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I will never understand how startups like this get money with such incompetent leadership. Look at how this Famo.us office tour showcases the waste: https://ww

by n7c3c1 11y ago

I will never understand how startups like this get money with such incompetent leadership. Look at how this Famo.us office tour showcases the waste: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imc1p_laIt4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imc1p_laIt4

nsxwolf 11y ago
TechCrunch Cribs... didn't know that was a thing. Glamorizing startup offices gives me a very 1999, bubble-y feeling.
RyJones 11y ago
That is amazing. They have so much extra space, so much money, that they let startups live with them - in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the US. Basically they were funding a dozen or so startups with power pipe and food. I wonder if they got any equity out of that?
k__ 11y ago
One of the most cringeworthy videos I watched this year...
- tothepixel 11y ago
  Woh, they play with nerf guns at the office! How kewl!
argonaut 11y ago
Once you sell a search technology company for $100M (good luck with that), you too will be able raise ridiculous amounts of money for your next technology venture. It totally makes sense.
orthoganol 11y ago
Maybe because I'm no longer in my early 20's, something about agreeing to be an employee in that environment, e.g. staying late for "1st and 2nd dinners", for something you didn't found, just feels humiliating.
lubos 11y ago
Office tour video nails it. Beer dispenser? 6-foot printer so staff can print their ideas in high resolution? Having 60 non-employees to live with them for free? And I'm pretty sure this is not even scratching the surface of non-sense that must have been going on there. Even the TV host said it right in the video "This is crazy!"
artursapek 11y ago
I've always disliked Techcrunch but I'm starting to realize how valuable their "Cribs" series is. They have the very best documentation of a dying culture of spoiled founders aimlessly running startups like a daycare for adults. I wonder how much longer people are going to be pulling this off for. Investors need to wise up and start giving their money to people who are mature enough to be modest and efficient with their company's resources before they've proven themselves as a business.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- argonaut 11y ago
  I seriously get the feeling people are just looking for any excuse to criticize Famous. I don't see what's wrong with their office. What's objectionable? A couple of $5 nerf guns? A cheap Lego board for project tracking? Or is it the fact that people aren't packed in as tight as they are at a place like Facebook (which is ironically something people on HN love to criticize)? The crappy makeshift studio they have? Seriously. Their office seems pretty normal. The only thing you might find objectionable is the expensive SF location, which the article notes they got on the cheap at below-market rates, or the printer (the printer is probably only 1-2 thousand dollars, less than a Macbook).
  - 7Figures2Commas 11y ago
    Yeah, I don't see what's wrong either. The CEO is a fantastic interior designer. And his LinkedIn self-summary[1] is a real piece of art in its own right. I find it hard to believe any of what this former employee wrote[2]. [1] https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenewcomb https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenewcomb [2] http://techcrunch.com/2015/11/06/nopen-source/?fb_comment_id=1000213700000381_1000304419991309 http://techcrunch.com/2015/11/06/nopen-source/?fb_comment_id...
    - argonaut 11y ago
      A non sequitur. I said there's nothing wrong or particularly wasteful with the office. I didn't comment on the company at all (the company is clearly in the dumps).
jbigelow76 11y ago
While I find the majority of that video as absurd as everyone else (it seemed like something out of Mike Judge/HBO's "Silicon Valley") I have to admit the Lego burn down project tracking board thingy was pretty cool.

by n7c3c1 11y ago

nsxwolf 11y ago

TechCrunch Cribs... didn't know that was a thing. Glamorizing startup offices gives me a very 1999, bubble-y feeling.

RyJones 11y ago

That is amazing. They have so much extra space, so much money, that they let startups live with them - in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the US. Basically they were funding a dozen or so startups with power pipe and food. I wonder if they got any equity out of that?

k__ 11y ago

One of the most cringeworthy videos I watched this year...

tothepixel 11y ago
Woh, they play with nerf guns at the office! How kewl!

argonaut 11y ago

Once you sell a search technology company for $100M (good luck with that), you too will be able raise ridiculous amounts of money for your next technology venture. It totally makes sense.

orthoganol 11y ago

Maybe because I'm no longer in my early 20's, something about agreeing to be an employee in that environment, e.g. staying late for "1st and 2nd dinners", for something you didn't found, just feels humiliating.

lubos 11y ago

Office tour video nails it. Beer dispenser? 6-foot printer so staff can print their ideas in high resolution? Having 60 non-employees to live with them for free? And I'm pretty sure this is not even scratching the surface of non-sense that must have been going on there. Even the TV host said it right in the video "This is crazy!"

artursapek 11y ago

I've always disliked Techcrunch but I'm starting to realize how valuable their "Cribs" series is. They have the very best documentation of a dying culture of spoiled founders aimlessly running startups like a daycare for adults. I wonder how much longer people are going to be pulling this off for. Investors need to wise up and start giving their money to people who are mature enough to be modest and efficient with their company's resources before they've proven themselves as a business.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
argonaut 11y ago
I seriously get the feeling people are just looking for any excuse to criticize Famous. I don't see what's wrong with their office. What's objectionable? A couple of $5 nerf guns? A cheap Lego board for project tracking? Or is it the fact that people aren't packed in as tight as they are at a place like Facebook (which is ironically something people on HN love to criticize)? The crappy makeshift studio they have? Seriously. Their office seems pretty normal. The only thing you might find objectionable is the expensive SF location, which the article notes they got on the cheap at below-market rates, or the printer (the printer is probably only 1-2 thousand dollars, less than a Macbook).
- 7Figures2Commas 11y ago
  Yeah, I don't see what's wrong either. The CEO is a fantastic interior designer. And his LinkedIn self-summary[1] is a real piece of art in its own right. I find it hard to believe any of what this former employee wrote[2]. [1] https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenewcomb https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenewcomb [2] http://techcrunch.com/2015/11/06/nopen-source/?fb_comment_id=1000213700000381_1000304419991309 http://techcrunch.com/2015/11/06/nopen-source/?fb_comment_id...
  - argonaut 11y ago
    A non sequitur. I said there's nothing wrong or particularly wasteful with the office. I didn't comment on the company at all (the company is clearly in the dumps).

jbigelow76 11y ago

While I find the majority of that video as absurd as everyone else (it seemed like something out of Mike Judge/HBO's "Silicon Valley") I have to admit the Lego burn down project tracking board thingy was pretty cool.