7 ms·
I just watched someone turn down one of these breakout companies because Microsoft offered him $30k per year more in salary—that was a terrible decision. He wi
by throwaway10001 13y ago
I just watched someone turn down one of these breakout companies because Microsoft offered him $30k per year more in salary—that was a terrible decision. He will not build interesting things and may not work with smart people.
Interesting things....like making people click on ads? Microsoft products are used by billions of people worldwide and by virtually every Fortune () company. And then we have Microsoft Research, love or hate Microsoft as company all you want but Microsoft Research is top notch. Quite a few smart people there http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Research http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Research. Maybe not as smart as Sam Altman (the OP) but smart nonetheless.
- selimthegrim 13y agoI've met and had the opportunity to learn from top people at Microsoft Research in Santa Barbara. I guarantee you Sam Altman isn't fit to tie their shoelaces. No disrespect to him and not saying he couldn't get there, but they're just in a totally different ballpark and level of problem solving and execution. They're solving problems people don't even realize they're going to have yet.
- FakeSamAltman 13y agoThey are solving problems people won't ever realize they're going to have.
- beat 13y agoBecause if Microsoft is good at anything, it's creating new problems for their users. :)
- selimthegrim 13y agoThis is a fair point. But what's that saying about talent hitting the target in front of you, but genius hitting the target no one knew was there?
- barry-cotter 13y agoI guarantee you Sam Altman isn't fit to tie their shoelaces. No disrespect to him. My ass.
- selimthegrim 13y agoWhen Sam Altman becomes a Fields Medalist or invents a new kind of particle (that was subsequently discovered!), then we can talk about the same playing field.
- barry-cotter 13y agoHe's not even trying to play the same game as them. Sam Altman 's ideal looks a great deal more like Elon Musk, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates than Djikstra. Would you consider Bill Gates fit to tie a Fields Medalist's shoelaces?
- argonaut 13y agoOkay. MSFT Research is great. It would be unreasonable to offer that as a viable alternative for even a highly gifted and ambitious (but not genius-level) 19 year old.
- throwaway10001 13y agoWhy not? If he's good to try his chance at Google like startups, why not at MSR? Can we agree that having been at MSR does wonders to your resume?