jmastrangelo

7 ms·

1.
by jmastrangelo 6y ago
Not sure why you got downvoted. I think Tesla is a great company, but these valuations suggest they're going dominate transportation in a way no car manufacturer ever has. Even if that is possible, which I'm not sure it is, the fu
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by jmastrangelo 6y ago
Don't forget that Intel had a few decades where nearly all software was written for their x86 chips. This reinforced every computer needing to have intel, and only recently has the move to web apps made it easier for devices to use som
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by jmastrangelo 6y ago
I highly recommend the book 7 Powers by Hamilton Helmer. Helmer defines "Power" as the ability to retain meaningful profit margins for a meaningful period of time. Each of the 7 Powers is a method he has seem companies use to reta
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by jmastrangelo 6y ago
Focusing on the gear seems like a cheap and easy solution compared to fixing training and accountability, the actual root of the issue.
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by jmastrangelo 6y ago
Agreed, the goal isn't to replace transit in places that are well suited to it, its to provide better transportation in all the places transit isn't well suited.
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by jmastrangelo 6y ago
I'd argue that in its more general form, its absolutely axiomatic. Humans are mortal, in order to preserve our life, we have to put in a considerable amount of effort. There is no organization of society that negates this truth. Mainta
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by jmastrangelo 6y ago
It seems to me that when it comes to growing and scaling their successful products, Google is data-driven. However when bringing new products to market Google basically has been driven by what leadership thinks is interesting/important
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by jmastrangelo 6y ago
Haha, hello fellow Northeastern student and disciple of Matthias! Lots of interesting things to read on his page.
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Funding Building, an Alternative to VC Investment for Innovation(medium.com)
1 points by jmastrangelo 6y ago|0 comments
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by jmastrangelo 6y ago
I don't agree that Uber's business model is fundamentally "rotten and antisocial". Short range point to point transport (cabs) was awful before Uber and Lyft. The rides are easier to get, the drivers are less likely to s
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
Definitely would add Bezos and Musk. Bezos is one of the most managerially/business astute CEOs and Musk is able to will futuristic companies basically out of thin air.
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
I think these analogies are way way older than Iraq, and I'd bet they exist in cultures all over the world. War is probably the most intense part of the human experience, and using War analogies lends easy power to your statements.
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
All of the mechanics available to the Fed and Politicians are large imprecise tools. Regular people still have unmet needs and successful businesses are still started all the time to meet those needs.
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
Ime past a certain point years of experience doesn't seem to improve one's programming ability. Even in large organizations promotions tend to slow after reaching senior engineer as the job becomes more about people management tha
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
But a central tenet of Communism was dismantling all other social structures like religion. Modern technology under capitalism may be destroying these social structures over time, but communism did actively. This whole comment just reeks of
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
Don't understand why you're being downvoted. Surviving and thriving in the world requires lots of material goods. These goods are produced by the economy so of course you have to participate in it in order to live. A world where p
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
Its not a straw-man its a very real comparison if you think about a physical copy of content vs a digital copy. When you bought a dvd in stores you paid more than the $5 it cost to manufacture, ship and store the physical medium. You payed
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
He's not saying you're acting entitled towards the content, (ie you'll throw a fit if you can't pirate it). He's saying you're acting entitled towards being morally justified in downloading the content for free
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
Not true if the cost is too low to justify creators continuing to invest in such works.
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
I don't see how changing the commodity from media to rice improves your argument, if anything it weakens it. Of course people who grow your food need to be compensated for it! Otherwise they'll stop growing your food. You're
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
> Except when you pay money for TV, movies or video games, your money either doesn't go to the artists behind it, or very little of it does. Rather, the money goes to the investors who funded the work, or the publisher contracted wi
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
Isn't more the opposite? In Europe (well at least Germany, Europe is big) don't students get split up between a vocational track and university track pretty early in their educations? Even going to different kinds of high schools.
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
Often yes but in this case I don't think so. These guys are worth _billions_. It would be financially imprudent to not cash out a little bit purely for diversification and buying a nice house or two. If you'rea a founder in a worl
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
But what happens when you can't raise taxes any further? Or the high taxes shrink the motivation of the people running businesses to expand their businesses. The money has to come from somewhere or you _will_ have runaway inflation.
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
I find it funny that people scorn the pursuit of economic profits, but complain that the other "better" activities aren't given economic rewards. Ultimately "Corporate Profits" produce the economic value that people
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
Nearly every country on Earth that has bought into the Capitalist system has become far better off than they were 100 years ago, not just the richest countries in the world. I agree that "No true Capitalism" is just as bad a falla
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
Is that true though? "service with a smile" and "The customer is always right" are notions I've seen far far more in the US. I think its more of a cultural thing than an effect of tipping, but service in the US is u
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
NYC and SF both have tremendous advantages that Nashville doesn't, Nashville needs to compete. I don't know if NYC and SF are examples of good governance, or examples that show great cities can support lots of poor governance as l
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
Essentially then, you're advocating for FB's core infra to become a competitor to AWS/Azure/GCP? I guess I just don't see why this is necessary at all. Company 2 is essentially exactly the same as FB would be now if
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by jmastrangelo 7y ago
Outside SV, Seattle and NYC it pretty much does still pay middlingly. But these same places that don't compete with SV on pay also often don't have an many resources for the startup oriented as well.

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