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>"But more importantly, there no CEO alive with more experience in this domain than Zuck." This is a big mistake in the corporate world: thinking that you need

>"But more importantly, there no CEO alive with more experience in this domain than Zuck." This is a big mistake in the corporate world: thinking that you need a CEO with specific experience. On that high of a level, business is business. There are plenty of corporate executives who could do as good a job or better at running Facebook. But that's not to say Zuck doesn't have unique advantages having built the company. He is also going to learn as he goes; no one is born with CEO experience.

lsc 14y ago
>On that high of a level, business is business. Now, I have about as much experience at that level as you likely do, which is to say, none, but one of the primary functions of a leader is choosing empoloyees. And it takes one to know one. I'm sorry, but it's extrordenarily difficult to hire outside of what you know. Do you know how many people have approached me /this week/ as an expert? I mean, I laugh, but I really am the best those people could find. This wasn't due to lack of money; this was because they didn't have much knowledge of my field, and because I'm loud. (I mean, some of that has value; I do write better than most people. I am more outgoing and have more tolerance for bullshit than most people that are actually experts. But that is mostly bullshit.) I mean, sure, get a trusted co-founder or what have you. but if you don't have those skills? you won't know if that co-founder is a real expert... or me.
- tatsuke95 14y ago
  >"but one of the primary functions of a leader is choosing empoloyees." With you 110%. This is, really, the role best filled by the leader. >"And it takes one to know one." Nope, disagree here. I am fully confident that I can hire a great rocket scientist, especially with the resources of a major corporation. And I'm most certainly not a rocket scientist. We're disagreeing on the fundamentals here. I believe that a good CEO knows that he doesn't need to understand the engineering of a social network in order to run a social network. At all. He has to put together the right strategy and the right team. It's not easy to accomplish, but it's certainly not complicated.
  - lsc 14y ago
    >Nope, disagree here. I am fully confident that I can hire a great rocket scientist, especially with the resources of a major corporation. And I'm most certainly not a rocket scientist. How would you hire a rocket scientist? I mean, I'd go ask a friend who is one, but that's... largely blind luck. I mean, I know the guy is smarter than I am; I can tell he knows more physics than I do. but that's not saying a whole hell of a lot. And even if my friend is a good rocket scientist, I then have to trust he's good at picking other good rocket scientists. It's a similar problem to how I'd hire an accountant. I mean, super important job, right? keeps me outta jail. Me? I found someone that ran a public q/a site. I knew she was good at explaining things, and I know she had certain certifications... but really, I had no idea (and still have no idea) if she's really doing the acccouning correctly. I mean, I have refered her to a few friends, who all have said positive things about her, so it sounds like I made a good choice, but I don't really know. I can't, at least until I get audited. I mean, picking good people is a skill; sharing a knowledge base with the role you are picking is not sufficent to pick someone good. I have a very good friend that is a much better programmer than I am. But, her initial impressions, like most people's, mostly focus on confidence. She was interviewing for her boss, and was very excited about one prospect. "I think he's better than I am" she gushed. But, being a rational person, she gave some take-home work. The next day I got a call. "Would a person fail a take-home test on purpose?" Turns out, the guy was just a big talker. But still; the take home test saved her from an embarrassing co-worker. If she didn't have the knowledge to make and judge that test? she would have ended up hiring the idiot.
    - tatsuke95 14y ago
      >"How would you hire a rocket scientist?" Without getting bogged down with literals, I'd do my best to determine what constitutes a good rocket scientist, and work away. I suppose I'm just confident I could do it. I've had to hire good people in my field (pharmacy), but I have no formal connection to the industry. Sure, maybe if I was a rocket scientist, I'd have a slight edge in this specific case. But don't forget, being a CEO doesn't mean you're hiring all rocket scientists (or in FB's case, engineers). You have to hire people of all types, so you lose any competitive advantage rather quickly.

lsc 14y ago

>On that high of a level, business is business. Now, I have about as much experience at that level as you likely do, which is to say, none, but one of the primary functions of a leader is choosing empoloyees. And it takes one to know one. I'm sorry, but it's extrordenarily difficult to hire outside of what you know. Do you know how many people have approached me /this week/ as an expert? I mean, I laugh, but I really am the best those people could find. This wasn't due to lack of money; this was because they didn't have much knowledge of my field, and because I'm loud. (I mean, some of that has value; I do write better than most people. I am more outgoing and have more tolerance for bullshit than most people that are actually experts. But that is mostly bullshit.) I mean, sure, get a trusted co-founder or what have you. but if you don't have those skills? you won't know if that co-founder is a real expert... or me.

tatsuke95 14y ago
>"but one of the primary functions of a leader is choosing empoloyees." With you 110%. This is, really, the role best filled by the leader. >"And it takes one to know one." Nope, disagree here. I am fully confident that I can hire a great rocket scientist, especially with the resources of a major corporation. And I'm most certainly not a rocket scientist. We're disagreeing on the fundamentals here. I believe that a good CEO knows that he doesn't need to understand the engineering of a social network in order to run a social network. At all. He has to put together the right strategy and the right team. It's not easy to accomplish, but it's certainly not complicated.
- lsc 14y ago
  >Nope, disagree here. I am fully confident that I can hire a great rocket scientist, especially with the resources of a major corporation. And I'm most certainly not a rocket scientist. How would you hire a rocket scientist? I mean, I'd go ask a friend who is one, but that's... largely blind luck. I mean, I know the guy is smarter than I am; I can tell he knows more physics than I do. but that's not saying a whole hell of a lot. And even if my friend is a good rocket scientist, I then have to trust he's good at picking other good rocket scientists. It's a similar problem to how I'd hire an accountant. I mean, super important job, right? keeps me outta jail. Me? I found someone that ran a public q/a site. I knew she was good at explaining things, and I know she had certain certifications... but really, I had no idea (and still have no idea) if she's really doing the acccouning correctly. I mean, I have refered her to a few friends, who all have said positive things about her, so it sounds like I made a good choice, but I don't really know. I can't, at least until I get audited. I mean, picking good people is a skill; sharing a knowledge base with the role you are picking is not sufficent to pick someone good. I have a very good friend that is a much better programmer than I am. But, her initial impressions, like most people's, mostly focus on confidence. She was interviewing for her boss, and was very excited about one prospect. "I think he's better than I am" she gushed. But, being a rational person, she gave some take-home work. The next day I got a call. "Would a person fail a take-home test on purpose?" Turns out, the guy was just a big talker. But still; the take home test saved her from an embarrassing co-worker. If she didn't have the knowledge to make and judge that test? she would have ended up hiring the idiot.
  - tatsuke95 14y ago
    >"How would you hire a rocket scientist?" Without getting bogged down with literals, I'd do my best to determine what constitutes a good rocket scientist, and work away. I suppose I'm just confident I could do it. I've had to hire good people in my field (pharmacy), but I have no formal connection to the industry. Sure, maybe if I was a rocket scientist, I'd have a slight edge in this specific case. But don't forget, being a CEO doesn't mean you're hiring all rocket scientists (or in FB's case, engineers). You have to hire people of all types, so you lose any competitive advantage rather quickly.