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It's really unfortunate and sometimes unnerving that we live in a time where most people are so caught up in the hype and bullshit of meaningless companies, act

It's really unfortunate and sometimes unnerving that we live in a time where most people are so caught up in the hype and bullshit of meaningless companies, actions, ideas and people that have no real importance and benefit to our daily lives. It's even more unfortunate to see the actions of CEOs based on hype, big cash reserves and Silicon Valley VCs begging for an exit. I've been seeing it all day on Twitter: VCs ecstatic about Tumblr's "successful exit", they're done and can now go home and drink champagne. But the problem is not with Tumblr being a blog full of porn and cat GIFs, running out of money, having 175 employees most of which do little, and making $15M vs. $100M projected revenue. The problem is with the state of the industry as a whole. The problem is with a company like Yahoo! rushing to get a deal done for a company that would be worth $100M in 6-months when it runs out of money. It just doesn't make sense. But maybe it's not supposed to. Warner Chilcott is obviously a company that tries to do good and create products to better humanity (for the most part), and I'm not saying that Tumblr is worthless - it isn't - but the madness behind the media, the Yahoo! board meeting on a Sunday to get a deal done before Captain Zuckerberg swoops in (I'm sure he's laughing and could care less) is maddening. This isn't a rant, it's more of a "what the hell is going on with companies and innovation of substance?" I really enjoy Thiels quote of "we wanted flying cars instead we got 140 characters." It really embodies the state of the industry in one sentence. Every month a new chat application gets a $3M round, another photo sharing app gets all the hype, bang with friends is the "it" app - what happened to people actually trying to solve REAL problems? Problems that will enable us to continue as a society and not implode.

beambot 13y ago
what happened to people actually trying to solve REAL problems? What did you work on today? (EDIT) Less snarky way of putting it: It's not fair to judge others' motivations -- or to say that Tumblr's employees do "nothing" -- especially if (at the very least) you're not tackling big, "real" problems yourself.
- dakrisht 13y ago
  What did I work on? Well, to answer your question I've been working on solving major problems affecting our society, which include obesity, diabetes, unhealthy lifestyles, poor nutrition and high blood pressure. With that said, it wasn't a snarky comment - it was an analysis of the state of innovation and business in SV in general. I'm tackling big problems. And I wish more people would do the same. We have a lot of challenges to solve.
  - qwertzlcoatl 13y ago
    Could you elaborate in detail how you are tackling significant problems like obesity, diabetes etc.? I'm genuinely interested in your work.
    - dakrisht 13y ago
      Probably not the right place (or thread) to elaborate in detail on a handful of complex health problems that my team and I are working on. But with regards to obesity, for example, we're looking at hardware and software applications to gather, analyze and make sense of quite a bit of physiological, social, and genomic data. It starts with the basics really, and most people simply have a hard time executing them: exercise, proper nutrition, healthy sleep, etc. So the goals are to make sense of a ton of data, using existing and new sensors, and use software to enable preventive medicine. Obviously, there's a lot more to it than this, but medicine and technology are two really exciting areas people should be starting companies in. Pushing the envelope, asking questions and trying to solve problems. Nothing wrong with the occasional social app or service having a big exit or becoming a major player, but that gives people a lot of incentive (and false sense of hope) to try and make another IG or the 15th chat app. It's amazing what a dozen great coders, thinkers and innovators from "Photo App A" could do, if they were focusing on bigger problems. And it doesn't begin or end with healthcare, you have energy, hunger, disease, and a dozen other real issues. But I digress.
      - guard-of-terra 13y ago
        What's in for people who don't have diabetes or obesity? I don't but I read some tumblr. Futuremore, if you could just develop a pill that makes you fix your weight instantaneously and forever, that would be great; but data gathering will only help people willing to help themself. And most of the world doesn't have such big problems with obesity anyway, while they still like cat pictures.
rjzzleep 13y ago
what happend to peopre actually trying to solve REAL problems you ask? I have been wondering the same. This article is a breath of fresh air to me. So are the people such as you, sharing the sentiment.
- dakrisht 13y ago
  They're still out there, just less of them. It should be the opposite; more people trying to push the envelope, less people trying to copy apps because of monetary reasons. Great work is hard work. It's a shame the easy way is the default for so many, but the beauty of technology (and biology, in this case) is that we can help thousands with one tool.

beambot 13y ago

what happened to people actually trying to solve REAL problems? What did you work on today? (EDIT) Less snarky way of putting it: It's not fair to judge others' motivations -- or to say that Tumblr's employees do "nothing" -- especially if (at the very least) you're not tackling big, "real" problems yourself.

dakrisht 13y ago
What did I work on? Well, to answer your question I've been working on solving major problems affecting our society, which include obesity, diabetes, unhealthy lifestyles, poor nutrition and high blood pressure. With that said, it wasn't a snarky comment - it was an analysis of the state of innovation and business in SV in general. I'm tackling big problems. And I wish more people would do the same. We have a lot of challenges to solve.
- qwertzlcoatl 13y ago
  Could you elaborate in detail how you are tackling significant problems like obesity, diabetes etc.? I'm genuinely interested in your work.
  - dakrisht 13y ago
    Probably not the right place (or thread) to elaborate in detail on a handful of complex health problems that my team and I are working on. But with regards to obesity, for example, we're looking at hardware and software applications to gather, analyze and make sense of quite a bit of physiological, social, and genomic data. It starts with the basics really, and most people simply have a hard time executing them: exercise, proper nutrition, healthy sleep, etc. So the goals are to make sense of a ton of data, using existing and new sensors, and use software to enable preventive medicine. Obviously, there's a lot more to it than this, but medicine and technology are two really exciting areas people should be starting companies in. Pushing the envelope, asking questions and trying to solve problems. Nothing wrong with the occasional social app or service having a big exit or becoming a major player, but that gives people a lot of incentive (and false sense of hope) to try and make another IG or the 15th chat app. It's amazing what a dozen great coders, thinkers and innovators from "Photo App A" could do, if they were focusing on bigger problems. And it doesn't begin or end with healthcare, you have energy, hunger, disease, and a dozen other real issues. But I digress.
    - guard-of-terra 13y ago
      What's in for people who don't have diabetes or obesity? I don't but I read some tumblr. Futuremore, if you could just develop a pill that makes you fix your weight instantaneously and forever, that would be great; but data gathering will only help people willing to help themself. And most of the world doesn't have such big problems with obesity anyway, while they still like cat pictures.

rjzzleep 13y ago

what happend to peopre actually trying to solve REAL problems you ask? I have been wondering the same. This article is a breath of fresh air to me. So are the people such as you, sharing the sentiment.

dakrisht 13y ago
They're still out there, just less of them. It should be the opposite; more people trying to push the envelope, less people trying to copy apps because of monetary reasons. Great work is hard work. It's a shame the easy way is the default for so many, but the beauty of technology (and biology, in this case) is that we can help thousands with one tool.