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Thanks, I appreciate the well wishes and practical help in getting there. I certainly understand your reasoning, even if my conclusion is different. I try to be careful not to judge anything based on one small aspect without considering the whole, or jump to conclusions on a decidedly complex issue (any human action, really, including my own). You may of course do as you wish. I did the google query a couple days ago, called the number twice to verify the disconnected message wasn't the result of a weird network error, then did several more queries and surfing around their various web sites (obvious.com, which now redirects to medium.com, jellyhq.com (where I promptly subscribed to the early adopter list), media stories, and social media accounts, to no avail. I spent much more than 15 minutes on it, and hopefully my post here displays at least a modicum of motivation and drive. I made the remark because I thought it was odd, not as a request for someone else to do my homework for me, but I appreciate your initiative. I think what you read as lack of motivation, I believe is infrequent use of whois (due to its irrelevance for the vast majority of my work on classified networks) and especially in this capacity, leading to oversight of that tool as potentially useful for solving my problem. I overlooked the whois suggestion in your first post, because I was in the middle of composing a response to someone else, and probably because my attention went straight to the phone number I recognized. I am sorry my oversight inconvenienced you, but I do appreciate you lending your expertise to help (however trivial it was to you). I think it would be accurate to see this as a weakness of lesser familiarity with certain things due to having spent large amounts of time in a different environment. That would be fair. I just think those type of things are generally easy to pick up, compared to the things that are difficult to learn, or just can't be taught period. Not unimportant or trivial, but a minor challenge. And those concepts that are difficult or critical to get right the first time, are the reason why I applied to YC, and why I am asking HNers for advice. And I will make every effort to eventually give back more than I receive.

miles 13y ago
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. You are clearly well-spoken and patient, two excellent traits in any profession. Godspeed!
- jdrobins2000 13y ago
  Number called, no answer, anonymous voicemail recording. Message left, fingers crossed... star wished upon. Ironic that I may need to resort to snail mail.
  - miles 13y ago
    Number called, no answer, anonymous voicemail recording. Message left, fingers crossed... star wished upon. I'm sorry, you're still missing the point. You can and should do FAR more than this if you are truly motivated. I strongly recommend you read Think and Grow Rich: http://archive.org/details/Think_and_Grow_Rich http://archive.org/details/Think_and_Grow_Rich Here's a taste: TRULY, "thoughts are things," and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a BURNING DESIRE for their translation into riches, or other material objects. A little more than thirty years ago, Edwin C. Barnes discovered how true it is that men really do THINK AND GROW RICH. His discovery did not come about at one sitting. It came little by little, beginning with a BURNING DESIRE to become a business associate of the great Edison. One of the chief characteristics of Barnes' Desire was that it was definite. He wanted to work with Edison, not for him. Observe, carefully, the description of how he went about translating his DESIRE into reality, and you will have a better understanding of the thirteen principles which lead to riches. When this DESIRE, or impulse of thought, first flashed into his mind he was in no position to act upon it. Two difficulties stood in his way. He did not know Mr. Edison, and he did not have enough money to pay his railroad fare to Orange, New Jersey. These difficulties were sufficient to have discouraged the majority of men from making any attempt to carry out the desire. But his was no ordinary desire! He was so determined to find a way to carry out his desire that he finally decided to travel by "blind baggage," rather than be defeated. (To the uninitiated, this means that he went to East Orange on a freight train). He presented himself at Mr. Edison's laboratory, and announced he had come to go into business with the inventor. In speaking of the first meeting between Barnes and Edison, years later, Mr. Edison said, "He stood there before me, looking like an ordinary tramp, but there was something in the expression of his face which conveyed the impression that he was determined to get what he had come after. I had learned, from years of experience with men, that when a man really DESIRES a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to win. I gave him the opportunity he asked for, because I saw he had made up his mind to stand by until he succeeded. Subsequent events proved that no mistake was made."
    - jdrobins2000 13y ago
      Thank you miles, but again I think you are the one missing something, because you are too quick to assume. I appreciated your help, but you were clearly too quick to declare your own success and my lack of motivation or effort. You provided two phone numbers, one of which I had already tried, and both of which were dead ends. That was the only issue you expressed interest in talking to me about, so that is the only thing I mentioned in my reply, so I didn't waste your time or mine. I am traveling up to Napa very soon, and was considering trying to drop by their office, but politely and without presumption. However, it is not my dream to work with Ev and Biz. I just have the impression they share my goals and values, so would potentially be great people to partner with. I will continue to be on the lookout for opportunities to connect with them, but it's not my only option. What I AM doing is moving forward on the MVP of my product, with my partner who has committed to a substantial amount of effort to building the business. I am feeling great about our prospects, as he has brought more to the team than I had even hoped for. He is very confident we can handle the big data (as he has already done major projects using Cassandra). And since he is willing to contribute more than I expected, and we work together even better than I hoped, things are looking up. I have endured far more for far longer in pursuit of this goal than Barnes' blind baggage ride. In the last year alone I have endured several trials that would have broken many men (no exaggeration). I (and my family) have come out the other side stronger than ever, and I am determined to do everything in my power to pursue this goal. This year, next year, 10 years, this is what I will be doing, because I would do it even if I didn't need any money. And in fact I didn't need the money, but as a result of pursuing this instead of playing it safe, that is increasingly in jeopardy. Well, since you seem to be an advocate of tracking down complete strangers and demanding they give you what you want, I would be remiss if I didn't inquire as to what I may demand of you, where I may find you, and if you could make the trip from LA worth my while? ;) EDIT: So, Maui it is! I appreciate you living somewhere nice to visit, and even on one of the HI islands I've yet to visit. Now I just need to figure out my demands. That is, in addition to some delicious vegan fare, and some Japanese lessons for my Japanese wife, who knows less Japanese than I do. :)
      - miles 13y ago
        Well, since you seem to be an advocate of tracking down complete strangers and demanding they give you what you want, I would be remiss if I didn't inquire as to what I may demand of you, where I may find you, and if you could make the trip from LA worth my while? ;) EDIT: So, Maui it is! I appreciate you living somewhere nice to visit, and even on one of the HI islands I've yet to visit. Now I just need to figure out my demands. That is, in addition to some delicious vegan fare, and some Japanese lessons for my Japanese wife, who knows less Japanese than I do. :) No, you have misunderstood: I am an advocate of following through with action on your dreams. If your dream is to harass me, I suggest you dig deep and find a more worthy goal. Best of luck.