7 ms·

GigaOM was truly awesome at its best. Om was a special guy, I met him a few times during my years in the Bay Area. He really embodied that selflessly-helping si

GigaOM was truly awesome at its best. Om was a special guy, I met him a few times during my years in the Bay Area. He really embodied that selflessly-helping side of the Valley: helping others with no expectations, just because it’s good. He helped one of my startups get some exposure. I keep trying to pay it forward. I will miss him.

profsummergig 3mo ago
"the selflessly-helping side of the Valley" Never having lived in the valley, I've struggled to understand what it means. Can anyone share some examples?
- Avicebron 3mo ago
  Not technically the valley but I crashed on couches in sleepy hollow and san rafael before I started making money out in the Bay.
- mikeyouse 3mo ago
  There is a really tremendous streak of people helping people with no strings attached that I hadn’t found anywhere else I’ve lived. Especially but not exclusively on the engineering / product side - for a long time you could take a greyhound to Soma and have a couch to crash on and a job interview lined up without knowing anyone. Introductions are made without a second thought (extremely contrary to my east coast experience where to get an intro, it must be “worth” something to the third party), it is (was? I moved away a few years ago) an extremely special and collaborative place.
  - brtkwr 3mo ago
    Does that not extend beyond tech founders? I hear that SF has one of the highest rates of homelessness...
    - xp84 3mo ago
      Not even the richest person can simply cure thousands of people of addiction and set them on the right path in life. If you want to prove me wrong, surely even with non-millionaire resources, you could afford to just take in one into your home, feed them, and fix their problems. I’ll be genuinely glad to be proven wrong.
      - goosejuice 3mo ago
        You don't need to cure everyone to improve the homelessness situation.
        tough 3mo ago
        There's plenty of great examples of governments deciding to deal with drug abuse in a more humane way, resulting in much better outcomes, see Portugal or Switzerland etc
    - Dumblydorr 3mo ago
      It’s a fair point about the valley’s tremendous wealth and problems, but what would Om say? It’s a little off the topic of remembering his life and work?
    - znpy 3mo ago
      > I hear that SF has one of the highest rates of homelessness... My understanding is that homelessness in California is a business similar to dating apps (tinder etc). If dating apps would actually find you a partner, they would all go out of business. So dating apps mainly keep you on the hook, fishing for subscriptions.
      - gumby271 3mo ago
        Who's benefiting from SF homelessness?
        tough 3mo ago
  - sokoloff 3mo ago
    As a life-long east coaster, I am reluctant/unwilling to make an introduction of someone I don’t know at all. It’s not that I have to get something of worth to make an intro, but I think my intro carries an implied vouch (at least a tiny one) and I can’t do that if I don’t know you. If I know you and can actually vouch for you, I’ll happily make any intro where I stand to gain nothing. I somewhat frequently get a cold outreach asking me to recommend someone I’ve never met to something/someone I know and I can’t understand how that ever works.
    - hnmullany 3mo ago
      I think the strength of the "vouch" is understood to be much weaker in Silicon Valley - it's more like - I've talked to this guy for 30mins to an hour and I can vouch that he (or she) is not a waste of time for you to talk to them for a similar amount of time. It's not a vouch that they're the next Steve Jobs or you have diligenced their background.
    - ghaff 3mo ago
      I think you and I (also east coast) seem to have similar philosophies. I'm more retired than not these days. I'll certainly respond to a query by email or talk at a conference about my various former professions/experiences (which more often than not never get responded to). But I'm not going to refer someone just because we went to the same school but I've never met or because we had coffee for 30 minutes (unless they really impressed me in some way).
      - cobbzilla 3mo ago
        maybe that’s the point. in the SV mentality I wouldn’t refer someone solely based on their credentials or a superficial connection either. It would be because I had an engaging conversation that made me think of you, and then thinking that you would also find value in having conversation with that person. Because I know you’re curious and want the latest new ideas, it’s perceived as a gift in SV-land. I wouldn’t offer an experience that wasn’t win-win. EDIT: thinking further about this, it’s really a difference in sampling techniques to ascertain reality and strategy. In SV, you want to gather as many wild and crazy ideas as possible. You’re not upset if you have the occasional low-value conversation, because you have so many conversations with so many people that you can synthesize a hi-res picture of what you’re looking at. I feel maybe the East Coast mentality is the inverse: I want to sample from few sources, whose quality is guaranteed to be very high.
- 650REDHAIR 3mo ago
  There’s a large group of people who want to help and see you succeed- even if it won’t benefit them directly. I stepped away nearly a decade ago so I don’t know how true that is for the tech “scene” today, but it was really great and inspiring for a very young transplant like me.
- goodpoint 3mo ago
  "valley" and "selfless" in the same sentence is surprising...
  - cobbzilla 3mo ago
    sad but that’s why I left. To use a tired DnD analogy, SV used to be kind of a chaotic/neutral place, I liked that. We all helped each other. Now it’s lawful/good but good implies moral choices, many of which I agree with but for some disagreement means shunning. So I left.
    - justusthane 3mo ago
      Really? I’d think more like chaotic good -> lawful neutral (at best).
    - deleted 3mo ago
      [deleted]
- cobbzilla 3mo ago
  When I was first trying to start companies, I would ask everyone for advice. Some people are more engaging and helpful than others. Some people expect something in return. In SV, in the 90s/00s, no one wanted anything in return. Everyone was there to help. We all understood that the entrepreneur’s path is a nearly impossible one, and if you have somehow followed it to success, you want to try to guide others to that successful place. After ~20 years I’ve left SV but I retain the mentality :) AMA
- riemannzeta 3mo ago
  https://steveblank.com/2011/09/15/the-pay-it-forward-culture/ https://steveblank.com/2011/09/15/the-pay-it-forward-culture...
- deleted 3mo ago
  [deleted]
- ymolodtsov 3mo ago
  In many other regions of the world if you ask someone to connect you with a potential investor they demand a success fee. In SV, they do not. Because they're playing a very long iterated game and understand, that even if they don't make a bank themselves, knowing future-successful people will be a great benefit.

profsummergig 3mo ago

"the selflessly-helping side of the Valley" Never having lived in the valley, I've struggled to understand what it means. Can anyone share some examples?

Avicebron 3mo ago
Not technically the valley but I crashed on couches in sleepy hollow and san rafael before I started making money out in the Bay.
mikeyouse 3mo ago
There is a really tremendous streak of people helping people with no strings attached that I hadn’t found anywhere else I’ve lived. Especially but not exclusively on the engineering / product side - for a long time you could take a greyhound to Soma and have a couch to crash on and a job interview lined up without knowing anyone. Introductions are made without a second thought (extremely contrary to my east coast experience where to get an intro, it must be “worth” something to the third party), it is (was? I moved away a few years ago) an extremely special and collaborative place.
- brtkwr 3mo ago
  Does that not extend beyond tech founders? I hear that SF has one of the highest rates of homelessness...
  - xp84 3mo ago
    Not even the richest person can simply cure thousands of people of addiction and set them on the right path in life. If you want to prove me wrong, surely even with non-millionaire resources, you could afford to just take in one into your home, feed them, and fix their problems. I’ll be genuinely glad to be proven wrong.
    - goosejuice 3mo ago
      You don't need to cure everyone to improve the homelessness situation.
      - tough 3mo ago
        There's plenty of great examples of governments deciding to deal with drug abuse in a more humane way, resulting in much better outcomes, see Portugal or Switzerland etc
  - Dumblydorr 3mo ago
    It’s a fair point about the valley’s tremendous wealth and problems, but what would Om say? It’s a little off the topic of remembering his life and work?
  - znpy 3mo ago
    > I hear that SF has one of the highest rates of homelessness... My understanding is that homelessness in California is a business similar to dating apps (tinder etc). If dating apps would actually find you a partner, they would all go out of business. So dating apps mainly keep you on the hook, fishing for subscriptions.
    - gumby271 3mo ago
      Who's benefiting from SF homelessness?
      - tough 3mo ago
- sokoloff 3mo ago
  As a life-long east coaster, I am reluctant/unwilling to make an introduction of someone I don’t know at all. It’s not that I have to get something of worth to make an intro, but I think my intro carries an implied vouch (at least a tiny one) and I can’t do that if I don’t know you. If I know you and can actually vouch for you, I’ll happily make any intro where I stand to gain nothing. I somewhat frequently get a cold outreach asking me to recommend someone I’ve never met to something/someone I know and I can’t understand how that ever works.
  - hnmullany 3mo ago
    I think the strength of the "vouch" is understood to be much weaker in Silicon Valley - it's more like - I've talked to this guy for 30mins to an hour and I can vouch that he (or she) is not a waste of time for you to talk to them for a similar amount of time. It's not a vouch that they're the next Steve Jobs or you have diligenced their background.
  - ghaff 3mo ago
    I think you and I (also east coast) seem to have similar philosophies. I'm more retired than not these days. I'll certainly respond to a query by email or talk at a conference about my various former professions/experiences (which more often than not never get responded to). But I'm not going to refer someone just because we went to the same school but I've never met or because we had coffee for 30 minutes (unless they really impressed me in some way).
    - cobbzilla 3mo ago
      maybe that’s the point. in the SV mentality I wouldn’t refer someone solely based on their credentials or a superficial connection either. It would be because I had an engaging conversation that made me think of you, and then thinking that you would also find value in having conversation with that person. Because I know you’re curious and want the latest new ideas, it’s perceived as a gift in SV-land. I wouldn’t offer an experience that wasn’t win-win. EDIT: thinking further about this, it’s really a difference in sampling techniques to ascertain reality and strategy. In SV, you want to gather as many wild and crazy ideas as possible. You’re not upset if you have the occasional low-value conversation, because you have so many conversations with so many people that you can synthesize a hi-res picture of what you’re looking at. I feel maybe the East Coast mentality is the inverse: I want to sample from few sources, whose quality is guaranteed to be very high.
650REDHAIR 3mo ago
There’s a large group of people who want to help and see you succeed- even if it won’t benefit them directly. I stepped away nearly a decade ago so I don’t know how true that is for the tech “scene” today, but it was really great and inspiring for a very young transplant like me.
goodpoint 3mo ago
"valley" and "selfless" in the same sentence is surprising...
- cobbzilla 3mo ago
  sad but that’s why I left. To use a tired DnD analogy, SV used to be kind of a chaotic/neutral place, I liked that. We all helped each other. Now it’s lawful/good but good implies moral choices, many of which I agree with but for some disagreement means shunning. So I left.
  - justusthane 3mo ago
    Really? I’d think more like chaotic good -> lawful neutral (at best).
  - deleted 3mo ago
    [deleted]
cobbzilla 3mo ago
When I was first trying to start companies, I would ask everyone for advice. Some people are more engaging and helpful than others. Some people expect something in return. In SV, in the 90s/00s, no one wanted anything in return. Everyone was there to help. We all understood that the entrepreneur’s path is a nearly impossible one, and if you have somehow followed it to success, you want to try to guide others to that successful place. After ~20 years I’ve left SV but I retain the mentality :) AMA
riemannzeta 3mo ago
https://steveblank.com/2011/09/15/the-pay-it-forward-culture/ https://steveblank.com/2011/09/15/the-pay-it-forward-culture...
deleted 3mo ago
[deleted]
ymolodtsov 3mo ago
In many other regions of the world if you ask someone to connect you with a potential investor they demand a success fee. In SV, they do not. Because they're playing a very long iterated game and understand, that even if they don't make a bank themselves, knowing future-successful people will be a great benefit.