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Techcrunchywag
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- martythemaniak 18y agoI like Matt's blog, he brings a much needed bit of realism to places like HN without going into Uncov's over-the-top contrarianism.
- zain 18y agoDespite what a couple bloggers might say, I don't think anyone is actually angry at "Team Cyprus" for having a vacation. More so, it is a feeling of jealousy/admiration that they were able to enjoy themselves at a time when many of us are in state of worry and fear. Calling it the end of web 2.0 might be too much, but you have to appreciate the juxtaposition in some of the most beautiful and successful people in the valley partying on an island paradise while the world that made them so successful is crashing down.
- mattmaroon 18y agoBut that's the thing, nothing in the valley came "crashing down" except maybe the net worth of some investors, who just went from obscenely wealthy to very wealthy. And maybe TechCrunch's standards. Buildings are all still standing. Almost every company that was in business yesterday is still in business today. There've been a few layoffs, but those were due to issues stemming a while back. Everything is, for the most part, the way it was two weeks ago. It'd be one thing if there was an 8.2 Earthquake. But the Dow dropping?
- davidw 18y agoI think the pessimistic view is that we've seen the explosion, but the sound and shock wave haven't hit, yet, due to the different speeds at which they travel. Frankly, I've given up attempting to have any idea what to think. I'm not a doom'n'gloomer by nature, but it's clear that there are some strange things afoot at the Circle K. So I've decided to just get on with life and see how things develop. I'm watching the financial stuff and election with an eye to going back to the US...
- mattmaroon 18y agoThat's probably true, but I'm just not feeling a slow impending downturn in investment dollars makes it wrong for people to have fun on vacation.
- tdavis 18y agoMatt, I'm worried about you. I don't think your level of alarm is sufficient. When those buildings do start falling over, you won't be prepared! It basically goes Dow drop -> Earthquake -> Zombies. Those of us who realize that are just trying really hard to help our fellow Americans by posting article after unsubstantiated article with our thoughts on how exactly the world is about to end. Stop undermining this important public service, sir!
- mattmaroon 18y agoWow, I hadn't thought about Zombies. Thanks.
- tdavis 18y agoNo prob. Just remember, shoot them in the head, okay? Otherwise, you'll just embarrass yourself. After careful analysis of various sciences I have determined we have 17-19.5 days to prepare for Zombie Judgement Day. Don't fuck this up.
- mattmaroon 18y agoHmm, with the Brady Bill and all that, I'm not sure I can get a shotgun in that amount of time. There really should be laws allowing for looser gun control whenever Zombies are a near-term possibility.
- tdavis 18y agoI agree, but nobody ever said life would be easy. Baseball bats, golf clubs, these things work in the meantime. I mean, sooner or later your neighbor with a shotgun is going to get his face eaten, at which point you can grab his. Pistols work too (.45 or high caliber recommended) in the short term.
- einarvollset 18y agoWhat's wrong with a good old fashioned stake through the heart? I know commodities are falling, but fuck, lead is still pricey!
- fourlittlebees 18y agoNo, a lot of people ARE angry about it, and not because of the money. The Web 2.0 crowd have been singing "It's not a bubble" for years. Some of us who lived through 1.0 knew better. Not taking it seriously, not realizing a company HAS to have revenue to survive, and that VC is not a revenue stream has contributed to this meltdown. It's hubris, and the video is an example of it. Not to mention a Wall Street Journal reporter - WALL STREET JOURNAL - is hanging out drinking with the people she's supposed to be covering objectively and making stupid drunken videos. It's a massive fail on all counts.
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- thomasmallen 18y agoJust curious, being a Valley outsider (Washingtonian): How common is the startup that finds the middle ground between working to the bone (trying desperately to be the next Google/Yahoo/Microsoft and secure massive VC) and the expect-nothing-back, RMS-enamored open source group? Because that's where I'd like to be: A tech shop that cares about turning a profit, but that's equally concerned with innovation and just having a good time. It seems to me that many people affiliated with the startup scene are way too dollar-driven or take themselves too seriously.
- mattmaroon 18y agoIf you have investors, you have a responsibility to them to be dollar-driven. If you don't, then you're pretty much free to do whatever you wish. People in every sphere take themselves too seriously I think. Everything is life or death the the people involved.
- il 18y agoExactly. Unless you're working on an open source project, you're building a business. The core purpose of any business is to maximize value for your shareholders- that's business school 101. If innovating or having fun are means to maximize value, then that's what you should do, but I don't know how any startup that doesn't keep its eye on the prize($$$) can be succesful.
- thomasmallen 18y agoThat is, if you're a traded company. And to parent's parent, that is, if you have investors. It's the assumption that the most noteworthy prize is "$$$" that I think needs to be reconsidered, but that of course depends on who's in the company and what their priorities are. If what you're doing is significant, I think that at some point profits will be a given if you stay small and nimble.
- mattmaroon 18y agoI don't think it's impossible to have fun while still attempting to build a profitable enterprise. Most startuppers I know seem to enjoy the process enough that they would just do another one if their current one tanked. It beats working a job by a long shot.
- mcargian 18y agoI agree, the content on techcrunch continues to tend towards random wild opinion instead of tech startup coverage. From Arrington's summer of hate for twitter, to the current sky is falling, its becoming impossible to stay interested.
- andyking 18y agoIt's in danger of coming out of my Google Reader, I've already got plenty of other sources for startup and tech news in there and I'd rather read the personal blogs of people with interesting opinions than the mass-produced tripe being churned out by TechCrunch at present. TC is wearing out my "J" button and I can't afford another. There's a credit crunch on, you know.
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- volida 18y ago"least get a heads-up on a Turkish vacation" I'd like you to correct that. Cyprus is GREEK! It has been for the past 3000 years. Welcome to my home country.
- helveticaman 18y agoI think this blog thing might be getting to Matt Maroon's head.
- ivankirigin 18y agoIsn't Cyprus the most heavily militarized land in the world, being contested by the turks, greeks, and locals? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus "The island is de facto partitioned into four main parts:[4] * the area under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus, in the south of the island; * the Turkish-occupied area in the north,[5] calling itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (recognized only by Turkey); * the United Nations-controlled Green Line, separating the two; and * two British Sovereign Base Areas (Akrotiri and Dhekelia).[6]"
- volida 18y agoUnfortunately, like you said the 37% is occupied since the 1974 invasion. Greek-Cypriots were raped and forced out of their homes and their land and they are 80% of the population. Cyprus won its independece in 1960 from the British (who have been on the island since late 18th century). The Turks came to the island for the first time on 15th century. The history of the island is totally Greek so if someone is going to refer to the island then at least should do it correctly cause otherwise is only doing propaganda and helping the wrong information to be known. Attempts are made that the political situation is resolved but I am not very optimistic.
- mattmaroon 18y agoWell, if the part they were vacationing in is technically Turkish, then it was a Turkish vacation. That's what I read somewhere, though I have no idea if it is true.
- fallentimes 18y agoHow do people feel about banning Techcrunch for a week on an experiment basis? Afterwards - Vote. This is what happens when dollar signs get in the way of building something fucking cool or useful. Complete speculation, but I feel that newer people tend to vote up Techcrunch articles (regardless of topic) because they've heard of it before.
- alaskamiller 18y agoI think we should stop banning sites as a solution to moderation. All this TC backlash is getting somewhat ridiculous but at the same time it is what it is. There's plenty of tech news sites out there but they all report on the same news because they all read the same feeds and have access to the same scoops. The only way to differentiate is to editorialize the news. It's much the same as 24 hour cable news. But choosing to write 746 word blog posts or pounding TC with all these comments or upvoting these things to #1 is the real problem HN has. I really wish people would just let these minor things go. Stop upvoting LAME stories. Stop upvoting whiney blog posts ABOUT lame stories. A bit of self control is a lot more powerful than censoring websites.
- mariorz 18y agoToo bad the karma leader-board/system doesn't really encourage self-control. Not that I'm in favor of banning anything, but I do think something is clearly not working when this is the top-story on HN.
- alaskamiller 18y agoWhat if we do away with the leaderboard?
- fallentimes 18y agoI guess my hypothesis is that it's the new people that are upvoting the lame stories due to brand recognition. That's why I want to run an experiment - nothing more, nothing less. Or maybe people are doing it for quick karma. I _don't know_. What's the problem with banning sources where 95% of the content has sadly become lame? If people want to read said stories they can go to that website. Or submit it to NonHackerNews. It's not like we're banning them from the internet. You're right, but most people don't have self control, which is the root of the problem. I'm just trying to suggest changes to a system dealing with how things are instead of how we want them to be.