they will come"[1] mentality end up basically degenerating into non-profits or open-source (when their intent was to become the next big for-profit company).
To my fellow hardcore hackers. Please get over yourself and learn some non-technical skills: sales, marketing, design, product UI/UX, biz dev, getting distribution, negotiation skills, heck - some people skills! (this comment not withstanding since I'm frustrated with the comment above).
If you're going to look down on people who can't code, you should get out of your own comfort zone and do all those non-technical things I've just listed above first. Kevin Rose has a rolodex, which I'm sure has benefits to whatever his entrepreneurial venture is. You don't? Why not? Learn how to hustle.
Just because you can't code, doesn't mean you can't build a business - and vice versa - just because you can code, doesn't mean you can build a business.
/ end rant
[1] exception, not the rule
[+] [-] untog|14 years ago|reply
As a developer, I agree that some "ideas guys" suck. But some of them are fantastic, and have a huge talent in taking a core concept and fleshing out requirements, objectives and so on. Often we developers are actually really bad at that, and we end up getting distracted by endless refactoring, or bringing down response times, etc. etc.
There is nothing wrong with a mix of the two.
[+] [-] Timothee|14 years ago|reply
The "idea guy" is the guy who comes to a developer and start with "I've got this great idea for an app…", thinks it's genius but never dives down to all the details of said-app.
A product person might or might not know how to code but s/he will(/should) be able to articulate exactly what the product should do or not, how things should work together, etc. It's common for developers to think they don't need anybody to make a good product but a great product person will make a difference.
It doesn't matter if they understand how to code or not.
Indeed. That's not their role. Understanding how to code does not a good product make. There are tons of examples of that.
However, you have a point about the industry giving a pass to people with previous successful project(s). But probably with good reason: overall there aren't that many very successful projects, so if you had one, it's still much better than a lot of people.
[+] [-] ChuckMcM|14 years ago|reply
Specific comments on your rant:
1) "Ideas" types do well at Google, they reward people for starting new things, not so much finishing things.
2) "it seems like people in the industry get by based on one previous successful project." - works both ways, people also get tarred with one unsuccessful project. And like success depending on how hard the fail was it can be an influence on the rest of your career.
3) "What could he possibly be bringing to the table with Google?" - this guy has 'model googler' written all over him. Seriously. Lots of ideas, lots of ways to use existing technology tied together in fun ways. If the guy can convince two or three developers at Google to help him bring an idea to fruition he'll do well.
[+] [-] m0th87|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] temphn|14 years ago|reply
There are people out there to hate on, but Kevin Rose is not one of them. He would be a great product manager at Google.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Rose
[+] [-] alain94040|14 years ago|reply
Actually, product people with experience about trendy consumerish topics is what Google needs. Too many engineers, not enough touchy-feely people there.
That being said, based on his recent changes in directions, it doesn't sound like a long-term fit just yet. Time will tell.
[+] [-] goronbjorn|14 years ago|reply
Say what you want about Kevin Rose in terms of things he's created, but he does have a very good eye for great ideas, see early investments in Fab, Path, Zynga, Square, Foursquare, Twitter for evidence of that.
[+] [-] anigbrowl|14 years ago|reply
Knowledge of how things fail, as much as how they are started. He's not just an ideas person, he's also a signing-the-checks person and a making-the-deals person and a catching-the-flak person. In short, a business guy.
I have never liked or used Digg so I'm not carrying any water for him. But I've had that 'I do all the work and he gets all the credit' feeling, only to realize that the difference was that I had taken a job rather than starting a business. Code is just a means to an end. Sure, architecture and good code are important, but they're important so that users don't have to care what's making it work. When I walk into a store, my life is in the hands of the architects and laborers who built the structure; and having worked in construction, I can tell you that they did a hell of a lot of hard work. However, that's incidental to my purpose in entering the store, and I don't hold it against the store owner that he didn't personally build any of the structure his business operates in.
[+] [-] mmahemoff|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ktsmith|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spindritf|14 years ago|reply
Proof of ability trumps everything else.
[+] [-] bksenior|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gwern|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] duxup|14 years ago|reply
Like you I have no clue what this guy brings to a company as big as Google and their products.
[+] [-] musclman|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] andrewhillman|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spobo|14 years ago|reply
I wish him all the best at Google.
[+] [-] runako|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yangtheman|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fudged|14 years ago|reply
Burka has great UI skill. I really don't know what value Rose could bring to Google.
[+] [-] PagingCraig|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] codeonfire|14 years ago|reply
He makes insecure high level corporate types look successful. The guy who didn't hire a famous guy this year is going to get fired. Fame is a useful product to some people.
[+] [-] freshfey|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] veguss|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] untog|14 years ago|reply
As someone who'd love some VC money, it's a little disheartening to see $1.7 million of it thrown around and wasted based on one person's name.
[+] [-] samstave|14 years ago|reply
He is going to "work on others' ideas" -- i.e. Ideas that are not his own.
---
What will be really commical, is if he is going to join google with the intent to work on Google+ -- as if he were some success in the "social" play.
Remember, digg failed because it alienated the users, attempted to wrap too much UI around the content; limiting the consumption rate, and pandering to media channels.
Unless KRose can pull a magical pivot on his own visioning abilities - this would be bad.
However, I will send good thoughts his way. Let's hope we see him do something truly revolutionary to + (if that is what he is going there for) and lets hope he follows the mantra of the new Reddit CEO: "Don't Fuck It Up'
[+] [-] jbigelow76|14 years ago|reply
It's like VCs watched the movie Moneyball (or read the book) and are applying what they saw to the VC world... but in reverse.
[+] [-] donnfelker|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|14 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] EnderMB|14 years ago|reply
Don't get me wrong, the guy did great work getting Digg to where it was, but if he was behind Digg v4 he killed it within a matter of days over a decision that no one wanted, and that puts him in a worrying position at Google if he is to work on the social aspects of the company.
Didn't he also tank publicly with Pownce? Again a service with functionality that no one really wanted, that turned up at the wrong time and was eaten alive by the likes of Twitter.
In many ways these high profile failures could be a great thing for him and Google, because the best lessons comes from those who have been there and lost it all. His acquisition could stop Google from its own "v4" moment.
[+] [-] AznHisoka|14 years ago|reply
Does anyone know if Rose was one of the first few to actually invest in these companies, or did he just have the connections and put his money in while they were already "hot" companies? If the latter, I wouldn't consider it that impressive...
[+] [-] jgrahamc|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jgrahamc|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] revorad|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jlongster|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kenrikm|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] patrickod|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jmacd|14 years ago|reply
Honestly, they are paying pennies for a team that they KNOW can produce solid product and have the personalities and operating capability to do it in a tougher environment. Adding Kevin's celebrity and understanding of social and marketing is a huge bonus that will help G+.
[+] [-] LVB|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unreal37|14 years ago|reply
It's nice to see the investors taken care of, if that's what happened. But it doesn't sound like Milk or Oink will survive past today.
Congrats to Kevin and all who were hired. I still stand by my position that it kinda sucks that they abandoned their customers at the drop of the hat. But at least now it makes some sense.
[+] [-] _sentient|14 years ago|reply
It will be interesting to see what role he ends up playing at Google. He's not much of a developer, so I suspect his role will largely be a promotional one.
Either way, I wish him luck with this latest endeavor. Having seen the Digg implosion, followed by the failure of Oink, I hope this third venture proves to be the charm.
[+] [-] smackfu|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joelmaat|14 years ago|reply
I don't know what they expect to come of this move, but I'm actually, all else aside, wanting for this Google+ thing to work out. I'm actually still a fan.
As for Kevin Rose, sometimes I listen to him speak and it seems like he's on the ball and has his finger on the pulse, and at other times he just sounds dumb. I was a little bit unsure if he had an in-depth understanding of what was really going on or if he was just sounding the part, but after listening to his webcam pitch and seeing the subpar Digg v4 that came of that line of thinking, I'm going to say he doesn't really understand a thing.
But maybe that doesn't matter, because knowing the Google monster he'll probably be nothing more than a pawn. Time will tell.
On another note, Google+'s problems are really really obvious to me, so I'm at a loss at to why they don't just fix things. Maybe they are trying to "stage the rollout to minimize how much they spook people," but then again what sounds reasonable and true is often reduced to nothing more than another line of politics driven BS'ing with these people.
Just get on with it already!
I have no problem with the Milk team getting an exit. I am not one to be jealous of anything like that. And all this talk about Engineer-entrepreneurs working their ass off for years and not getting anywhere doesn't make me shed a tear either. There are a few Engineers for whom things just didn't work out, but by and large if you were working on something that long and had nothing come of it, then put the hard work aside-- your product/business/positioning sucked! Get over it.
[+] [-] flannell|14 years ago|reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4GYg-5AdRw
[+] [-] sks|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kacy|14 years ago|reply
I guess he's possibly thinking that this will give him the opportunity build a huge product that he's always wanted without having to focus on the business side. If google is funding it, he doesn't have to work on raising money or increasing revenue. He'll also have hundreds of employees that can be thrown at his project.
I'll be interested to see what he's up to.
[+] [-] woodall|14 years ago|reply
[1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3705015
[+] [-] hinathan|14 years ago|reply