5 ms·

Kevin Rose Leaves Google Ventures

69 points by slckfielder08 12y ago

gt565k 12y ago
I remember when I was in middle school and used to watch his show "The Broken". I wonder how many people on HN have heard of it. I found episode 3 on youtube. I think there are only 4 or 5 episodes, but they are hilarious and informative. He even interviewed Kevin Mitnick in this episode. This was really before he was famous. I think he started Revision 3 after that, and then went on to start Digg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcWByfwkf4k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcWByfwkf4k
unreal37 12y ago
I like KR, but I wish I knew the true story from the Digg days til now. He needs to write an autobiography or something. I feel like there's a lot of subtext that I'm missing. We get to see the news of him joining Google, going part time, leaving but still "an advisor". These are all what the public sees. But what's the real story? I know there must be more to it.
- gkoberger 12y ago
  What do you mean? He started a company (Milk) that was bought as an acquihire. He worked at Google Ventures while he vested (and it was probably a good job while he got married, etc), but after a few years wanted to get back out there and build. He spent a few months transitioning out of GV (he had invested in a lot of companies; he couldn't just walk away), and now he's working full time on North. I'm sure there's a lot we don't know, but it seems pretty straightforward.
  - unreal37 12y ago
    What you've outlined is what's on his bio, which is interesting sure. But I am willing to bet that there is a much more interesting backstory to this. Nothing bad per se, but perhaps he will one day tell a story of how Silicon Valley burned him a couple of times and left him pessimistic about how much one can really disrupt entire industries. He is basically trying to find a little niche to mine for a small win, not change the world. That's so fascinating to me.
  - k-mcgrady 12y ago
    There's a huge portion of that story missing if you leave out Digg.
    - nether 12y ago
      Not to mention Leah.
  - jforman 12y ago
    Being a VC is a very attractive role to many people if you can make it work. You get to work with top-tier companies in a meaningful way and have the chance to make an incredible amount of money in the process (you participate both in fund upside and separately from additional upside in your portfolio companies), all for a much lower amount of stress than being an actual founder. It's entirely possible that he wanted his GV role to continue but he did not succeed there. It's also possible that the cover story is true. We will likely never know.
- aaron-lebo 12y ago
  His story is fascinating. Some of us grew up watching him on TechTV, then he catches magic in a bottle with Digg, has a chance to sell for hundreds of millions, tragically loses that chance as his company loses traction and the upstart competitor (Reddit) becomes the one hosting amas by actors and politicians. His story is almost Jobsian.
  - justizin 12y ago
    almost, perhaps, but .. a company for high end watch aficionados? Maybe instead, he should consider a TV show where he interviews people on the streets of SF who think really bitter things about all tech people and all tech companies and use them as a filter for his next ideas. That is my honest, constructive criticism of a company aimed at high end watch aficionados.
    - rscott 12y ago
      It's not a watch aficionado company. It is, as I understand it, a company that just rapidly builds out app ideas. An app incubator, you could say.
      - imjk 12y ago
        One of his recently released apps is definitely for watch aficionados. High-end watches are a new interest/hobby that he picked up after he inherited a Rolex from his father. It's something that he enjoys and pursues with a passion.
        justizin 12y ago
        And I totally respect that. I have nothing against well crafted timepieces, or even valuable things, maybe inherently. I'm just saying, of the two ideas his "incubator" has done so far, that stood out as being particularly out of touch. I think he's capable of more. I suspect he thinks so, I'm not saying he's limited to this sort of idea. Maybe he's leaving Google to focus on coming up with better ideas than a fancy watch thing. ;)
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- thinkalone 12y ago
  Kevin was interviewed by his former TechTV co-worker Leo Laporte on Leo's podcast Triangulation, if you're interested in Kevin's story: http://twit.tv/show/triangulation/162 http://twit.tv/show/triangulation/162
  - unreal37 12y ago
    Thanks for the link. Interesting full-length interview. Just wish Leo would stop interrupting his answers.
cicloid 12y ago
Times have really changed... North Technologies domain name is: n-o-r-t-h-t-e-c-h-n-o-l-o-g-i-e-s.com
- k-mcgrady 12y ago
  Wow. I guess it doesn't really matter to them considering they're building multiple products. The domains for those products are probably more important unless they were branding the products with North.
- sbarre 12y ago
  My office firewall blocked the site due to it being in the category "adult". I wonder what (obviously poorly crafted) filter/rule it triggered.. Too many dashes?
  - greglindahl 12y ago
    Domains with lots of dashes are usually webspam, exact match domains. I don't think there's any correlation with porn.
  - stevenspasbo 12y ago
    Same here
  - rasz_pl 12y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_North_(pornographer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_North_(pornographer)
- emehrkay 12y ago
  Might start a trend. m-i-c-r-o-s-o-f-t.net is available for 12 bucks
  - izolate 12y ago
    $12 plus $15,000 for the legal fees
kbody 12y ago
Techcrunch reporting at lightning speed. /s Kevin said it publicly ~1 month ago at his & Tim Ferriss' Random Show [1] [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPleJbpqbwc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPleJbpqbwc
- ojbyrne 12y ago
  Seems like it was prompted by a funding round.
- RIMR 12y ago
  Wait until they learn about the Racoon video.
bluthru 12y ago
Kevin seems full of ideas. It's always fun to see what he produces.
te_chris 12y ago
'2.6 million screen loads' wtf tech crunch?
imjk 12y ago
Sorry for my naiveté but why does someone like Kevin Rose raise money at this point? Surely, he's cashed out enough that he could fund these sorts of projects on his own, at least at the seed stage. I would assume he has enough connections that he doesn't need to give up the equity for advice either. Can someone help me understand this? I often hear about people who I assume to be immensely successful raising seed rounds for their next projects and I'm often confused as to why. Wouldn't they want to keep as much equity as they can at this point?
codemac 12y ago
He's been working with this group for a while, he was talking about it a few months ago when I ran into him in Hayes Valley and drunkenly harassed him to say hi and talk to him about the startup I work for. Highlight of the night, and was very gracious.

69 points by slckfielder08 12y ago

I remember when I was in middle school and used to watch his show "The Broken". I wonder how many people on HN have heard of it. I found episode 3 on youtube. I think there are only 4 or 5 episodes, but they are hilarious and informative. He even interviewed Kevin Mitnick in this episode. This was really before he was famous. I think he started Revision 3 after that, and then went on to start Digg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcWByfwkf4k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcWByfwkf4k

unreal37 12y ago

I like KR, but I wish I knew the true story from the Digg days til now. He needs to write an autobiography or something. I feel like there's a lot of subtext that I'm missing. We get to see the news of him joining Google, going part time, leaving but still "an advisor". These are all what the public sees. But what's the real story? I know there must be more to it.

gkoberger 12y ago
What do you mean? He started a company (Milk) that was bought as an acquihire. He worked at Google Ventures while he vested (and it was probably a good job while he got married, etc), but after a few years wanted to get back out there and build. He spent a few months transitioning out of GV (he had invested in a lot of companies; he couldn't just walk away), and now he's working full time on North. I'm sure there's a lot we don't know, but it seems pretty straightforward.
- unreal37 12y ago
  What you've outlined is what's on his bio, which is interesting sure. But I am willing to bet that there is a much more interesting backstory to this. Nothing bad per se, but perhaps he will one day tell a story of how Silicon Valley burned him a couple of times and left him pessimistic about how much one can really disrupt entire industries. He is basically trying to find a little niche to mine for a small win, not change the world. That's so fascinating to me.
- k-mcgrady 12y ago
  There's a huge portion of that story missing if you leave out Digg.
  - nether 12y ago
    Not to mention Leah.
- jforman 12y ago
  Being a VC is a very attractive role to many people if you can make it work. You get to work with top-tier companies in a meaningful way and have the chance to make an incredible amount of money in the process (you participate both in fund upside and separately from additional upside in your portfolio companies), all for a much lower amount of stress than being an actual founder. It's entirely possible that he wanted his GV role to continue but he did not succeed there. It's also possible that the cover story is true. We will likely never know.
aaron-lebo 12y ago
His story is fascinating. Some of us grew up watching him on TechTV, then he catches magic in a bottle with Digg, has a chance to sell for hundreds of millions, tragically loses that chance as his company loses traction and the upstart competitor (Reddit) becomes the one hosting amas by actors and politicians. His story is almost Jobsian.
- justizin 12y ago
  almost, perhaps, but .. a company for high end watch aficionados? Maybe instead, he should consider a TV show where he interviews people on the streets of SF who think really bitter things about all tech people and all tech companies and use them as a filter for his next ideas. That is my honest, constructive criticism of a company aimed at high end watch aficionados.
  - rscott 12y ago
    It's not a watch aficionado company. It is, as I understand it, a company that just rapidly builds out app ideas. An app incubator, you could say.
    - imjk 12y ago
      One of his recently released apps is definitely for watch aficionados. High-end watches are a new interest/hobby that he picked up after he inherited a Rolex from his father. It's something that he enjoys and pursues with a passion.
      - justizin 12y ago
        And I totally respect that. I have nothing against well crafted timepieces, or even valuable things, maybe inherently. I'm just saying, of the two ideas his "incubator" has done so far, that stood out as being particularly out of touch. I think he's capable of more. I suspect he thinks so, I'm not saying he's limited to this sort of idea. Maybe he's leaving Google to focus on coming up with better ideas than a fancy watch thing. ;)
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
thinkalone 12y ago
Kevin was interviewed by his former TechTV co-worker Leo Laporte on Leo's podcast Triangulation, if you're interested in Kevin's story: http://twit.tv/show/triangulation/162 http://twit.tv/show/triangulation/162
- unreal37 12y ago
  Thanks for the link. Interesting full-length interview. Just wish Leo would stop interrupting his answers.

cicloid 12y ago

Times have really changed... North Technologies domain name is: n-o-r-t-h-t-e-c-h-n-o-l-o-g-i-e-s.com

k-mcgrady 12y ago
Wow. I guess it doesn't really matter to them considering they're building multiple products. The domains for those products are probably more important unless they were branding the products with North.
sbarre 12y ago
My office firewall blocked the site due to it being in the category "adult". I wonder what (obviously poorly crafted) filter/rule it triggered.. Too many dashes?
- greglindahl 12y ago
  Domains with lots of dashes are usually webspam, exact match domains. I don't think there's any correlation with porn.
- stevenspasbo 12y ago
  Same here
- rasz_pl 12y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_North_(pornographer) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_North_(pornographer)
emehrkay 12y ago
Might start a trend. m-i-c-r-o-s-o-f-t.net is available for 12 bucks
- izolate 12y ago
  $12 plus $15,000 for the legal fees

kbody 12y ago

Techcrunch reporting at lightning speed. /s Kevin said it publicly ~1 month ago at his & Tim Ferriss' Random Show [1] [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPleJbpqbwc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPleJbpqbwc

ojbyrne 12y ago
Seems like it was prompted by a funding round.
RIMR 12y ago
Wait until they learn about the Racoon video.

bluthru 12y ago

Kevin seems full of ideas. It's always fun to see what he produces.

te_chris 12y ago

'2.6 million screen loads' wtf tech crunch?

imjk 12y ago

Sorry for my naiveté but why does someone like Kevin Rose raise money at this point? Surely, he's cashed out enough that he could fund these sorts of projects on his own, at least at the seed stage. I would assume he has enough connections that he doesn't need to give up the equity for advice either. Can someone help me understand this? I often hear about people who I assume to be immensely successful raising seed rounds for their next projects and I'm often confused as to why. Wouldn't they want to keep as much equity as they can at this point?

codemac 12y ago

He's been working with this group for a while, he was talking about it a few months ago when I ran into him in Hayes Valley and drunkenly harassed him to say hi and talk to him about the startup I work for. Highlight of the night, and was very gracious.