4 ms·

And this right here folks is why a startup is so extraordinarily stressful, why PR agencies exist, and why a squeaky wheel gets the grease. Think about it: tha

And this right here folks is why a startup is so extraordinarily stressful, why PR agencies exist, and why a squeaky wheel gets the grease. Think about it: that post (and the comments by robyn_b below, an account which was registered 20 minutes ago) goes out of its way to SEO-ify for keywords related to the founder, his company's name, and related variables. This is the risk you run with every single customer service interaction -- that the guy on the other side won't just be content to take his ball and go home if you can't meet his demands, but will try to foment a mass movement against you to put you out of business. Good service is unfortunately not a panacea for this problem. Suppose that 99.9% of your customers are satisfied, but you have millions. Then you've got thousands of disgruntled people out there, and bad news travels fastest. The lesson, ultimately, is that you simply can't respond in a human way to someone attacking your baby. You need call centers and roboscripts and a first layer of customer service, such that if a customer decides to attack you on the internet, a manager can jump in, offer concessions, and make it all better. Doing it any other way means that you run the risk of a candid response becoming a capital crime.

petercooper 16y ago
such that if a customer decides to attack you on the internet, a manager can jump in, offer concessions, and make it all better. You can still 'jump in' and try to 'make it all better' as a solo founder or a larger startup without call centers and 'roboscripts.' The updates to the linked article show that this didn't occur in the short-term here, despite the publicity.
samengland 16y ago
I'm the author of the article and I can honestly say that "SEO for keywords related to the founder, his company's name, and related variables" is not what we're trying to do. The article is simply speculation about what having a founder with this kind of attitude might mean - and it's also speculation as to the direction Tumblr is heading in under the leadership of David Karp. I just found it quite interesting. On a personal level I also found it disgusting how they treated William, a dedicated user of Tumblr who has never had a bad thing to say about the service until now - so I thought I'd speak out about it.
- ramanujan 16y ago
  Mr. England, your post went on for thousands of words psychoanalyzing the guy and his motives ("abruptly...knee-jerk response...defensive...something to hide....care-free and cavalier...", and so on ad nauseum). Something about the tone set off my metal detectors, as did the comments by robyn_b here, which reminded me of the way people on 4chan work someone's name into a sentence to make sure that it's the number one hit on Google. Sure enough, looking into this a little more, it actually isn't as surprising. From your site: http://postdesk.com/hiring/ http://postdesk.com/hiring/ PostDesk is looking for fresh new talent in the UK, Europe, the USA and Canada. We require web developers who are proficient in PHP and MySQL - and ideally those who have worked with CMS systems, bulletin board style software or social networking software....In short, the start-up will be based around news, discussion and debate. Ok, so you run a competing startup in the same space and saw an opportunity to poke a finger in the eye of a rival. Don't you think that merits an up front disclosure in bold font?
  - samengland 16y ago
    We're not in the same space. PostDesk, as you should be able to see is a site where editorial/opinion pieces such as the one you've just read are posted. Unfortunately you're trying to uncover a conspiracy which isn't there - though I'll gladly answer any further questions you might have...
    - kmfrk 16y ago
      You should, amongst other things, definitely write a disclaimer that describes your friendship with William, as he reveals[1]. It might as well be a hit piece as plain sloppy, speculative writing - if Karp had a nickel for every (unanswered) question mark in that article, he'd secure himself another $40 million. [1]: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2152210 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2152210: > prestia: > If this is William, what relationship do you have with PostDesk? It seems peculiar to take an exchange like this and forward it to a total unknown rather than one of the larger sites. I'm not saying I don't believe this happened, but I'm rather skeptical by nature. > > wtildesley: > I'm a friend of the owner.

petercooper 16y ago

such that if a customer decides to attack you on the internet, a manager can jump in, offer concessions, and make it all better. You can still 'jump in' and try to 'make it all better' as a solo founder or a larger startup without call centers and 'roboscripts.' The updates to the linked article show that this didn't occur in the short-term here, despite the publicity.

samengland 16y ago

I'm the author of the article and I can honestly say that "SEO for keywords related to the founder, his company's name, and related variables" is not what we're trying to do. The article is simply speculation about what having a founder with this kind of attitude might mean - and it's also speculation as to the direction Tumblr is heading in under the leadership of David Karp. I just found it quite interesting. On a personal level I also found it disgusting how they treated William, a dedicated user of Tumblr who has never had a bad thing to say about the service until now - so I thought I'd speak out about it.

ramanujan 16y ago
Mr. England, your post went on for thousands of words psychoanalyzing the guy and his motives ("abruptly...knee-jerk response...defensive...something to hide....care-free and cavalier...", and so on ad nauseum). Something about the tone set off my metal detectors, as did the comments by robyn_b here, which reminded me of the way people on 4chan work someone's name into a sentence to make sure that it's the number one hit on Google. Sure enough, looking into this a little more, it actually isn't as surprising. From your site: http://postdesk.com/hiring/ http://postdesk.com/hiring/ PostDesk is looking for fresh new talent in the UK, Europe, the USA and Canada. We require web developers who are proficient in PHP and MySQL - and ideally those who have worked with CMS systems, bulletin board style software or social networking software....In short, the start-up will be based around news, discussion and debate. Ok, so you run a competing startup in the same space and saw an opportunity to poke a finger in the eye of a rival. Don't you think that merits an up front disclosure in bold font?
- samengland 16y ago
  We're not in the same space. PostDesk, as you should be able to see is a site where editorial/opinion pieces such as the one you've just read are posted. Unfortunately you're trying to uncover a conspiracy which isn't there - though I'll gladly answer any further questions you might have...
  - kmfrk 16y ago
    You should, amongst other things, definitely write a disclaimer that describes your friendship with William, as he reveals[1]. It might as well be a hit piece as plain sloppy, speculative writing - if Karp had a nickel for every (unanswered) question mark in that article, he'd secure himself another $40 million. [1]: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2152210 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2152210: > prestia: > If this is William, what relationship do you have with PostDesk? It seems peculiar to take an exchange like this and forward it to a total unknown rather than one of the larger sites. I'm not saying I don't believe this happened, but I'm rather skeptical by nature. > > wtildesley: > I'm a friend of the owner.