I am a former executive of a large famous company in the computer industry. AMA

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9t05i/i_am_a_former_executive_of_a_large_famous_company/

by kyro • 17 years ago

74 19 17 years ago

kyro• 17 years ago

Some of these Ask Me Anything threads on Reddit are really fascinating, and often times, you'll get people who are/were heavily involved in the cs/startup/business industries. I'm not sure if you guys view these sort of submissions as spammy, so I've tried to not submit every AMA thread that I find relevant and interesting. Anyway, lots of interesting information in this one.

cema• 17 years ago

Thanks, the reading was interesting and maybe educational (to some extent).

g__• 17 years ago

I Was also an Illegal E-Mail Spammer for 5 Years. I got Caught. AMA

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9ebku/

dkokelley3• 17 years ago

I think this comment by the exec may be relevant. (He is talking about his thoughts on starting a company, which he is a part of now.)

"A cool technology or product is not a company or a business. A real business is as much about sales & marketing as it is about product. Even if you have invented a flying moon car that runs on urine, if you can't sell it, you don't have a business. Do not start a business without a marketing person and a salesperson."

You may not agree about starting with a marketing guy and a sales guy, but I think that if these are shoes you can't or don't want to fill, you must hire them soon.

staunch• 17 years ago

This guy was hired right out of college and worked his way up in a massive corporation over 10 years. I would trust his opinions on starting a new company very little.

There's no doubt he can talk to the talk. That's the primary mechanism for promotion in a big company. I would be very careful about mistaking his opinions for actual experience.

mistermann• 17 years ago

I concur....successful one trick ponies should be taken with a grain of salt.

dkokelley3• 17 years ago

Also keep in mind, he graduated with a CS degree, not a business degree, and he's in a small business now.

"I was hired soon after college (computer science degree) and rose up the ranks from product development"

So this guy started with a CS degree, hired into product development for a major tech company, and was promoted from there.

I'm not saying that necessarily translates to starting a company, but I think his advice holds a little more knowing that he worked both sides of the equation (Product development and management).

dkokelley3• 17 years ago

I apologize for the double post. I found this reply by Exec regarding his startup history.

"Yes. Here's my startup track record.

I started one that was a success and ran as intended.

I started another that was a failure. Mistake: bad market timing.

I joined another that was poorly run and I left after others refused to change. Later it failed as expected.

I joined another that is on track to do well. I'm still at it.

I'm involved in another that is on track to do well. I'm consulting.

I evaluate other startups for myself and various investment groups routinely."

allenbrunson• 17 years ago

i haven't been to reddit in years. this is a lot more polite than i remember.

wglb2• 17 years ago

Some of the subreddits aren't so bad--the programming one and the lisp one are two that come to mind[

jrockway3• 17 years ago

Seriously? I have to go to the womens fashion subreddit to get away from the arbitrary fad-like groupthink on programming.reddit.

ibsulon• 17 years ago

The IamA subreddit is developing an interesting culture. There are some issues of people faking, but in general it shows an interesting cross-section of life in a very addicting and supportive way.

justinhj• 17 years ago

The guy is eloquent and honest for a tech exec; I found myself upvoting most of his replies

buckler• 17 years ago

In case you're unfamiliar with the IAmA series on Reddit (which I see is getting positive feedback from HN readers, needless to say), a 'starred' post such as this one means that the OP has verified his/her identity with a subreddit moderator.

Just wanted to point out since this new process was implemented only few days ago.

I am a former executive of a large famous company in the computer industry. AMA

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