4 ms·

Great for Rap Genius, but every time I read something about them, I think of this interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NAzQPll7Lo https://www.youtube.com/

by daenz 12y ago

Great for Rap Genius, but every time I read something about them, I think of this interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NAzQPll7Lo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NAzQPll7Lo

bane 12y ago
Please tell me this was some kind of parody. A stage full of impossibly lame "bro-schtick" cartoon characters and a live-action anime-style interviewer complete with absurd hair. I wouldn't have trusted these clowns to heat up a can of beans let alone put them in charge of millions of dollars and then "value" their company at an amount of money that could build house and feed a medium sized city for a decade. I guess that goes to show what I know since they've executed pretty well and can apparently evaluate literature. Maybe I'm just getting old but man is it depressing.
- dkarapetyan 12y ago
  Silicon Valley and general startup culture these days has very little actual substance. If you don't have actual substance you have to substitute something else for it. I can't really think of words to describe what the substitute is but that linked video does a pretty good job.
- wavefunction 12y ago
  I'm with you. I'd prefer to maintain my current lifestyle if "success" meant having to act as douchey as these ass-clowns. This is the end-result of privilege meeting a lack of consequences.
- goldenkey 12y ago
  It's not because you are an old man. Compare that talk with the one with the Google Founders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdnp_7atZ0M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdnp_7atZ0M Rap Genius needs so much humble pie, they'd choke to death on it.
harkyns_castle 12y ago
What sickening, repulsive little wankers. It feels a bit surreal seeing what people will invest in, or enjoy.
- KaiserPro 12y ago
  Thats what cocaine does to you kids....
kmfrk 12y ago
Yep. If these people didn't exist, we'd have to invent them.
Perceptes 12y ago
This makes me embarrassed to work in tech in SF. :(
- zenbowman 12y ago
  The only problem here is that RG is classified as a "tech" company. Its a legitimate business, but they don't sell technology, and neither does technology make or break them. They happen to use web technology, but how is that different from the bakery next door that happens to use a payroll program or allows you to order online and home deliver? Or a company like Walmart (where arguably technology is a part of what makes them successful)? The standards for what companies are classified as tech companies right now are extremely inconsistent. In my view, Rap Genius is a for-profit fanclub, not a tech company. Similarly, AirBnB is a travel and accommodation agent, not a tech company. I define a tech company as a company for whom advanced technology is what they develop and sell (either as a product or service) - Microsoft, Google, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, Dropbox - all qualify. Merely using technology doesn't make it a tech company, every business in the modern world uses technology, it doesn't make them "tech" companies.
  - dkarapetyan 12y ago
    This is actually a really important distinction you're making and one that is lost in the HN echo chamber.
  - Disruptive_Dave 12y ago
    I've long argued this same point. Somewhere along the line "startup" become synonymous with "tech startup" and everyone seemed to decide this is the way it'll work. There are plenty of elements of these startups that are as important - if not more important - than tech.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- goldenkey 12y ago
  Not all tech is like this. Consider the most successful tech company that exists, Google. Both founders are extremely humble, cogent, and respectful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdnp_7atZ0M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdnp_7atZ0M It goes to show that even the most extreme success and fame, can still be processed without destroying your ethics.
cdr 12y ago
I think of http://valleywag.gawker.com/rap-genius-cofounder-resigns-over-comments-on-elliot-ro-1581741873 http://valleywag.gawker.com/rap-genius-cofounder-resigns-ove...
ianstallings 12y ago
I've talked to Rap Genius directly before about some work they needed done and they were all business; Completely professional. I wouldn't give this interview too much weight. Their idea, adding value to existing knowledge through meta-content, is pretty solid IMHO.

by daenz 12y ago

Great for Rap Genius, but every time I read something about them, I think of this interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NAzQPll7Lo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NAzQPll7Lo

bane 12y ago

Please tell me this was some kind of parody. A stage full of impossibly lame "bro-schtick" cartoon characters and a live-action anime-style interviewer complete with absurd hair. I wouldn't have trusted these clowns to heat up a can of beans let alone put them in charge of millions of dollars and then "value" their company at an amount of money that could build house and feed a medium sized city for a decade. I guess that goes to show what I know since they've executed pretty well and can apparently evaluate literature. Maybe I'm just getting old but man is it depressing.

dkarapetyan 12y ago
Silicon Valley and general startup culture these days has very little actual substance. If you don't have actual substance you have to substitute something else for it. I can't really think of words to describe what the substitute is but that linked video does a pretty good job.
wavefunction 12y ago
I'm with you. I'd prefer to maintain my current lifestyle if "success" meant having to act as douchey as these ass-clowns. This is the end-result of privilege meeting a lack of consequences.
goldenkey 12y ago
It's not because you are an old man. Compare that talk with the one with the Google Founders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdnp_7atZ0M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdnp_7atZ0M Rap Genius needs so much humble pie, they'd choke to death on it.

harkyns_castle 12y ago

What sickening, repulsive little wankers. It feels a bit surreal seeing what people will invest in, or enjoy.

KaiserPro 12y ago
Thats what cocaine does to you kids....

kmfrk 12y ago

Yep. If these people didn't exist, we'd have to invent them.

Perceptes 12y ago

This makes me embarrassed to work in tech in SF. :(

zenbowman 12y ago
The only problem here is that RG is classified as a "tech" company. Its a legitimate business, but they don't sell technology, and neither does technology make or break them. They happen to use web technology, but how is that different from the bakery next door that happens to use a payroll program or allows you to order online and home deliver? Or a company like Walmart (where arguably technology is a part of what makes them successful)? The standards for what companies are classified as tech companies right now are extremely inconsistent. In my view, Rap Genius is a for-profit fanclub, not a tech company. Similarly, AirBnB is a travel and accommodation agent, not a tech company. I define a tech company as a company for whom advanced technology is what they develop and sell (either as a product or service) - Microsoft, Google, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, Dropbox - all qualify. Merely using technology doesn't make it a tech company, every business in the modern world uses technology, it doesn't make them "tech" companies.
- dkarapetyan 12y ago
  This is actually a really important distinction you're making and one that is lost in the HN echo chamber.
- Disruptive_Dave 12y ago
  I've long argued this same point. Somewhere along the line "startup" become synonymous with "tech startup" and everyone seemed to decide this is the way it'll work. There are plenty of elements of these startups that are as important - if not more important - than tech.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
goldenkey 12y ago
Not all tech is like this. Consider the most successful tech company that exists, Google. Both founders are extremely humble, cogent, and respectful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdnp_7atZ0M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdnp_7atZ0M It goes to show that even the most extreme success and fame, can still be processed without destroying your ethics.

cdr 12y ago

I think of http://valleywag.gawker.com/rap-genius-cofounder-resigns-over-comments-on-elliot-ro-1581741873 http://valleywag.gawker.com/rap-genius-cofounder-resigns-ove...

ianstallings 12y ago

I've talked to Rap Genius directly before about some work they needed done and they were all business; Completely professional. I wouldn't give this interview too much weight. Their idea, adding value to existing knowledge through meta-content, is pretty solid IMHO.