4 ms·

I don't think the founders need any more money.

chihuahua 3y ago
There are many people who "don't need any more money" but are still working day and night to make more money. For example, Satya or Tim Apple.
- striking 3y ago
  Judging by their current projects I'd make the argument that Brad and Eric are working day and night to make things they find cool, even if it loses money.
  - Grustaf 3y ago
    Have you heard Eric talk about beeper? He genuinely believes that beeper is the future of message apps. He keeps saying that beeper is the only company that is completely focused on building a messaging app, and thats why they will win. He is simply deluded.
    - striking 3y ago
      I am a very happy customer of Beeper. It's a hard task and they're basically doing it for free. And all of my chats are more or less in one app. I even have my iMessage access back today. So I'll say that I get where you're coming from, but also, I believe him and Brad!
      - Grustaf 3y ago
        That’s great for you, but none of that contradicts the fact that he is deluded. And also, they are not doing it for free, they have taken in and burnt millions of dollars of investor money.
        striking 3y ago
        What are you on about? You can go on Crunchbase right now and see they've only raised a seed round for $125k. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/beeper/company_financials https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/beeper/company_finan... Everything else came out of their pockets or from the super early customers who paid before launch, before they started offering their service for free. In case you're unaware, these folks made Pebble. Their finances are probably fine.
        Grustaf 3y ago
        They have raised $16m, and I am very aware of who they are. I have talked extensively with both Eric and Brad. They are nice guys, but Beeper is definitely based on a delusion, Beeper Mini even more so. Some people said it was 4D chess, a brilliant marketing ploy, but after 3-4 iterations I think we can all agree that was not the case. They genuinely believed that Beeper Mini would fly. There is nothing sinister about being deluded, as a startup founder you might say it's a prerequisite. But nonetheless, they are.
        striking 3y ago
        When I'm wrong I'll admit I'm wrong, Pitchbook's data does differ. I agree that they believed in Beeper Mini being a reasonable strategy, I'm not contesting that. It definitely wasn't just marketing, they really wanted to bring iMessage to everyone. But I don't see how Beeper (or the other parts of Beeper Mini) are a delusion. Having a close-enough interface to all of the relevant chat networks is great. It works well and is relatively sustainable, especially if you're targeting the least common denominator of features plus a couple additional things. iMessage isn't the reason I use Beeper. It's a very cool feature, but I paid for Beeper before I figured out how to register my phone number with iMessage, and I'd still have done so even if I never used iMessage at all.
eli 3y ago
Does Apple?
malfist 3y ago
And yet, people like Musk and Bezos keep trying to make more money.
- bdcravens 3y ago
  Musk, and probably Bezos, have goals that were previously only attainable by nation-states, which require nation-state-sized budgets.
  - randmeerkat 3y ago
    > Musk, and probably Bezos, have goals that were previously only attainable by nation-states, which require nation-state-sized budgets. A Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan discusses this a bit, not Musk and Bezos, but the cost of exploring space and his hope that space exploration was finally what would bring various nation states and humanity together. The irony is not lost on me that instead of bringing humanity and democracy to space, we instead brought back kings.
    - bdcravens 3y ago
      Perhaps I'm pessimistic, but I feel like humanity is a long way from our collective advancements being used for altruism. Space represents new territory to conquer. Smartphones aren't being used as the windows into global enlightenment, but more so as a means to spread hate and misinformation in manners that benefit the powers that be. Any of these things are relatively agnostic and still hold promise for the optimistic, but humanity needs a lot of growth for those dreams to be realized.
      - randmeerkat 3y ago
        > Perhaps I'm pessimistic, but I feel like humanity is a long way from our collective advancements being used for altruism. There’s less people in poverty than there ever has been in human history. Even with ongoing global conflicts, the world is still existing in one of the most peaceful times in human history. Could we do better? Of course. Are some people left out? Definitely. Humans as a whole are relatively young however, and we’re still figuring things out. > Space represents new territory to conquer. “Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.” ~ Carl Sagan What is there to conquer in infinity..? The idea that space is new territory to conquer is more of a reflection of the state of humanity than actual reality. > Smartphones aren't being used as the windows into global enlightenment, but more so as a means to spread hate and misinformation in manners that benefit the powers that be. This is true, that said, smartphones have also empowered people to learn new languages, collaborate on Wikipedia, and share lives across space and time. It’s easy to get lost in the noise of everything humanity does wrong. That’s only because no one is talking about what humanity does right. > Any of these things are relatively agnostic and still hold promise for the optimistic, but humanity needs a lot of growth for those dreams to be realized. It is my hope that humanity never stops growing and learning how to better itself.

There are many people who "don't need any more money" but are still working day and night to make more money. For example, Satya or Tim Apple.

striking 3y ago
Judging by their current projects I'd make the argument that Brad and Eric are working day and night to make things they find cool, even if it loses money.
- Grustaf 3y ago
  Have you heard Eric talk about beeper? He genuinely believes that beeper is the future of message apps. He keeps saying that beeper is the only company that is completely focused on building a messaging app, and thats why they will win. He is simply deluded.
  - striking 3y ago
    I am a very happy customer of Beeper. It's a hard task and they're basically doing it for free. And all of my chats are more or less in one app. I even have my iMessage access back today. So I'll say that I get where you're coming from, but also, I believe him and Brad!
    - Grustaf 3y ago
      That’s great for you, but none of that contradicts the fact that he is deluded. And also, they are not doing it for free, they have taken in and burnt millions of dollars of investor money.
      - striking 3y ago
        What are you on about? You can go on Crunchbase right now and see they've only raised a seed round for $125k. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/beeper/company_financials https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/beeper/company_finan... Everything else came out of their pockets or from the super early customers who paid before launch, before they started offering their service for free. In case you're unaware, these folks made Pebble. Their finances are probably fine.
        Grustaf 3y ago
        They have raised $16m, and I am very aware of who they are. I have talked extensively with both Eric and Brad. They are nice guys, but Beeper is definitely based on a delusion, Beeper Mini even more so. Some people said it was 4D chess, a brilliant marketing ploy, but after 3-4 iterations I think we can all agree that was not the case. They genuinely believed that Beeper Mini would fly. There is nothing sinister about being deluded, as a startup founder you might say it's a prerequisite. But nonetheless, they are.
        striking 3y ago
        When I'm wrong I'll admit I'm wrong, Pitchbook's data does differ. I agree that they believed in Beeper Mini being a reasonable strategy, I'm not contesting that. It definitely wasn't just marketing, they really wanted to bring iMessage to everyone. But I don't see how Beeper (or the other parts of Beeper Mini) are a delusion. Having a close-enough interface to all of the relevant chat networks is great. It works well and is relatively sustainable, especially if you're targeting the least common denominator of features plus a couple additional things. iMessage isn't the reason I use Beeper. It's a very cool feature, but I paid for Beeper before I figured out how to register my phone number with iMessage, and I'd still have done so even if I never used iMessage at all.

eli 3y ago

Does Apple?

malfist 3y ago

And yet, people like Musk and Bezos keep trying to make more money.

bdcravens 3y ago
Musk, and probably Bezos, have goals that were previously only attainable by nation-states, which require nation-state-sized budgets.
- randmeerkat 3y ago
  > Musk, and probably Bezos, have goals that were previously only attainable by nation-states, which require nation-state-sized budgets. A Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan discusses this a bit, not Musk and Bezos, but the cost of exploring space and his hope that space exploration was finally what would bring various nation states and humanity together. The irony is not lost on me that instead of bringing humanity and democracy to space, we instead brought back kings.
  - bdcravens 3y ago
    Perhaps I'm pessimistic, but I feel like humanity is a long way from our collective advancements being used for altruism. Space represents new territory to conquer. Smartphones aren't being used as the windows into global enlightenment, but more so as a means to spread hate and misinformation in manners that benefit the powers that be. Any of these things are relatively agnostic and still hold promise for the optimistic, but humanity needs a lot of growth for those dreams to be realized.
    - randmeerkat 3y ago
      > Perhaps I'm pessimistic, but I feel like humanity is a long way from our collective advancements being used for altruism. There’s less people in poverty than there ever has been in human history. Even with ongoing global conflicts, the world is still existing in one of the most peaceful times in human history. Could we do better? Of course. Are some people left out? Definitely. Humans as a whole are relatively young however, and we’re still figuring things out. > Space represents new territory to conquer. “Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people.” ~ Carl Sagan What is there to conquer in infinity..? The idea that space is new territory to conquer is more of a reflection of the state of humanity than actual reality. > Smartphones aren't being used as the windows into global enlightenment, but more so as a means to spread hate and misinformation in manners that benefit the powers that be. This is true, that said, smartphones have also empowered people to learn new languages, collaborate on Wikipedia, and share lives across space and time. It’s easy to get lost in the noise of everything humanity does wrong. That’s only because no one is talking about what humanity does right. > Any of these things are relatively agnostic and still hold promise for the optimistic, but humanity needs a lot of growth for those dreams to be realized. It is my hope that humanity never stops growing and learning how to better itself.