luffapi

6 ms·

121.
by luffapi 5y ago
I think the vast majority of CEOs and VCs come from the upper class. At least 99% of the execs I know did.
122.
by luffapi 5y ago
I have the opposite problem with YT, I’d really like for it to offer me great suggestions so I could sit back for hours and watch, instead of having to actively search for new content. The problem is the recommendations are really narrow.
123.
by luffapi 5y ago
You do realize not everyone in our industry agrees on everything right? Tbh you seem pretty junior. PG isn’t some universally loved figure. A lot of people (successful) don’t like YC at all and think they pump out lame ideas. I’ll coach you
124.
by luffapi 5y ago
Honestly I’m not trying to be rude, sorry if it came off like that. That’s cool you like Arc, I’m a lisp fan myself (mainly Clojure). I’m just pointing out that there was a lot of innovation happening at the time and what pg did wasn’t real
125.
by luffapi 5y ago
You shouldn’t make assumptions. I’ve been a senior leader at multiple very high profile and successful startups. I’ve also founded several VC backed startups. The problem is founders absolutely read stuff like this then create toxic work en
126.
by luffapi 5y ago
I didn’t delete my reply, but I totally agree with you.
127.
by luffapi 5y ago
Just because something makes money, that doesn’t make it great. MS is a perfect example. Made a ton of money with products and predatory business practices so bad they held back innovation for years until Linux gave people an alternative an
128.
by luffapi 5y ago
My beef is that a lot of ignorant people are going to cargo cult this nonsense and create a toxic work environment for everyone. I also have an issue with hero worship, I didn’t become a technologist to prop up billionaires.
129.
by luffapi 5y ago
I guess I don’t find an online store interesting or innovative. It’s hardly the Apple II or Linux. I also wonder if a sub 100M acquisition would be considered a success by pg himself on a YC company. Have you ever heard of WebObjects? It wa
130.
by luffapi 5y ago
They make money through luck. They speak authoritatively out of ignorance. Monkeys rolling dice could do an equally good job, that doesn’t mean you should take advice from a monkey with a gambling problem.
131.
by luffapi 5y ago
Because they’re ignorant and think it matters.
132.
by luffapi 5y ago
This number counts developers. I was around back then, the number is accurate. There was not millions of people writing code in 1996.
133.
by luffapi 5y ago
There were not millions of developers back then. According to Wikipedia there were 680k developers in the US in 2000. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_engineering_demograph... Regardless, the point is that we sho
134.
by luffapi 5y ago
I love programming and know a dozen languages. I learned them for fun and didn’t consider it work. I also know people who know a little Python or JS and can make >$100k a year. You may have to learn a bare minimum to get in the door, you
135.
by luffapi 5y ago
> a place and time where three guys could build something that was better than anything out there, that people actually used This is being in the right place at the right time. In other words, luck.
136.
by luffapi 5y ago
It’s not clearly true at all. Please tell me what was “great” about Viaweb (how pg got where he is today). It was literally about being at the right place at the right time. I think you’d also be hard pressed to find someone who would call
137.
by luffapi 5y ago
That’s a great way to describe it. He sold Viaweb in the dot com bubble to a hyper ignorant Yahoo! Literally a stoke of luck and being in the right place at the right time.
138.
by luffapi 5y ago
> Would you also take the 40% reduction in post-tax, post-healthcare, post-retirement pay? Yes, and I have! What I missed most when not living in the US: * variety of everything * large appliances What I missed least: * driving/ca
139.
by luffapi 5y ago
Wealth inequality is bad in part because the wealthy then control policy and have wide ranging impact in the day to day lives of those who are not wealthy. It’s a centralization of control. The rate of incarceration is largely due to the wa
140.
by luffapi 5y ago
In what way did PG work hard? His job seems incredibly cushy to me. He even had the leisure to write his own lisp! VCs don’t work hard. They sit there and watch people grovel.
141.
by luffapi 5y ago
If VCs knew what made companies great, they wouldn’t fail 9 out of 10 times. More than any profession I can think of, VC is almost pure luck + how much wealth you already have, which attracts deal flow, which increases your odds to get luck
142.
by luffapi 5y ago
It’s important to recognize physical activity is very different from mental, creative or social activities. If you can convince people of things, you can be wildly successful. They may listen to you because you speak well, they may listen t
143.
by luffapi 5y ago
I’ve been feeling great dread lately with the direction our industry is going (has always been going tbh). This conversation gives me some sort of renewed hope though. Hundreds of people admitted hard work burned them out; seeing VCs ask to
144.
by luffapi 5y ago
Your original argument is flawed. You actually have no way of knowing if most people are “envious” of the US. That’s pure speculation on your part. We can look at numbers, if we do we see some where the US looks really good and some where i
145.
by luffapi 5y ago
The US has the 4th highest wealth inequality of any nation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_... The #1 rate of incarceration (by far): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List
146.
by luffapi 5y ago
You don’t need to work hard to acquire that much money as an engineer. You can totally coast and make market salary. The hard part is going to be having the discipline to save and live beneath your means.
147.
by luffapi 5y ago
It’s not hyperbole it’s reality. The US has the largest prison population in the world. It has massive problems with homelessness and violent crime. It has extreme wealth inequality. We have the most expensive healthcare and education in th
148.
by luffapi 5y ago
I really don’t think 99.9% of people want to pay 1K /month for health insurance or be a missed paycheck away from living on the street. Americans make a lot of money but the cost of living is through the roof and there is practically n
149.
by luffapi 5y ago
I totally agree. If you want to get ahead, you need to “hack” the system by convincing people in the upper class that you belong there too. Working hard is a great way to signal that you’re middle class labor.
150.
by luffapi 5y ago
As someone who has gone from being poor to being upper middle class via the tech industry, I can say without exception hard work had nothing to do with it. Every quantum leap in my career came from convincing some rich guy to allow me to ba

More ›