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Marissa is one of the smartest people I have ever been around. Most of my knowledge comes from running in neighboring circles at Stanford. The (then) girl just

Marissa is one of the smartest people I have ever been around. Most of my knowledge comes from running in neighboring circles at Stanford. The (then) girl just had an amazing ability to remember things, get things, and analyze them. She also has outstanding social intelligence, and a bit of a reality distortion field. Of course she chose the rocketship in 1999 while the rest of us fumbled around in the dot com bust. She always had the knack of picking the right place to be at the right time, and the talent (or ability to bs) that she could get noticed when she needed to. The yahoo thing was the worst misstep I've seen her take, but she got paid $200 million to take the risk, and I'm working for peanuts. So who is the smart one? Edited to add: There is exactly zero chance she remembers me. But everyone I hung around remembers her. She has a very strange ability to be remembered.

tardo99 8y ago
I've known Marissa since Stanford too, and you're wrong. I'm not sure if you're lying or what, but you're wrong. Edit: Before you pile on, I'm rich too. Not as rich as her but rich enough not to take issue with her for that reason. The reason people remember Marissa is she was pretty. End of story.
- compiler-guy 8y ago
  Apparently our experiences in her orbit were pretty different. That doesn't mean I'm lying, and I don't think you are either. I have no idea what your experience is, and I have absolutely no reason to lie. I doubt Marissa could pick me out of a police lineup if her life depended on it. But I watched her kick ass at Stanford--both socially and intellectually--and it takes more than a pretty face to do that.
  - tardo99 8y ago
    If you went to Stanford in that era, then you know that Symbolic Systems was basically "Computer Science Lite."
    - compiler-guy 8y ago
      Which she crushed, and then she moved on and crushed the master's level courses. And then got a job at Google. Of all the dot-com companies hiring on campus at the time throwing million dollar opportunities at new graduates, she picks the unicorn. At some point it isn't luck anymore. Anyway, I'll agree to disagree here. The post I originally responded to was a question about what is so special about her. I only know what I saw when I could observe her. That my observations differ from yours is OK with me.
      - tardo99 8y ago
        Fine. It's not luck after college. Then how do you explain her string of failures at Yahoo? It starts being luck again at age 35?
        compiler-guy 8y ago
        Life is complicated. Being very smart is no guarantee of success. I’ve never claimed that she was infallible or perfect. Even Gary Kasparov, Genoa Auriemma, and the Golden State Warriors fall off their perch eventually. It doesn’t mean they aren’t damn good at what they do.
        ido 8y ago
        I think it's very likely nobody is "lying" (why would they?) and still get conflicting opinions. It's not always easy to get a faithful picture of somebody's character (especially not if that someone wants you to get a certain view of them). I've had people I've casually (sometimes in a business context) interacted with on several occasions & gotten a very positive impression, only to late be told a lot of negatives from people who knew them better. One guy in particular was praised by my boss (also his ex-boss at the time), confirming my positive impression & years later a coworker of mine who worked under that person had a very negative view of them... There are several possibilities but I think the most likely is a combination of 1. people act differently in different contexts 2. the same person can be good at one position/time and bad at another 3. people are not always honest with you & especially if they're good at it can come across the way they wish.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

tardo99 8y ago

I've known Marissa since Stanford too, and you're wrong. I'm not sure if you're lying or what, but you're wrong. Edit: Before you pile on, I'm rich too. Not as rich as her but rich enough not to take issue with her for that reason. The reason people remember Marissa is she was pretty. End of story.

compiler-guy 8y ago
Apparently our experiences in her orbit were pretty different. That doesn't mean I'm lying, and I don't think you are either. I have no idea what your experience is, and I have absolutely no reason to lie. I doubt Marissa could pick me out of a police lineup if her life depended on it. But I watched her kick ass at Stanford--both socially and intellectually--and it takes more than a pretty face to do that.
- tardo99 8y ago
  If you went to Stanford in that era, then you know that Symbolic Systems was basically "Computer Science Lite."
  - compiler-guy 8y ago
    Which she crushed, and then she moved on and crushed the master's level courses. And then got a job at Google. Of all the dot-com companies hiring on campus at the time throwing million dollar opportunities at new graduates, she picks the unicorn. At some point it isn't luck anymore. Anyway, I'll agree to disagree here. The post I originally responded to was a question about what is so special about her. I only know what I saw when I could observe her. That my observations differ from yours is OK with me.
    - tardo99 8y ago
      Fine. It's not luck after college. Then how do you explain her string of failures at Yahoo? It starts being luck again at age 35?
      - compiler-guy 8y ago
        Life is complicated. Being very smart is no guarantee of success. I’ve never claimed that she was infallible or perfect. Even Gary Kasparov, Genoa Auriemma, and the Golden State Warriors fall off their perch eventually. It doesn’t mean they aren’t damn good at what they do.
        ido 8y ago
        I think it's very likely nobody is "lying" (why would they?) and still get conflicting opinions. It's not always easy to get a faithful picture of somebody's character (especially not if that someone wants you to get a certain view of them). I've had people I've casually (sometimes in a business context) interacted with on several occasions & gotten a very positive impression, only to late be told a lot of negatives from people who knew them better. One guy in particular was praised by my boss (also his ex-boss at the time), confirming my positive impression & years later a coworker of mine who worked under that person had a very negative view of them... There are several possibilities but I think the most likely is a combination of 1. people act differently in different contexts 2. the same person can be good at one position/time and bad at another 3. people are not always honest with you & especially if they're good at it can come across the way they wish.
deleted 8y ago
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