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So, I was a (low-ranking) employee at Beyond Oblivion. This is the first I've heard about most of those numbers and many of the extravagances. We built a kill
by rckclmbr 15y ago
So, I was a (low-ranking) employee at Beyond Oblivion. This is the first I've heard about most of those numbers and many of the extravagances. We built a killer product, that was ready for prime time, but unfortunately didn't end up selling to anyone. That's all I really knew -- we had a product, we ran out of money. It wasn't until after that we heard about all the crazy stuff that was going on. I still try to stay out of it, because it doesn't really matter anymore, but it's still interesting reading articles like this.
I read things like this all the time, but it's a completely different thing when it's actually you (or relating so closely to you). I put a lot of time and effort into the product, and my piece was something I was personally really proud of. It's really unfortunately to see it fail in such a big way. I still debate putting my involvement on my resume, even though its demise had nothing to do with me. I interviewed at a Y-Combinator company I was really interested in, and didn't get the job... I still wonder if that had anything to do with it. Anyway, nothing to say or learn from the experience really, just thought I'd say that.
- ootachi 15y agoWhy would you debate putting it on your CV? It'd look a lot worse to look like you were out of work for that time. Besides, a startup that wouldn't hire you because you worked as an engineer at a failed startup would be insane. I'd be more afraid to hire engineers from startups that did succeed, because I doubt they'd be as motivated the second time around after the big windfall.
- rckclmbr 15y ago> Why would you debate putting it on your CV? It'd look a lot worse to look like you were out of work for that time Yea, that's why I haven't removed it yet. But the thought crosses my mind all the time.
- zaidf 15y agoWe built a killer product, that was ready for prime time, but unfortunately didn't end up selling to anyone. I'd be curious to hear your definition of a killer product. Personal a killer product to me is one that sells though I understand it's just one perspective.
- rckclmbr 15y ago> Personal (sic) a killer product to me is one that sells If you read the article, this isn't a B2C product. We were working with manufacturers and high-dollar contracts ($100m+ I think). A lot of different hands are involved, lots of due diligence, it had to match the manufacturers strategy, and laws and regulations are all questioned. Since a majority was mobile, we also had to involve the carriers. We also had to work with the labels and publishers when dealing with manufacturers in different regions. A lot of that work was over my head (since as I said, I just built the product... I'm also not sure how much I can talk about publicly, so I'm trying to keep it sort of vague). We had to work a deal out with everyone so they all get paid what is fair to them (we want to negotiate the lowest price, each one of them wants to negotiate the highest price), and those kinds of things take time. All of this happens over a period of months, while other parts of their (everyone mentioned above) business may be moving in other directions -- acquisitions happening, strategy changes, budget projections, layoffs, massive hiring -- you name it. In Y-Combinator land it is really that simple, but when dealing with big business, it's not. EDIT: Just realized I didn't answer the question. A killer product, to me, is one that I would routinely use, and that my wife uses as well. She liked to use the app (I can't say that for everything I've built). I did too. We also proved it would scale, and yada yada. I'm afraid of saying more, but yes it was a solid product.
- ahupp 15y agoI wouldn't hesitate to put it on a CV. First, an entry would have to be really bad to be worse than a big unexplained gap. Second, startups go under all the time and everyone understands that this is more likely than not. If anything a potential employer would realize this has given you a useful bit of experience (but of course you should be ready to talk about what you learned). The only way it could be negative is if it was widely known that the product failed due to poor engineering (assuming you are an engineer), but this doesn't seem to be the case here.
- vyrotek 15y agoDid you work with another developer named Jed? He was working on some search stuff for Beyond Oblivion I believe. He's actually my neighbor and we often talked about the stuff he was working on. I was shocked when I first heard the news. It sounded like you were working on some cool stuff and seemed really excited about where it was going. Seems like it came as as surprise to many.