4 ms·

Amazing group of people. Manjul is my wife's cousin so I have heard of a few examples of his brilliance (like the time he corrected his mom, a Math prof, durin

Amazing group of people. Manjul is my wife's cousin so I have heard of a few examples of his brilliance (like the time he corrected his mom, a Math prof, during one of her lectures - he was a middle-schooler at the time). Here's a nice piece NPR did on him: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4111253 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4111253

S4M 12y ago
The more I read HN, the more I am impressed by the diversity of its readers. Now we have the cousin of a field medalist, nothing less!
- 27182818284 12y ago
  You should see one of my all-time favorite Hacker news threads: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35079 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35079
  - sanj 12y ago
    I'm finally beginning to appreciate how my embarrassing behavior ends up trotted out regularly.
    - dropit_sphere 12y ago
      But aren't you glad to be in a place where that incident could even happen?
    - cperciva 12y ago
      Tell me about it...
  - S4M 12y ago
    Man, this guy is impressive as well.
    - cylinder 12y ago
      He went on to found Tarsnap about a year after that exchange. The whole thread is really incredible. Just a bit further down[1] you see someone criticize him and his startup (Tarsnap) for having a "phenomenal misunderstanding of what it takes to create a successful software startup." And then Drew Houston of Dropbox chimes in to say that he's building a similar backup solution.
      - typon 12y ago
        I just saw that. That's like history being made. Incredible.
      - cperciva 12y ago
        He went on to found Tarsnap about a year after that exchange. Your chronology is a bit off -- I started writing code about a year before that thread. I had my first alpha testers at the time, and opened Tarsnap to the general public a few months later.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - curiousDog 12y ago
    Even more impressive is Drew houston chiming in. cperciva would've been a billionaire (not that he cares :))!
    - cperciva 12y ago
      cperciva would've been a billionaire Doubtful. First, Forbes says that dhouston has a net worth of $1.2B; and even if I had been an extra cofounder, splitting the cofounder shares more ways would have brought it below $1B. Second, I really doubt I could have stuck it out at Dropbox for the necessary time. I like to do things in ways which are technically right rather than necessarily financially right; Dropbox is a phenomenally successful business, but it's not a product which I like.
      - judk 12y ago
        2nd point is key. From collectong comic books to running companies, there are many people who had the requisite starting potential to be a success, but attrition peels off almost all of them for so many small and often unrelated reasons. Make the post of your own path, and play to your strengths.

S4M 12y ago

The more I read HN, the more I am impressed by the diversity of its readers. Now we have the cousin of a field medalist, nothing less!

27182818284 12y ago
You should see one of my all-time favorite Hacker news threads: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35079 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35079
- sanj 12y ago
  I'm finally beginning to appreciate how my embarrassing behavior ends up trotted out regularly.
  - dropit_sphere 12y ago
    But aren't you glad to be in a place where that incident could even happen?
  - cperciva 12y ago
    Tell me about it...
- S4M 12y ago
  Man, this guy is impressive as well.
  - cylinder 12y ago
    He went on to found Tarsnap about a year after that exchange. The whole thread is really incredible. Just a bit further down[1] you see someone criticize him and his startup (Tarsnap) for having a "phenomenal misunderstanding of what it takes to create a successful software startup." And then Drew Houston of Dropbox chimes in to say that he's building a similar backup solution.
    - typon 12y ago
      I just saw that. That's like history being made. Incredible.
    - cperciva 12y ago
      He went on to found Tarsnap about a year after that exchange. Your chronology is a bit off -- I started writing code about a year before that thread. I had my first alpha testers at the time, and opened Tarsnap to the general public a few months later.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- curiousDog 12y ago
  Even more impressive is Drew houston chiming in. cperciva would've been a billionaire (not that he cares :))!
  - cperciva 12y ago
    cperciva would've been a billionaire Doubtful. First, Forbes says that dhouston has a net worth of $1.2B; and even if I had been an extra cofounder, splitting the cofounder shares more ways would have brought it below $1B. Second, I really doubt I could have stuck it out at Dropbox for the necessary time. I like to do things in ways which are technically right rather than necessarily financially right; Dropbox is a phenomenally successful business, but it's not a product which I like.
    - judk 12y ago
      2nd point is key. From collectong comic books to running companies, there are many people who had the requisite starting potential to be a success, but attrition peels off almost all of them for so many small and often unrelated reasons. Make the post of your own path, and play to your strengths.