5 ms·

Sam Altman of Loopt on Charlie Rose [video]

66 points by rjett 17y ago

PStamatiou 17y ago
Grats! That's a huge achievement. I remember watching Rose on TV when he interviewed Larry & Sergey many years ago. "The average US teenager sends almost 2,000 text messages per month." wow..
- rjett 17y ago
  I agree. IMO, Charlie Rose is probably the best all-around interviewer today and to be featured on his show at such a young age is quite an achievement.
gustaf 17y ago
very cool. awesome Sam!
pclark 17y ago
You know you've made it when Charlie Rose interviews you, great job.
mahmud 17y ago
Sam, did you also get a life-time achievement award on your first birthday? some folks had to save humanity, a few times, before they could be on Charlie Rose :-P Congrats!
jbenz 17y ago
It's hard to believe that some carriers actually wanted an exclusivity agreement. It's like they didn't think it through at all. I'm glad Loopt was able to convince them otherwise. That must have been a great feeling, to have changed someone's mind in a high level corporate type of way.
pxlpshr 17y ago
Awesome interview, congrats!! Sam definitely has the substance, he's just getting started. While the trend with voice may be falling, I actually hate email/txt a lot of times (at least via the phone). I much rather have a phone call and make a decision quickly, rather than going back and forth. Texting annoys me, maybe I'm alone with that opinion.
- mrbgty 17y ago
  just my opinion but text is popular because you don't have to make those decisions quickly. it lets you communicate with less exposure. if you don't know how to reply to a certain statement, you have time to think it over or not reply at all where with voice if you do not reply, the other side will have an easier time pressuring you into it.
- teeja 17y ago
  It's a temporary warp in userspace. Text is like going backward from broadband to a 1400 baud modem. Voice communicates so much more. So that will change as the user base ages. Seen many skateboards lately?
  - mcav 17y ago
    Voice expresses more emotion, but it will never be able to match text in raw consumption speed. Instead, I'll bet that voice transcription picks up. People who prefer text will be able to get it from a voice transcription.
BRadmin 17y ago
Great interview, but didn't Sprint have an exclusivity agreement with Loopt at one point? http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/15/loopt-may-be-friending-more-mobile-networks/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/15/loopt-may-be-friending-...
redorb 17y ago
I have always questioned his inclusion on PG's list of people he admired [can't find the post] - but he is very well spoken and seems to have 'it'.
- unalone 17y ago
  http://www.paulgraham.com/5founders.html http://www.paulgraham.com/5founders.html Back when this was posted, I said what you did, that putting him on a list with Paul Bucheit and Steve Jobs was mental, but then I've never really understood the Loopt hype and it was one of the worse Paul Graham articles anyway. The fact that Sam's made it here is still pretty damn impressive.
ashishk 17y ago
Is anyone else worrried about facebook enabling LBS at some point down the road? I love Loopt's features, but I cant help but think technology is no longer a barrier to entry. Providing a meaningful social graph is.
warwick 17y ago
"Ease of access has been a principal, I think, determiner of success for technology companies." - Charlie Rose
321abc 17y ago
Charlie Rose is such a drooling moron. It's no wonder he's a popular talkshow host, as he must make the idiots that watch him feel they're not so stupid after all.

66 points by rjett 17y ago

Grats! That's a huge achievement. I remember watching Rose on TV when he interviewed Larry & Sergey many years ago. "The average US teenager sends almost 2,000 text messages per month." wow..

rjett 17y ago
I agree. IMO, Charlie Rose is probably the best all-around interviewer today and to be featured on his show at such a young age is quite an achievement.

gustaf 17y ago

very cool. awesome Sam!

pclark 17y ago

You know you've made it when Charlie Rose interviews you, great job.

mahmud 17y ago

Sam, did you also get a life-time achievement award on your first birthday? some folks had to save humanity, a few times, before they could be on Charlie Rose :-P Congrats!

jbenz 17y ago

It's hard to believe that some carriers actually wanted an exclusivity agreement. It's like they didn't think it through at all. I'm glad Loopt was able to convince them otherwise. That must have been a great feeling, to have changed someone's mind in a high level corporate type of way.

pxlpshr 17y ago

Awesome interview, congrats!! Sam definitely has the substance, he's just getting started. While the trend with voice may be falling, I actually hate email/txt a lot of times (at least via the phone). I much rather have a phone call and make a decision quickly, rather than going back and forth. Texting annoys me, maybe I'm alone with that opinion.

mrbgty 17y ago
just my opinion but text is popular because you don't have to make those decisions quickly. it lets you communicate with less exposure. if you don't know how to reply to a certain statement, you have time to think it over or not reply at all where with voice if you do not reply, the other side will have an easier time pressuring you into it.
teeja 17y ago
It's a temporary warp in userspace. Text is like going backward from broadband to a 1400 baud modem. Voice communicates so much more. So that will change as the user base ages. Seen many skateboards lately?
- mcav 17y ago
  Voice expresses more emotion, but it will never be able to match text in raw consumption speed. Instead, I'll bet that voice transcription picks up. People who prefer text will be able to get it from a voice transcription.

BRadmin 17y ago

Great interview, but didn't Sprint have an exclusivity agreement with Loopt at one point? http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/15/loopt-may-be-friending-more-mobile-networks/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/15/loopt-may-be-friending-...

redorb 17y ago

I have always questioned his inclusion on PG's list of people he admired [can't find the post] - but he is very well spoken and seems to have 'it'.

unalone 17y ago
http://www.paulgraham.com/5founders.html http://www.paulgraham.com/5founders.html Back when this was posted, I said what you did, that putting him on a list with Paul Bucheit and Steve Jobs was mental, but then I've never really understood the Loopt hype and it was one of the worse Paul Graham articles anyway. The fact that Sam's made it here is still pretty damn impressive.

ashishk 17y ago

Is anyone else worrried about facebook enabling LBS at some point down the road? I love Loopt's features, but I cant help but think technology is no longer a barrier to entry. Providing a meaningful social graph is.

warwick 17y ago

"Ease of access has been a principal, I think, determiner of success for technology companies." - Charlie Rose

321abc 17y ago

Charlie Rose is such a drooling moron. It's no wonder he's a popular talkshow host, as he must make the idiots that watch him feel they're not so stupid after all.