11 ms·
Greg (2017)
- moralestapia 3y ago:')
- unglaublich 3y agoI see an analogy with AI becoming _so good_ that it will attempt to remove the human to improve its reward.
- someperson 3y agoVery effusive and well-written praise for Sam Altman's friend and colleague, Greg Brockman.
- thepablohansen 3y ago> with an average email response time of about 5 minutes to anything. Seems like he's always considered this a good measure of a founder's quality. From a 2019 interview- https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam-altman/ https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/sam-altman/ > You know, years ago I wrote a little program to look at this, like how quickly our best founders — the founders that run billion-plus companies — answer my emails versus our bad founders. I don’t remember the exact data, but it was mind-blowingly different. It was a difference of minutes versus days on average response times
- jacquesm 3y agoThat seems a bit simplistic and 'bad founders' begs for a definition because it can't just be 'answers email slowly'.
- shrimpx 3y agoI take it bad founders means the founders that run less than billion-plus companies.
- kevinmchugh 3y agoI would absolutely believe that founders who (go on to) run billion dollar companies make a point of replying to YC partners very quickly. "Successful executives are highly responsive to investor and advisor emails" seems eminently plausible. It doesn't suggest that they're equally responsive to all emails, but they've got a sense of who's important/needs to feel important.
- jacquesm 3y agoI'm sure they do. But you can also interpret that as 'bootlickers are the kind of people I like'. And that is not necessarily equivalent to 'good founders'. So I think it is a bit of a thin element to judge people by.
- nwiswell 3y agoI think it is maybe best reframed as "good founders from the perspective of those who control capital". Whether these people ultimately improve society, or create a better sense of purpose for their employees, or provide visionary direction for the company at a higher rate than other founders is kind of orthogonal (or perhaps anticorrelated) to being good stewards of invested capital. Founders can, to some extent, get help with (or succeed financially despite the lack of) the other things, but I think it can be reasonably argued that if they're not personally regarded as good stewards of capital, then the whole enterprise is in doubt.
- jacquesm 3y agoPrecisely. Good founders, bad founders, in the eyes of the beholder. I'm pretty sure I have a completely different opinion on what constitutes a good founder and what constitutes a bad one compared to Sam Altman, fortunately I don't have enough clout to make authoritative statements on the subject.
- simonh 3y agoExcept that he only found out there was a correlation between startup success and responsiveness by doing a historical analysis.
- sprobertson 3y agoP|Q != Q|P
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- snowwrestler 3y agoOne thing to keep in mind is that this was the email response time to Sam Altman, the head of YC. What competent startup founder waits to reply to that? Responsiveness as a general approach to all email is a bad idea. But one needs to know who are the high-priority emailers, and how much they value quick replies.
- epolanski 3y agoI don't get this narrative taken to the extreme. If you can answer every mail in minutes from important people, then how can you meaningfully do other stuff? It's perfectly fine to spend a day without answering to the head of YC if you've had the entire day full at hiring, talking to investors, etc. You can't do that effectively and be distracted by your phone all time. This is about the nature of emails themselves, if they conveyed a more urgent information then a phone call would've been better.
- randallsquared 3y ago> You can't do that effectively and be distracted by your phone all time. I think the differentiator is that some people can and do remain effective at a primary task while handling a multitude of distractions, and that this trait strongly indicates high ability overall.
- epolanski 3y agoI don't believe this. You're not entirely focused if you're answering emails on your phone. Maybe Greg's 50% focus is still good enough for answering to Altman and doing other stuff? It's still giving 50% to both or a different mix. It's also disrespectful if you're with other people imho. Anyway my main point is that if you're expecting people to answer you urgently, don't write them an email but find a better channel.
- walterbell 3y agoFocus is about prioritization. Apple has context-specific notifications and manual DnD exception list. Short iOS email VIP list can be manually curated. Interrupt-automation exists to support a spectrum of human priorities and workflows.
- gvand 3y agoA very stupid metric, or very useful if you want to know who just wait for emails instead of doing long strands of deep work, with notifications off or not visible.
- nopromisessir 3y agoI read alot. Saw many rumors. I'm aware of the various 'insider scoops'. I still maintain we really don't know what happened, more or less. I'm certain of this though... when Greg Brockman walked out the door, they lost a major piece of talent. That guy was a true believer. His enthusiasm was infectious. It traveled across the video link... You could feel how passionate he was about the future of artificial intelligence and it's capacity to change humanity for the better. I'm sure he'll throw himself at something very cool for the next run.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- andygeorge 3y ago> I read alot.
- falseprofit 3y ago[flagged]
- systemvoltage 3y ago> grammer (sorry! :))
- jackblemming 3y agoSo what did Sam actually do besides a social media startup that was more or less a flop into being gifted a high position at ycombinator where he then had a few good investments during literally the easiest time to invest in tech history? I’m sure there’s something I’m missing, but there’s not much public info.
- Mithriil 3y agoDo you even understand how much work is necessary to put in, to influence a whole industry massively and with the biggest players?
- jackblemming 3y agoMaybe some want to celebrate BSers like Adam Neumann or Elizabeth Holmes who are good at pretending to be important and conning investments, but it never really impressed me, sorry. I’ll stick to celebrating the actual brains, like Ilya Sutskever.
- csours 3y agoAs the farmer said, "We'll see" https://impossiblehq.com/well-see/ https://impossiblehq.com/well-see/ (or google "we'll see story")
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- ignoramous 3y agoThis is a common retort, but after his run at YC (hand-picked by Paul Graham) and OpenAI (taking on Google at AI is no mean feat, despite the backing), and his ongoing work with Helion Energy and WorldCoin, it is safe to say Sam has more than earned his place, perhaps may be twice over, among SV royalty. And he's not even 40. http://paulgraham.com/5founders.html http://paulgraham.com/5founders.html
- polygamous_bat 3y ago
- shmatt 3y agoSounds like they were the perfect fit in the pre GPT-3, ChatGPT, DALL-E world Honestly I don’t understand the drama around 2 executives who have not done any transformer research or whatever will come after transformers The GenAI world will be fine without the ceo of cryptoballs or whatever his other company is
- polygamous_bat 3y ago> whatever will come after transformers I feel like this is a point that is not being talked about enough. Yes, OpenAI gave us GPT and DALL-E. But had sama and gdb remained there, would we have gotten anything new that is as groundbreaking as the original GPT and DALL-E, or would we have continued getting GPT-12 and DALL-E-19? Sure, iPhone 15 sells, but some may say Apple has stagnated since iPhone was released.
- AussieWog93 3y agoBut now, are we even going to get GPT-4 or GPT-5 with the same level of polish that sama would have put into it? I'd argue right now that we're at the "iPhone 3G" point on the technology curve, with significant improvements to come over the next few years as the tech gets polished.
- dlivingston 3y agoSorry to nitpick, but -- OpenAI was releasing innovations in the GenAI space at a breakneck pace. Remember, GPT-1 didn't change the world, it was GPT-3.5/4 from earlier this year. OpenAI was at peak innovation when sama and gdb left. And folks used to say Apple was stagnant, but after Apple Silicon completely upended the personal computer world (along with some other things) the dissidents have been mostly silent.
- davidy123 3y agoApple Silicon made x86 silicon look bad, but what has it really upended? Macs are taking over more of the personal computer market, but hard to say what the factor is there. I think it's mostly network effects, partially due to their shameless proprietary approach. PCs, Apple or other, are kinda generally good, no matter what the price or combo, and disappearing at the same time, a lot can be done with just a browser on any foundation. Apple seems to be years behind or nonexistent where things are really changing, AI and cloud.
- someperson 3y agoSo my understanding from reading the drama the past day is Sam Altman was fired from OpenAI due to being too inclined to 'move fast and break things' by commercializing OpenAI technology, with Greg Brockman (cofounder/board member/close friend/ally) choosing to resign in solidarity. The board coup was organized by cofounder/Chief Scientist Ilya Sutskever who apparently wants OpenAI's original slow moving safety vision. It's speculated Sam Altman and Greg Brockman may start a new AI company. So now seems like a good time to mention a few very high-level points in case they read it: 1. I love Sam Altman's ship early and often inclinations, even if that apparently got him fired. OpenAI was such a breath of fresh air compared to sclerotic companies like Google that can invent the Transformer architecture yet be organizationally incapable of shipping ChatGPT-level tools for years due to overly conservative safety concerns 2. I hate OpenAI (or Sam Altman's?) apparently puritanical inclination to anything considered Not Safe For Work, especially for paid API usage. Why not allow people to build and sell virtual partner chat bots with explicit NSFW content? 3. I dislike his apparent inclination to build a regulatory moat to block others from developing advanced AI -- it's easy to interpret this as purely in the self-interest of OpenAI shareholders Without Sam Altman's inclination to move fast I imagine OpenAI may become slow, sclerotic and less capable of shipping early, like what Google has become. Good luck Sam, and keep on shipping!
- gkoberger 3y agoMinor note: Greg was first fired as chairman, and then subsequently resigned from the company. They were separate actions. Source: https://twitter.com/gdb/status/1725736242137182594 https://twitter.com/gdb/status/1725736242137182594
- browningstreet 3y agoAnd the board was ridiculous thinking they could demote him and have him stick around. That was either weirdly short-sighted or strategic theater. I kind of think it might have been the former.
- gkoberger 3y ago
- ChrisArchitect 3y ago(2017) Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13811403 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13811403
- catlover76 3y ago[flagged]
- mkl 3y agoNot sure why you think he's German, but yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenAI#History
- catlover76 3y ago[flagged]
- charlie0 3y agoYup, my boss at old co had some similarities to Greg. He worked long hours, was pretty much aware of everything happening at the company both in the US and off-shore, could talk technical details with the tech peeps, and business stuff with the non-tech folks. He was always on top of things and unblocking people all over the org. He also has the great ability to remember things very well, even after a few months have passed by. Even though he was CTO and incredibly busy, he would find time to spend with individual engineers. Once he spent an hour pair-programming with me on a difficult issue. Even though his time was obviously not spent coding (and hadn't for years), it was a very productive session. The founder acknowledge he really couldn't have done it without him, or someone like him on the team. I 100% agree they couldn't have built the org without him. He is just on a different level and it was awesome seeing him in action.
- begueradj 3y agoThat's an impressive will power. P.S. "and hadn't for years" => He could not have helped you to solve that issue if that is the case. No way he could. He obviously codes every single day (not for long hours)
- ctxc 3y agoI don't think so. You forget specifics (names, workflow) but the problem solving approach and a few anecdotes always come back. Imo at least.
- borski 3y agoThat isn't true; sometimes just talking through the problem and checking assumptions, or just having another brain to work through the problem is what's needed. I guarantee you the issue wasn't one of the OP not knowing the language or framework well enough.
- begueradj 3y agoHe said: "Once he spent an hour pair-programming with me on a difficult issue." I quoted what is "pair programming" for you (and the 2 others): "One, the driver, writes code while the other, the observer or navigator reviews each line of code as it is typed in. The two programmers switch roles frequently."
- shrimpx 3y agoNear-100% certainty that Altman and Brockman cofound a new AI company in the coming days. The question is will they be able to recruit a team that can actually build competitive models? Ilya Sutksevers don't grow on trees. Maybe they'll just get a team good enough to specialize Llama2, since Altman/Brockman seem to think what's lacking in this space is glitzy products, app stores, b2b integrations, etc. Maybe OpenAI starts to open source everything and Altman/Brockman can have their cake and eat it, too.
- drexlspivey 3y agoIt will be very ironic when their new startup gets dragged down by regulations due to them not having an AI license that sama pushed heavily in congress.
- willsmith72 3y ago> Maybe OpenAI starts to open source everything I really doubt it
- healthyusa 3y agoSure. They just call Sundar. Yo, bro what up. Want to grab lunch?
- thatsadude 3y agoMicrosoft would be horrified.
- kazinator 3y agoA lot of people ask me what the ideal bro-founder looks like. I now have an answer: Greg Bro-ckman. OpenAI wouldn’t have happened without Greg. He commits quickly and fully to a fellow bro, and I fully trust that when the board of director dickheads fire me, Greg will dutifully bail within a day or two.
- vlod 3y agoI read this and thought we collectively should remember to respect non-technical people at startups. Sometimes we forget. There's people behind the scenes that help drives things forward. One of the first startups I joined, I remember the engineers would routinely stay late and get shit down. The COO would made sure food was ordered (dietary needs were meet), cleaned up and made sure the gears stayed oiled. This significantly helped moral.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]