3 ms·

He made a lot of sense, except for one point. He said, "if you're not a developer, go out and find one on Elance for $15-20/hr." Sure, this could work out, bu

by aneesh 18y ago

He made a lot of sense, except for one point. He said, "if you're not a developer, go out and find one on Elance for $15-20/hr." Sure, this could work out, but the chances of an arrangement leading to a successful startup are pretty low. He got very lucky.

ojbyrne 18y ago
I wouldn't say lucky. I'd say dishonest.
- aneesh 18y ago
  Well, you know best ;)
  - ojbyrne 18y ago
    Well, you know - I liked Kevin. We were friends and collaborators and I think in the first half of 2005 we did great stuff. If I had to say who built digg into what it is, it was really a collaboration between Kevin, Daniel Burka and me, with valuable support from Ron Gorodetsky. By the time of the series A we had huge, huge momentum. It was in a way sort of like the Beatles, just the right people put together mostly by accident and we worked magic. Then Yoko (Jay Adelson) came along, and the ego stroking began. Kevin was a genius, I was just a "contract programmer." And I'd say the results speak for themselves. Digg is stagnant and boring. Almost every feature on there was actually created in that early 2005 timeframe, though obviously greatly refined since then. I'm trying to move on, involved in a great project again, with great people, and I regret saying nasty stuff or sounding bitter, but sometimes I'm reminded how much fun it was, and how easily it was turned to not-fun.
    - dhbradshaw 18y ago
      "I'm trying to move on, involved in a great project again" What's next?
      - ojbyrne 18y ago
        Launch in Jan or early Feb. Can't really talk about. Except its for a BigCo, we have a really small (and kickass!) group, but working with bureaucracy is challenging sometimes. Hired Engineer no. 2 from digg too ;-)
lsc 18y ago
finding good people is hard, very hard. Finding good people for below market wages is even harder. It's possible, though. It is much easier if you have the skill set you are looking for. I bet that if you just hire blind and fire the people who don't work out, you will end up paying for a lot of unproductive hours. It also adds a sense of urgency. The thing is, once these good people working for below market wages get some good experience (working for you) they will get jobs that pay market rates. This has happened to me many times. Expect and understand this. Don't feel betrayed because someone with little or no equity abandons you for several times as much money. Be honest, you would do the same. Give good references. The best resource I've found for finding people who are both skilled and poor is other people who are skilled and poor. I'd actually like some advice on how to handle equity in this case. I've always done handshake kind of deals, which is asking for trouble if you become successful. If the company does succeed, it seems fair to me to give some equity to the people who were working for below market wages. (now, personally, I still think I should have more equity, because I was both the investor and one of the workers.)

by aneesh 18y ago

ojbyrne 18y ago

I wouldn't say lucky. I'd say dishonest.

aneesh 18y ago
Well, you know best ;)
- ojbyrne 18y ago
  Well, you know - I liked Kevin. We were friends and collaborators and I think in the first half of 2005 we did great stuff. If I had to say who built digg into what it is, it was really a collaboration between Kevin, Daniel Burka and me, with valuable support from Ron Gorodetsky. By the time of the series A we had huge, huge momentum. It was in a way sort of like the Beatles, just the right people put together mostly by accident and we worked magic. Then Yoko (Jay Adelson) came along, and the ego stroking began. Kevin was a genius, I was just a "contract programmer." And I'd say the results speak for themselves. Digg is stagnant and boring. Almost every feature on there was actually created in that early 2005 timeframe, though obviously greatly refined since then. I'm trying to move on, involved in a great project again, with great people, and I regret saying nasty stuff or sounding bitter, but sometimes I'm reminded how much fun it was, and how easily it was turned to not-fun.
  - dhbradshaw 18y ago
    "I'm trying to move on, involved in a great project again" What's next?
    - ojbyrne 18y ago
      Launch in Jan or early Feb. Can't really talk about. Except its for a BigCo, we have a really small (and kickass!) group, but working with bureaucracy is challenging sometimes. Hired Engineer no. 2 from digg too ;-)

lsc 18y ago

finding good people is hard, very hard. Finding good people for below market wages is even harder. It's possible, though. It is much easier if you have the skill set you are looking for. I bet that if you just hire blind and fire the people who don't work out, you will end up paying for a lot of unproductive hours. It also adds a sense of urgency. The thing is, once these good people working for below market wages get some good experience (working for you) they will get jobs that pay market rates. This has happened to me many times. Expect and understand this. Don't feel betrayed because someone with little or no equity abandons you for several times as much money. Be honest, you would do the same. Give good references. The best resource I've found for finding people who are both skilled and poor is other people who are skilled and poor. I'd actually like some advice on how to handle equity in this case. I've always done handshake kind of deals, which is asking for trouble if you become successful. If the company does succeed, it seems fair to me to give some equity to the people who were working for below market wages. (now, personally, I still think I should have more equity, because I was both the investor and one of the workers.)