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That does not seem like a plan that will scale well. I think this kind of thing inevitably ends up like the Zuckerberg anecdote, where the CEO eventually has n

by smackfu 15y ago

That does not seem like a plan that will scale well. I think this kind of thing inevitably ends up like the Zuckerberg anecdote, where the CEO eventually has no time to code because being CEO is a full time job, but he still does it to prove he can.

bborud 15y ago
If 10gen make it big: perhaps. And then again, perhaps not. The fact that this guy spent 10 years as the CTO of a company and was still capable of producing a piece of quality software like MongoDB says that this guy is isn't quite like other people. Very few people who make it into the executive ranks (and stay there for a decade or more) manage to stay sharp enough to actually write a coherent piece of code. Much less a piece of code worth building a company on. However such people do exist. Years ago I had the pleasure of working with a fellow who was nearing retirement age. We worked on a project together and he was learning a new programming language. As the weeks passed I slowly learned that he used to be an executive, but found this work boring after some years and wanted to return to the floor as an engineer. I also learned that he worked on software for the Apollo program. I have no doubt that if 10gen become very successful he might have to dial back his level of direct involvement. But if he is the brains behind MongoDB, it would only be natural that he stayed involved in the project. As an investor I'd see this as a plus. If nothing else then because it proves the CEO does have some brains and is less likely to be a business dullard.
VBprogrammer 15y ago
I'm not sure what that anecdote was trying to say. I think the majority of the 2 hours would be getting to grips with the codebase, given that he probably hasn't had time to look at it in years. I've never seen anything to suggest that Zuckerberg is an incompetent programmer. Similarly, if you took one of the engineers and showed them the commercial agreements and reporting that Zuck would be instantly familiar with I'm sure they'd take a long time to get grips with it.
cliftonk 15y ago
It usually means that you're spending most of your 9-5 sending/receiving email, on the phone and in meetings. Then you go home and look at the commit log to see what's changed, check the issue tracker and push some commits yourself.
dextorious 15y ago
Well, 10Gen is a little smaller in scale that that Facebook company. Also, doesn't DHH code too?

by smackfu 15y ago

bborud 15y ago

If 10gen make it big: perhaps. And then again, perhaps not. The fact that this guy spent 10 years as the CTO of a company and was still capable of producing a piece of quality software like MongoDB says that this guy is isn't quite like other people. Very few people who make it into the executive ranks (and stay there for a decade or more) manage to stay sharp enough to actually write a coherent piece of code. Much less a piece of code worth building a company on. However such people do exist. Years ago I had the pleasure of working with a fellow who was nearing retirement age. We worked on a project together and he was learning a new programming language. As the weeks passed I slowly learned that he used to be an executive, but found this work boring after some years and wanted to return to the floor as an engineer. I also learned that he worked on software for the Apollo program. I have no doubt that if 10gen become very successful he might have to dial back his level of direct involvement. But if he is the brains behind MongoDB, it would only be natural that he stayed involved in the project. As an investor I'd see this as a plus. If nothing else then because it proves the CEO does have some brains and is less likely to be a business dullard.

VBprogrammer 15y ago

I'm not sure what that anecdote was trying to say. I think the majority of the 2 hours would be getting to grips with the codebase, given that he probably hasn't had time to look at it in years. I've never seen anything to suggest that Zuckerberg is an incompetent programmer. Similarly, if you took one of the engineers and showed them the commercial agreements and reporting that Zuck would be instantly familiar with I'm sure they'd take a long time to get grips with it.

cliftonk 15y ago

It usually means that you're spending most of your 9-5 sending/receiving email, on the phone and in meetings. Then you go home and look at the commit log to see what's changed, check the issue tracker and push some commits yourself.

dextorious 15y ago

Well, 10Gen is a little smaller in scale that that Facebook company. Also, doesn't DHH code too?