Hmm, the essay does sound like it was written by a 20 year old indeed. Unfortunate then that she is maximizing learning by going to Quora. What exactly is she going to learn at Quora? The industry has very little to offer in terms of learning unless you are in the top echelons of Google's, Microsoft's, and Facebook's research divisions. Most software and product engineering is mundane drudgery and even if there is room to learn and grow you still have to deal with workplace politics, credit stealing, jealousy, etc. All those things are detrimental to learning.
Within the first 3 months she is going to learn everything there is to learn about Quora. By her own admission she will then move on to the next learning experience until one day she will realize academia is the only place that true learning happens.
What a horribly depressing view of engineering culture.
I've dealt with very little politics, credit stealing, and jealousy as a % of my time since joining the workforce. They definitely exist, but to say they're so bad that they prevent you from learning is laughable.
I still find opportunities to grow and learn on a weekly basis. I don't work at one of the worlds top research divisions, but that's never stopped me from improving/developing myself.
"academia is the only place that true learning happens." That is one of the most delusional perspectives I have ever encountered my good sir. I'm saying this after spending time in academia.
By her own admission she will then move on to the next learning experience until one day she will realize academia is the only place that true learning happens.
Ummm.... Academics spend a lot of time in non-learning activities. As do students. Learning is a state of mind. You can learn wherever you are if you want.
Grinding is okay and sometimes necessary for a startup, but it was during this time that I realized I was not passionate about ours. ...
I tried convincing myself that "changing people’s behavior and making delivery the default way to get food" was a mission important to me. That revelation along with the fact that my learning had slowed meant that it was time to quit.
If that's really your feeling, you should be in college. Any job is like this.
Not to mention, what the hell is she doing at Quora, a stack overflow knockoff? Seems to be the wrong direction along the gradient of 'meaningful service'.
It is rare to get one infinitesimal chance (CMU), then another (Thiel Fellowship), and move on from both. She is either a genius or squandering opportunity.
Opportunities can become what you make them if you go all in, hopefully she is doing that at Quora, there are only so many opportunities in life.
CMU provides a good education that's very heavy on theory. I knew a lot of people in CS who didn't really think theory had much bearing on what they wanted to do after undergrad, and for the majority of them this will probably be true. The sad reality is that anything more interesting than having an idea and building the next social x, or ephemeral y over app-engine will probably require understanding that boring stuff from parallel or distributed quite well. I really wish the school could find a better way to provide for people mainly interested in joining industry after graduation without watering down the difficult systems/theory courses that are the foundation of a good CS education.
The real benefit of a good education should be giving you the initial knowledge and desire to become an outstanding contributor to your area of interest whether you end up in academia or industry. I know a lot of folks who missed this and viewed the specialized classes they had to take as one more roadblock before being handed a pretty piece of paper and going off to work at fb/google/etc.
>She is either a genius or squandering opportunity.
what a ridiculous meme. I guess if it works out we should praise her and if it doesn't we should lambast her. you know, for being a genius or squandering opportunity, respectively.
"However, we continued our attempts at possibly making our product work but by mid-February, we realized that we were grinding through our days. Grinding is okay and sometimes necessary for a startup, but it was during this time that I realized I was not passionate about ours."
Five months in, grinding is pretty much the job. Everybody’s passion wanes when faced with (potentially) years of hard work. It’s legit to decide you don’t want that for yourself, but it’s sad to see someone abandon a viable funded business.
As an aside, I dislike the criticism “doing a startup for the sake of a startup.” It implies that someone needs a special calling, and provides an easy out in the absence of one. “Starting a business thinking it looks easy,” might be closer to the truth.
I find it odd that anyone respects Quora when they do the horrifically annoying bullshit of hiding answers to questions you Google until you log in. They also require you to log in to view their front page (coming from Google) which is another extremely annoying trend. They are a step below Yahoo Answers in my opinion.
I think passion is a function of success. If you are not seeing any signs of "success" it is really easy to lose "passion." I think if you keep a bigger picture in focus and can bare the pain from short-term failed experiments things will work out in the future. And a good thing is you can make decisions to change your direction. :)
I'm trying to figure out if I find the focus on Learning refreshing or self-centered. I've worked with a lot of folks who optimize their lives around short term money and title. A focus on Learning will help grow both in the long term, and it is good to work with curious people. Is the highest level a commitment to customers, team and mission? Will someone optimizing for learning drop those three at the first sign of a shiny new toy?
I am little sad that she choose to accept her fellowship just for the sake of doing a startup. She probably took the spot of someone really interested in making a difference rather than hanging out at mundane events, branding yourself as "thiel fellow and startup CEO".
Good luck to her but that kind of people make me sick to my stomach.
Thiel Fellowship is all about startup-for-startup's-sake. The premise is you get more out of startup than school, or joining a company. Now this person decided Nope, I followed a lame idea with no huge biz potential, and it's time to get out. Kudos for NOT sticking to the startup for its own sake!
Maybe Thiel, with his experience, could have seen that food delivery is an insanely hard operations challenge?
[+] [-] _qc3o|11 years ago|reply
Within the first 3 months she is going to learn everything there is to learn about Quora. By her own admission she will then move on to the next learning experience until one day she will realize academia is the only place that true learning happens.
[+] [-] CaveTech|11 years ago|reply
I've dealt with very little politics, credit stealing, and jealousy as a % of my time since joining the workforce. They definitely exist, but to say they're so bad that they prevent you from learning is laughable.
I still find opportunities to grow and learn on a weekly basis. I don't work at one of the worlds top research divisions, but that's never stopped me from improving/developing myself.
[+] [-] amirmansour|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] austenallred|11 years ago|reply
I'd love to hear you defend that statement.
[+] [-] sthatipamala|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mathattack|11 years ago|reply
Ummm.... Academics spend a lot of time in non-learning activities. As do students. Learning is a state of mind. You can learn wherever you are if you want.
[+] [-] mplewis|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] madamepsychosis|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] logn|11 years ago|reply
I tried convincing myself that "changing people’s behavior and making delivery the default way to get food" was a mission important to me. That revelation along with the fact that my learning had slowed meant that it was time to quit.
If that's really your feeling, you should be in college. Any job is like this.
[+] [-] gonehome|11 years ago|reply
I'm unconvinced Quora is much better.
[+] [-] duaneb|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] drawkbox|11 years ago|reply
Opportunities can become what you make them if you go all in, hopefully she is doing that at Quora, there are only so many opportunities in life.
[+] [-] moab|11 years ago|reply
The real benefit of a good education should be giving you the initial knowledge and desire to become an outstanding contributor to your area of interest whether you end up in academia or industry. I know a lot of folks who missed this and viewed the specialized classes they had to take as one more roadblock before being handed a pretty piece of paper and going off to work at fb/google/etc.
[+] [-] logicallee|11 years ago|reply
what a ridiculous meme. I guess if it works out we should praise her and if it doesn't we should lambast her. you know, for being a genius or squandering opportunity, respectively.
[+] [-] Nate75Sanders|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ahmacleod|11 years ago|reply
Five months in, grinding is pretty much the job. Everybody’s passion wanes when faced with (potentially) years of hard work. It’s legit to decide you don’t want that for yourself, but it’s sad to see someone abandon a viable funded business.
As an aside, I dislike the criticism “doing a startup for the sake of a startup.” It implies that someone needs a special calling, and provides an easy out in the absence of one. “Starting a business thinking it looks easy,” might be closer to the truth.
[+] [-] bhayden|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zeeshanm|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] bambax|11 years ago|reply
If you've never heard the phrase "from charybde to scylla", now is the time to look it up.
[+] [-] mathattack|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cafebeen|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jak0bbbb|11 years ago|reply
Good luck to her but that kind of people make me sick to my stomach.
[+] [-] kzhahou|11 years ago|reply
Thiel Fellowship is all about startup-for-startup's-sake. The premise is you get more out of startup than school, or joining a company. Now this person decided Nope, I followed a lame idea with no huge biz potential, and it's time to get out. Kudos for NOT sticking to the startup for its own sake!
Maybe Thiel, with his experience, could have seen that food delivery is an insanely hard operations challenge?
[+] [-] justicezyx|11 years ago|reply
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