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He was a dick. And there was a strong trend around 2010-2015ish that essentially said "Jobs was a dick and a genius. Therefore I must act like a dick, to prove

by nikanj 4y ago

He was a dick. And there was a strong trend around 2010-2015ish that essentially said "Jobs was a dick and a genius. Therefore I must act like a dick, to prove that I'm a genius". So many startup CEOs acting like assholes to prove they're revolutionary visionaries.

neilv 4y ago
Does Theranos getting investigated, circa 2015, mark the end of that period?
- saalweachter 4y ago
  Honestly it's probably more time than anything like Theranos. The last great Steve Jobs keynote was 2010, the iPad announcement. Any 25-30 year old founders nowadays would have been, what, 15 years old? Maybe there were a few enraptured tweens watching that stream, locking in a dream of being just like Steve Jobs that day, but at some point he's just another old dead guy to any new startup founders.
dotancohen 4y ago
I think that Oracle was well-known as being proudly led by One Real Asshole Called Larry Elison long before Steve Jobs was ever called a dick.
- ggm 4y ago
  They're strict contemporary in that space. Jobs was being unspeakable at the same time Ellison started oracle.
- amelius 4y ago
  In the business world it is allowed to be an asshole. In the consumer space, not so much.
  - ilyt 4y ago
    I dunno, seems to be working for many assholes just fine
DonHopkins 4y ago
Case in point: Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3229299#3230401 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3229299#3230401 https://www.fastcompany.com/1784823/bill-nguyen-the-boy-in-the-bubble https://www.fastcompany.com/1784823/bill-nguyen-the-boy-in-t... >“I never use anyone else’s products but my own. I literally don’t think there’s anything to be learned from other people’s stuff,” says Nguyen. >And then, that very night, everything came crashing down. Color execs started noticing that users were quick to rate the app a measly one or two stars out of five–nails in the coffin, given an oversaturated app market that was spawning more than 1,000 new apps a day. The problem was simple: In order for Color to work, many users had to be in a similar location, but since Color hadn’t widely seeded the app prelaunch, users arrived to a social network that resembled a ghost town. “I wanna see that pitch deck,” ranted influential tech blogger Robert Scoble. “It must have had some magic unicorn dust sprinkled on it.” A mock satirical pitch deck began circulating around tech circles, spoofing Color’s attempt to capitalize on every web 2.0 cliché: “People. Colors. Apps. Cats. Bacon. Organic. Bieber. Mobile. Social. Local. Pivot.” https://sadtrombone.com/ https://sadtrombone.com/
- paulryanrogers 4y ago
  Is seeding generating fake users who look real, to create the illusion of a popular app?

by nikanj 4y ago

neilv 4y ago

Does Theranos getting investigated, circa 2015, mark the end of that period?

saalweachter 4y ago
Honestly it's probably more time than anything like Theranos. The last great Steve Jobs keynote was 2010, the iPad announcement. Any 25-30 year old founders nowadays would have been, what, 15 years old? Maybe there were a few enraptured tweens watching that stream, locking in a dream of being just like Steve Jobs that day, but at some point he's just another old dead guy to any new startup founders.

dotancohen 4y ago

I think that Oracle was well-known as being proudly led by One Real Asshole Called Larry Elison long before Steve Jobs was ever called a dick.

ggm 4y ago
They're strict contemporary in that space. Jobs was being unspeakable at the same time Ellison started oracle.
amelius 4y ago
In the business world it is allowed to be an asshole. In the consumer space, not so much.
- ilyt 4y ago
  I dunno, seems to be working for many assholes just fine

DonHopkins 4y ago

Case in point: Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3229299#3230401 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3229299#3230401 https://www.fastcompany.com/1784823/bill-nguyen-the-boy-in-the-bubble https://www.fastcompany.com/1784823/bill-nguyen-the-boy-in-t... >“I never use anyone else’s products but my own. I literally don’t think there’s anything to be learned from other people’s stuff,” says Nguyen. >And then, that very night, everything came crashing down. Color execs started noticing that users were quick to rate the app a measly one or two stars out of five–nails in the coffin, given an oversaturated app market that was spawning more than 1,000 new apps a day. The problem was simple: In order for Color to work, many users had to be in a similar location, but since Color hadn’t widely seeded the app prelaunch, users arrived to a social network that resembled a ghost town. “I wanna see that pitch deck,” ranted influential tech blogger Robert Scoble. “It must have had some magic unicorn dust sprinkled on it.” A mock satirical pitch deck began circulating around tech circles, spoofing Color’s attempt to capitalize on every web 2.0 cliché: “People. Colors. Apps. Cats. Bacon. Organic. Bieber. Mobile. Social. Local. Pivot.” https://sadtrombone.com/ https://sadtrombone.com/

paulryanrogers 4y ago
Is seeding generating fake users who look real, to create the illusion of a popular app?