6 ms·

VCs Who Code

40 points by inmygarage 16y ago

tptacek 16y ago
There are VC's who code. If you want to call Graham a VC (does he like that title?), there's your archetype. Then there are VC's who spend their 1-2 years in "industry" before applying to a top b-school to go into investment banking, and that industry time is spent with a software development title. Beware VC's who claim to code.
- jrockway 16y ago
  Beware VC's who claim to code. You can sort this out like you sort out anyone else who makes this claim -- "oh, what's your github page". If they use the word "gitwhat?", then you should be suspicious. If they show you their page, then there's nothing to guess about.
  - ryanwaggoner 16y ago
    Ha. Because all serious coders across all industries use GitHub, or have at least heard of it. Come on.
    - tptacek 16y ago
      I think the people downmodding jrockway are reading him way too literally. He has a point.
- joshu 16y ago
  Albert worked for me and knows how to code - I've seen it. He also has an actual CS degree as well as his PhD. I can't vouch for the rest.
malkia 16y ago
I've read about billionaire hacker (forth one?) - can't remember his name.
- eugenejen 16y ago
  Did you mean Charles Simonyi? -- edit -- I couldn't figure out why someone voted down this comment. Did I offend someone just by mentioning one name? From wikipedia: "He received his Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford in 1977 with a dissertation on a software project management technique called "metaprogramming". This approach sought to defeat Brooks' law by requiring all programmers to communicate through the manager rather than directly. Simonyi remained at PARC until 1981." And from Forbes 2006 http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_Charles-Simonyi_VMOW.html http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_Charles-Si... "Net Worth $1.0 billion Source Technology, Self made"
  - anamax 16y ago
    > "Net Worth $1.0 billion Source Technology, Self made" Didn't he make his $billion at Microsoft? If so, how is that "self made"?
    - blacksmythe 16y ago
      "self made" means not inherited from your parents.
- ig1 16y ago
  Plenty of billionaire hackers. Gates, Ellison, Bloomberg, Brin, Page, Allen, Bezos, Simonyi and many more...
  - bbgm 16y ago
    ... and D. E. Shaw, who still publishes theoretical biophysics papers (not quite a software guru, but still writes code)
DaniFong 16y ago
There's Bill Joy, too :-) http://www.kpcb.com/team/joy http://www.kpcb.com/team/joy
- mark_h 16y ago
  Just came here to check for that reference :) I'm not sure how much hacking he actually does these days though; the last interview I heard from him (a few years ago) he said that he doesn't any more but still could, and even his investment focus is on renewable and alternative energy technologies (using the luxury yacht he was building at the time as a test bed!)

40 points by inmygarage 16y ago

There are VC's who code. If you want to call Graham a VC (does he like that title?), there's your archetype. Then there are VC's who spend their 1-2 years in "industry" before applying to a top b-school to go into investment banking, and that industry time is spent with a software development title. Beware VC's who claim to code.

jrockway 16y ago
Beware VC's who claim to code. You can sort this out like you sort out anyone else who makes this claim -- "oh, what's your github page". If they use the word "gitwhat?", then you should be suspicious. If they show you their page, then there's nothing to guess about.
- ryanwaggoner 16y ago
  Ha. Because all serious coders across all industries use GitHub, or have at least heard of it. Come on.
  - tptacek 16y ago
    I think the people downmodding jrockway are reading him way too literally. He has a point.
joshu 16y ago
Albert worked for me and knows how to code - I've seen it. He also has an actual CS degree as well as his PhD. I can't vouch for the rest.

malkia 16y ago

I've read about billionaire hacker (forth one?) - can't remember his name.

eugenejen 16y ago
Did you mean Charles Simonyi? -- edit -- I couldn't figure out why someone voted down this comment. Did I offend someone just by mentioning one name? From wikipedia: "He received his Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford in 1977 with a dissertation on a software project management technique called "metaprogramming". This approach sought to defeat Brooks' law by requiring all programmers to communicate through the manager rather than directly. Simonyi remained at PARC until 1981." And from Forbes 2006 http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_Charles-Simonyi_VMOW.html http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_Charles-Si... "Net Worth $1.0 billion Source Technology, Self made"
- anamax 16y ago
  > "Net Worth $1.0 billion Source Technology, Self made" Didn't he make his $billion at Microsoft? If so, how is that "self made"?
  - blacksmythe 16y ago
    "self made" means not inherited from your parents.
ig1 16y ago
Plenty of billionaire hackers. Gates, Ellison, Bloomberg, Brin, Page, Allen, Bezos, Simonyi and many more...
- bbgm 16y ago
  ... and D. E. Shaw, who still publishes theoretical biophysics papers (not quite a software guru, but still writes code)

DaniFong 16y ago

There's Bill Joy, too :-) http://www.kpcb.com/team/joy http://www.kpcb.com/team/joy

mark_h 16y ago
Just came here to check for that reference :) I'm not sure how much hacking he actually does these days though; the last interview I heard from him (a few years ago) he said that he doesn't any more but still could, and even his investment focus is on renewable and alternative energy technologies (using the luxury yacht he was building at the time as a test bed!)