4 ms·

That's the impression I got from day one. Him or his parents had connections to get someone interested from day one. I am also very curious about this so calle

by seivan 14y ago

That's the impression I got from day one. Him or his parents had connections to get someone interested from day one. I am also very curious about this so called "algorithm". For all I know, it could be a very well made genuine admin interface plugged into multiple turks. That is what I would have done.

tptacek 14y ago
So what we're saying here is that upper-class connections of some sort or another suffice to get companies acquired by Yahoo?
- seivan 14y ago
  Not at all, but you have to admit, the whole thing is a bit sketchy. Each line is a separate email. http://gizmodo.com/5830076/how-i-made-a-15+year+old-app-developer-cry http://gizmodo.com/5830076/how-i-made-a-15+year+old-app-deve...
  - GHFigs 14y ago
    "To put it bluntly, D'aloisio raped my inbox."
  - joe5150 14y ago
    "Now we've wasted $10,000 as we dont have the article to accompany the efforts. / That puts us in debt and we can't pay that back for ourselves so now I'm going to have to go without food for the next month." What an elevator pitch! If this Yahoo! thing doesn't pan out....
    - rdouble 14y ago
      Considering his dad is a VP at Morgan Stanley and his mother is a corporate attorney, he is a great actor.
      - seivan 14y ago
        I didn't know this, yeah that makes sense. We're not talking about talent here.
        rdouble 14y ago
        I was commenting on his desperate sounding emails when clearly he was not in personal financial peril. After reading more about the project and his background, he seems talented enough.
      - deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
  - anigbrowl 14y ago
    Good grief. I can remember my 15-year old self well enough to understand the eager-puppy part, but not the abundant lies and emotional blackmail.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- ruswick 14y ago
  No, but getting celebrities to invest does, which is a natural consequence of being hyper-affluent.
  - chc 14y ago
    That is not exactly a natural consequence. It just gives you a leg up.
    - cygwin98 14y ago
      That would like to be a huge leg up though. Just imagine that if Bill Gates didn't get the DOS contract from IBM.
- coldtea 14y ago
  No. But it suffices to get your (connected) company acquired instead of 10 other equal (or slightly better) companies.
ruswick 14y ago
Indeed. I haven't tried the app in months, but downloaded it shortly after launch, and it unequivocally sucked. The summarization simply wasn't effective and often gave incoherent information or incomplete sentences. This story seems to boil down to an individual that created a moderately-functioning app who's success was enabled by his family connections and amplified by a media industry voracious for this kind of shit.

by seivan 14y ago

tptacek 14y ago

So what we're saying here is that upper-class connections of some sort or another suffice to get companies acquired by Yahoo?

seivan 14y ago
Not at all, but you have to admit, the whole thing is a bit sketchy. Each line is a separate email. http://gizmodo.com/5830076/how-i-made-a-15+year+old-app-developer-cry http://gizmodo.com/5830076/how-i-made-a-15+year+old-app-deve...
- GHFigs 14y ago
  "To put it bluntly, D'aloisio raped my inbox."
- joe5150 14y ago
  "Now we've wasted $10,000 as we dont have the article to accompany the efforts. / That puts us in debt and we can't pay that back for ourselves so now I'm going to have to go without food for the next month." What an elevator pitch! If this Yahoo! thing doesn't pan out....
  - rdouble 14y ago
    Considering his dad is a VP at Morgan Stanley and his mother is a corporate attorney, he is a great actor.
    - seivan 14y ago
      I didn't know this, yeah that makes sense. We're not talking about talent here.
      - rdouble 14y ago
        I was commenting on his desperate sounding emails when clearly he was not in personal financial peril. After reading more about the project and his background, he seems talented enough.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
- anigbrowl 14y ago
  Good grief. I can remember my 15-year old self well enough to understand the eager-puppy part, but not the abundant lies and emotional blackmail.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
ruswick 14y ago
No, but getting celebrities to invest does, which is a natural consequence of being hyper-affluent.
- chc 14y ago
  That is not exactly a natural consequence. It just gives you a leg up.
  - cygwin98 14y ago
    That would like to be a huge leg up though. Just imagine that if Bill Gates didn't get the DOS contract from IBM.
coldtea 14y ago
No. But it suffices to get your (connected) company acquired instead of 10 other equal (or slightly better) companies.

ruswick 14y ago

Indeed. I haven't tried the app in months, but downloaded it shortly after launch, and it unequivocally sucked. The summarization simply wasn't effective and often gave incoherent information or incomplete sentences. This story seems to boil down to an individual that created a moderately-functioning app who's success was enabled by his family connections and amplified by a media industry voracious for this kind of shit.