9 ms·

"Or even 90% of YC-funded-startup founders for that matter" Not to deny this, as I don't know anything about you, but... that is a very bold statement.

cperciva 19y ago
Of course it's a bold statement. But if I wasn't bold, I wouldn't have started university at age 13, set three world records for calculating pi (a stunt, I admit), ranked in the top six mathematics undergraduates in North America, received a $100k+ scholarship to Oxford University (not the Rhodes, unfortunately -- their mistake), received a doctorate in computer science from said university, and become the security officer for the FreeBSD operating system.
- sanj 19y ago
  Did you win the Putnam? If not, please don't be "bolder" than this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Vakil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Vakil
  - cperciva 19y ago
    "Did you win the Putnam?" Yes, I did.
    - pg 19y ago
      That has to be the comeback of all time.
    - ivankirigin 19y ago
      HAHAHA! Awesome.
      - Alex3917 19y ago
        This whole thread is hilarious.
    - kf 19y ago
      News.YC does flame wars a whole lot better than the rest of the internet...
      - ordersup 19y ago
        Sometimes with the flames on here however, it feels like Craigslist forums, in all of their 2.0 glory... ;)
  - sanj 19y ago
    Damn. I'm totally busted. Just the once, though, huh?
    - cperciva 19y ago
      Yes, only once. But I actually consider my first score on the Putnam (53, ranked 53.5th in North America) to be my most impressive performance on the Putnam, considering that I was only 14 years old at the time.
- yubrew 19y ago
  So you've shown that you have some (impressive) academic achievements, but have you had any business success? Just because you're book smart doesn't mean you will have a successful start up. Many times people think that they can transfer great success from one domain into other domain. Michael Jordan and his short baseball stint is the first thing that comes to mind.
  - cperciva 19y ago
    You're quite right, and if I do fail I entirely expect it to be due to a lack of business experience. But on this topic I'm working entirely based on what Paul says -- that being able to build something which people want is far more important than being able to sell it.
    - yubrew 19y ago
      One personal tip, you come off as an arrogant prick because of your "I am holier than thou" statements. These kind of behaviors will drastically reduce the amount of people that will want to work with you or help you. I work with MDs and PhDs on a daily basis, analyzing their technologies for their start up companies. By far, I am much more willing to put in extra hours for friendly people than those that cram down my throat how much better they are than me.
      - cperciva 19y ago
        Again you're right, and I'm sorry about the attitude. Over the past year I've started to get rather defensive when people have suggested that I'm wasting my time on this project...
        create_account 19y ago
        That is entirely the wrong way to respond: you will get a lot of that (from VCs, prospective clients, etc.) and dealing with it like that is guaranteed to lead you to failure, simply because everyone will come to see you (rightly or wrongly) as a complete prick.
- menloparkbum 19y ago
  Well, I hope your startup idea isn't this: http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2006-09-13-encrypted-backup.html http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2006-09-13-encrypted-backup.... This post also shows a phenomenal misunderstanding of what it takes to create a successful software startup: http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2007-06-21-think-before-coding.html http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2007-06-21-think-before-codi...
  - cperciva 19y ago
    That is my startup idea. I don't want to take this thread even more off-topic (if that's even possible), but please feel free to contact me at the address in that first post to explain why you think it is a bad idea.
    - dhouston 19y ago
      we're in a similar space -- http://www.getdropbox.com http://www.getdropbox.com (and part of the yc summer 07 program) basically, sync and backup done right (but for windows and os x). i had the same frustrations as you with existing solutions. let me know if it's something you're interested in, or if you want to chat about it sometime. drew (at getdropbox.com)
      - gibsonf1 19y ago
        Will your service offer a full server backup, or just selected files?
    - euccastro 19y ago
      This would be off-topic in this thread, but definitely not in this forum. If you make a new top level post requesting feedback, more people will be able to contribute and benefit from it.
    - gibsonf1 19y ago
      It looks like a great idea - except - the sucking up of bandwidth to make the first backup. I'm definitely looking for a better remote backup service for my Architecture firm, for which I currently pay far too much, but my server unfortunately is Windows SBS 2003 - whose OS I truly dislike. I am forced to do this for compatibility with my Revit BIM software unfortunately, so I guess your product won't help me.
- dbosson 19y ago
  Remember that success comes from improving OTHER people's lives. All your achievements, while probably very gratifying to your mother, have not improved my life at all.
  - cperciva 19y ago
    Do you use OS X or Mozilla? Have you ever used their software update mechanisms? If yes, I've improved your life -- they use my delta compression work (bsdiff, originally written as part of FreeBSD Update) to reduce the size of updates which have to be downloaded. As of about a year ago, my work had saved users around the world well over a hundred years of waiting for updates to download.
    - dbosson 19y ago
      "Remember also that every time you open your mouth in the presence of a person who has an abundance of knowledge, you display to that person your exact stock of knowledge or your lack of it! Genuine wisdom is usually conspicuous through modesty and silence."
      - helveticaman 18y ago
        That's a two-way street, dbosson.
      - helveticaman 18y ago
        That's a two-way street, dbosson. I wouldn't hasten to silence him, nor chasten him for opening his mouth "in the presence of a person who has an abundance of knowledge," as you put it.
    - aneesh 18y ago
      If we assume 100 million internet users that you saved 100 years, that's roughly 30 seconds per user. Let's say just 10% of people use OS X or Mozilla - that's 5 minutes per user. This is not to belittle, just to put your "100 years" in context. It's great work and you've saved me personally a lot more than 5 minutes.
- mynameishere 19y ago
  A few tips: 1. Open up Microsoft word. 2. Type all that out. 3. Save it as "Resume.doc" 4. Don't open it again until your next job search.
  - Xichekolas 19y ago
    Psssh... He wrote an OpenOffice clone in a programming language he himself designed with syntax like vector calculus. Seriously, Word?!
- uuilly 19y ago
  Test Pilots are bold by definition. Entrepreneurs are not necessarily bold. People tell me all the time how "brave" and "bold" I am for starting a startup and it's complete BS. The only think we're risking is some money, reputation and ego. All of which grow back in time. If we were doused with gas, lit on fire and smashed with ewok log traps if our startups failed then we would be bold. As it is we're just different.
- far33d 19y ago
  Wow. You really need to read this: http://paulgraham.com/bronze.html http://paulgraham.com/bronze.html

cperciva 19y ago

Of course it's a bold statement. But if I wasn't bold, I wouldn't have started university at age 13, set three world records for calculating pi (a stunt, I admit), ranked in the top six mathematics undergraduates in North America, received a $100k+ scholarship to Oxford University (not the Rhodes, unfortunately -- their mistake), received a doctorate in computer science from said university, and become the security officer for the FreeBSD operating system.

sanj 19y ago
Did you win the Putnam? If not, please don't be "bolder" than this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Vakil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_Vakil
- cperciva 19y ago
  "Did you win the Putnam?" Yes, I did.
  - pg 19y ago
    That has to be the comeback of all time.
  - ivankirigin 19y ago
    HAHAHA! Awesome.
    - Alex3917 19y ago
      This whole thread is hilarious.
  - kf 19y ago
    News.YC does flame wars a whole lot better than the rest of the internet...
    - ordersup 19y ago
      Sometimes with the flames on here however, it feels like Craigslist forums, in all of their 2.0 glory... ;)
- sanj 19y ago
  Damn. I'm totally busted. Just the once, though, huh?
  - cperciva 19y ago
    Yes, only once. But I actually consider my first score on the Putnam (53, ranked 53.5th in North America) to be my most impressive performance on the Putnam, considering that I was only 14 years old at the time.
yubrew 19y ago
So you've shown that you have some (impressive) academic achievements, but have you had any business success? Just because you're book smart doesn't mean you will have a successful start up. Many times people think that they can transfer great success from one domain into other domain. Michael Jordan and his short baseball stint is the first thing that comes to mind.
- cperciva 19y ago
  You're quite right, and if I do fail I entirely expect it to be due to a lack of business experience. But on this topic I'm working entirely based on what Paul says -- that being able to build something which people want is far more important than being able to sell it.
  - yubrew 19y ago
    One personal tip, you come off as an arrogant prick because of your "I am holier than thou" statements. These kind of behaviors will drastically reduce the amount of people that will want to work with you or help you. I work with MDs and PhDs on a daily basis, analyzing their technologies for their start up companies. By far, I am much more willing to put in extra hours for friendly people than those that cram down my throat how much better they are than me.
    - cperciva 19y ago
      Again you're right, and I'm sorry about the attitude. Over the past year I've started to get rather defensive when people have suggested that I'm wasting my time on this project...
      - create_account 19y ago
        That is entirely the wrong way to respond: you will get a lot of that (from VCs, prospective clients, etc.) and dealing with it like that is guaranteed to lead you to failure, simply because everyone will come to see you (rightly or wrongly) as a complete prick.
menloparkbum 19y ago
Well, I hope your startup idea isn't this: http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2006-09-13-encrypted-backup.html http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2006-09-13-encrypted-backup.... This post also shows a phenomenal misunderstanding of what it takes to create a successful software startup: http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2007-06-21-think-before-coding.html http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2007-06-21-think-before-codi...
- cperciva 19y ago
  That is my startup idea. I don't want to take this thread even more off-topic (if that's even possible), but please feel free to contact me at the address in that first post to explain why you think it is a bad idea.
  - dhouston 19y ago
    we're in a similar space -- http://www.getdropbox.com http://www.getdropbox.com (and part of the yc summer 07 program) basically, sync and backup done right (but for windows and os x). i had the same frustrations as you with existing solutions. let me know if it's something you're interested in, or if you want to chat about it sometime. drew (at getdropbox.com)
    - gibsonf1 19y ago
      Will your service offer a full server backup, or just selected files?
  - euccastro 19y ago
    This would be off-topic in this thread, but definitely not in this forum. If you make a new top level post requesting feedback, more people will be able to contribute and benefit from it.
  - gibsonf1 19y ago
    It looks like a great idea - except - the sucking up of bandwidth to make the first backup. I'm definitely looking for a better remote backup service for my Architecture firm, for which I currently pay far too much, but my server unfortunately is Windows SBS 2003 - whose OS I truly dislike. I am forced to do this for compatibility with my Revit BIM software unfortunately, so I guess your product won't help me.
dbosson 19y ago
Remember that success comes from improving OTHER people's lives. All your achievements, while probably very gratifying to your mother, have not improved my life at all.
- cperciva 19y ago
  Do you use OS X or Mozilla? Have you ever used their software update mechanisms? If yes, I've improved your life -- they use my delta compression work (bsdiff, originally written as part of FreeBSD Update) to reduce the size of updates which have to be downloaded. As of about a year ago, my work had saved users around the world well over a hundred years of waiting for updates to download.
  - dbosson 19y ago
    "Remember also that every time you open your mouth in the presence of a person who has an abundance of knowledge, you display to that person your exact stock of knowledge or your lack of it! Genuine wisdom is usually conspicuous through modesty and silence."
    - helveticaman 18y ago
      That's a two-way street, dbosson.
    - helveticaman 18y ago
      That's a two-way street, dbosson. I wouldn't hasten to silence him, nor chasten him for opening his mouth "in the presence of a person who has an abundance of knowledge," as you put it.
  - aneesh 18y ago
    If we assume 100 million internet users that you saved 100 years, that's roughly 30 seconds per user. Let's say just 10% of people use OS X or Mozilla - that's 5 minutes per user. This is not to belittle, just to put your "100 years" in context. It's great work and you've saved me personally a lot more than 5 minutes.
mynameishere 19y ago
A few tips: 1. Open up Microsoft word. 2. Type all that out. 3. Save it as "Resume.doc" 4. Don't open it again until your next job search.
- Xichekolas 19y ago
  Psssh... He wrote an OpenOffice clone in a programming language he himself designed with syntax like vector calculus. Seriously, Word?!
uuilly 19y ago
Test Pilots are bold by definition. Entrepreneurs are not necessarily bold. People tell me all the time how "brave" and "bold" I am for starting a startup and it's complete BS. The only think we're risking is some money, reputation and ego. All of which grow back in time. If we were doused with gas, lit on fire and smashed with ewok log traps if our startups failed then we would be bold. As it is we're just different.
far33d 19y ago
Wow. You really need to read this: http://paulgraham.com/bronze.html http://paulgraham.com/bronze.html