4 ms·

WhatsApp (somewhat famously) had a very small engineering team, but was successful enough in the messaging space for Facebook to buy them. And it's not like ins

WhatsApp (somewhat famously) had a very small engineering team, but was successful enough in the messaging space for Facebook to buy them. And it's not like instant messaging was a field with no other working solutions before WhatsApp arrived; it succeeded despite the incumbents. I don't know if this meets your criteria for winning against unfavorable odds or not, but it does seem like that team was punching far above their weight class.

benreesman 4y ago
That’s a great example of a small, dedicated team exploiting edge to win big. I was fortunate enough to meet one or two of those folks post-acquisition (and I think the consensus is “great buy Mark”). If you were on that team I would be absolutely riveted to learn more. Were you on that team?
- azornathogron 4y ago
  I was not, nor am I anywhere near that level!
  - benreesman 4y ago
    Don’t sell yourself short! Those folks were bright hackers to be sure, but these days the best marker of a bright hacker or someone who intends to be is that they hang out on here. You can look up my join date if you want, it’s a long time ago, but when I joined up on here I was green as grass and in this field experience, practice and hard work are at least as important to outcomes as native talent. If you ever want to bat an idea around: ben dot reesman at gmail.
    - classified 4y ago
      > the best marker of a bright hacker or someone who intends to be is that they hang out on here. You had me up to this point. Great satire!
      - benreesman 4y ago
        I’m sarcastic a lot but my parent comment was completely sincere.
- grog454 4y ago
  > "great buy Mark" Am I interpreting this correctly as sarcasm? If so, it seems to suggest that the product was overvalued, the acquisition a mistake, and the "success" more to do with luck or duplicity than "lateral thinking", "high performance individuals/teams", or similar ideas brought up by the OP.
  - benreesman 4y ago
    WhatsApp is one of the best acquisitions (at least from the acquirer’s perspective) in the history of technology.
    - disgruntledphd2 4y ago
      Yeah, it created massive dominance for the acquirer, regardless of how little money it made.

benreesman 4y ago

That’s a great example of a small, dedicated team exploiting edge to win big. I was fortunate enough to meet one or two of those folks post-acquisition (and I think the consensus is “great buy Mark”). If you were on that team I would be absolutely riveted to learn more. Were you on that team?

azornathogron 4y ago
I was not, nor am I anywhere near that level!
- benreesman 4y ago
  Don’t sell yourself short! Those folks were bright hackers to be sure, but these days the best marker of a bright hacker or someone who intends to be is that they hang out on here. You can look up my join date if you want, it’s a long time ago, but when I joined up on here I was green as grass and in this field experience, practice and hard work are at least as important to outcomes as native talent. If you ever want to bat an idea around: ben dot reesman at gmail.
  - classified 4y ago
    > the best marker of a bright hacker or someone who intends to be is that they hang out on here. You had me up to this point. Great satire!
    - benreesman 4y ago
      I’m sarcastic a lot but my parent comment was completely sincere.
grog454 4y ago
> "great buy Mark" Am I interpreting this correctly as sarcasm? If so, it seems to suggest that the product was overvalued, the acquisition a mistake, and the "success" more to do with luck or duplicity than "lateral thinking", "high performance individuals/teams", or similar ideas brought up by the OP.
- benreesman 4y ago
  WhatsApp is one of the best acquisitions (at least from the acquirer’s perspective) in the history of technology.
  - disgruntledphd2 4y ago
    Yeah, it created massive dominance for the acquirer, regardless of how little money it made.