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I have never seen as many pivots as Mr. Kan. Regardless of what you think about his products/services, he sure knows how to stay in the game. And I respect that

I have never seen as many pivots as Mr. Kan. Regardless of what you think about his products/services, he sure knows how to stay in the game. And I respect that. I'm still amazed that socialcam got schooled by vine. I thought he was on time and on the money on that pivot. I never saw vine coming. I imagine he didn't either. He's like the Steve Nash of SV. A play maker. So this is probably a good step for YC. Congrats.

teacup50 13y ago
> And I respect that. I'm not sure I respect the ability to convince people to keep trusting you after repeated failures, eventually culminating in a position of oversight over other people's start-ups. Between this, Loopt, and "tutorspree", it's starting to seem a bit like "Those who can't do ... have a privileged position from which it really doesn't matter anyway" Upon reflection, these resumes might actually be perfect for YC -- these are founders that convinced people to invest in their high-risk ventures, repeatedly, without actually ever having to deliver the goods. In this world of over-inflated valuations and empty bubble companies, that's a very valuable skill-set to have.
- justin 13y ago
  I guess I'll defend myself... None of the companies I've started has lost the investors' money (yet). Some of them weren't that successful (Kiko) but still sold for a small profit. Twitch / Justin.tv is a 120+ employee company that makes money and supports over 100 full time broadcasters who make their living on our platform (and has hundreds of thousands of casual broadcasters). Over 45 million people look at Twitch videos every month. While there are many more successful companies, I don't think you could call that a failure. Socialcam was a spinoff of Justin.tv that was acquired for $60m on less than $2m raised capital. The jury is still out on the Exec / Handybook acquisition, but I think the online-to-offline home services space is a growth space. I think I've earned a few investors' trust and I think I have some experience with founding early stage tech companies.
  - justwndring 13y ago
    Are they profitable?
  - ChuckFrank 13y ago
    On his two large pivots - turning Justin.tv into Twitch, and then spinning off Socialcam in time to be there with Vine - Mr. Kan has clearly shown that he can be in the right place at the right time. As with having the foresight to sell Exec, an interesting, but troubled space from the get go (as you can see from their internal moves from Exec'ing anything to the more profitable cleaning). I really believe that people who work 'in the trenches' amid both failures and successes, have a lot more to teach than those that win straight out. I went to a Paul Haggis speech where he said that when asked how to become a successful film maker, his response was 'Make a movie and have it win the Oscar for best picture - that's how you become successful.' So true, and yet so false. I'd rather have people who fought and struggled give me advice - and so I think Mr. Kan is a great choice, probably the best choice in that realm. Besides, it appears to some extent that YC is bringing him on siloed in his marketing prowess. PG seems continually impressed that Mr. Kan self broadcast for as long as he did. It's not the first time I've heard PG mention it, but it's not what Mr. Kan is best at. He's best at seeing the angles in the game. Like I said, he's a play maker. My only concern would be that he would push too many pivots on young, unproven companies. But we all have biases that need to addressed, in our actions and in our advice. Myself, I take too many long bets, and would probably encourage others to do so as well.

teacup50 13y ago

> And I respect that. I'm not sure I respect the ability to convince people to keep trusting you after repeated failures, eventually culminating in a position of oversight over other people's start-ups. Between this, Loopt, and "tutorspree", it's starting to seem a bit like "Those who can't do ... have a privileged position from which it really doesn't matter anyway" Upon reflection, these resumes might actually be perfect for YC -- these are founders that convinced people to invest in their high-risk ventures, repeatedly, without actually ever having to deliver the goods. In this world of over-inflated valuations and empty bubble companies, that's a very valuable skill-set to have.

justin 13y ago
I guess I'll defend myself... None of the companies I've started has lost the investors' money (yet). Some of them weren't that successful (Kiko) but still sold for a small profit. Twitch / Justin.tv is a 120+ employee company that makes money and supports over 100 full time broadcasters who make their living on our platform (and has hundreds of thousands of casual broadcasters). Over 45 million people look at Twitch videos every month. While there are many more successful companies, I don't think you could call that a failure. Socialcam was a spinoff of Justin.tv that was acquired for $60m on less than $2m raised capital. The jury is still out on the Exec / Handybook acquisition, but I think the online-to-offline home services space is a growth space. I think I've earned a few investors' trust and I think I have some experience with founding early stage tech companies.
- justwndring 13y ago
  Are they profitable?
- ChuckFrank 13y ago
  On his two large pivots - turning Justin.tv into Twitch, and then spinning off Socialcam in time to be there with Vine - Mr. Kan has clearly shown that he can be in the right place at the right time. As with having the foresight to sell Exec, an interesting, but troubled space from the get go (as you can see from their internal moves from Exec'ing anything to the more profitable cleaning). I really believe that people who work 'in the trenches' amid both failures and successes, have a lot more to teach than those that win straight out. I went to a Paul Haggis speech where he said that when asked how to become a successful film maker, his response was 'Make a movie and have it win the Oscar for best picture - that's how you become successful.' So true, and yet so false. I'd rather have people who fought and struggled give me advice - and so I think Mr. Kan is a great choice, probably the best choice in that realm. Besides, it appears to some extent that YC is bringing him on siloed in his marketing prowess. PG seems continually impressed that Mr. Kan self broadcast for as long as he did. It's not the first time I've heard PG mention it, but it's not what Mr. Kan is best at. He's best at seeing the angles in the game. Like I said, he's a play maker. My only concern would be that he would push too many pivots on young, unproven companies. But we all have biases that need to addressed, in our actions and in our advice. Myself, I take too many long bets, and would probably encourage others to do so as well.