A quantum computing startup tries to live up to the hype | Hacker News Reader

A quantum computing startup tries to live up to the hype

japantimes.co.jp

48 pointspmoriarty13 comments

There's a really inspiring talk from Rigetti here, actually on Y Combinator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzMvG8UO6Eg

I can't imagine joining a startup in today's day and age named after the founder (Rigetti computing/ Chad Rigetti). Props to the work they have done so far, but I personally would not have enough faith in the CEO's motives to join a company with a name like that.

Are current Silicon Valley trends any better? "Quantumly" doesn't sound very good if I say so myself. :)

I disagree with that assertion.

I also own the domain name name quantum.ly so I may have an overwhelming bias on the matter.

Do you guys just put the word 'quantum' in front of everything?

Quantum is as quantum does.

How is this any different to Hewlett-Packard or DuPont or thousands of other comparable companies? They sound more like objects or brands than surnames anyway.

Besides you should watch some of Rigetti's speeches, he really seems like a great guy and CEO who is passionate about quantum computing.

Those companies were created at a very different time and are 79 and 216 years old respectively. I can't think of any other moderately successful tech company that has started in recent memory which is named after the founder, although perhaps there are a few examples. In my mind, it takes a certain amount of arrogance to name a tech company after yourself; you alone cannot possibly make it great (unlike a law firm, consultancy, hedge fund, etc.) and naming it as such severely discounts the perceived worth of other employees.

Dyson is the only one I can think of, but I'm sure there are more.

Norton, Kasperky, Dell, Wolfram, HP, Cray, HTC, Bose...

Hashicorp perhaps? I was thinking it was named after one of the founders, Hashimoto.

>I personally would not have enough faith in the CEO's motives to join a company with a name like that.

on other side - putting your name on something like a company you take some personal responsibility for what that company does as you open yourself and your reputation to the things in the public view like "Riggetti screwed (or did right by) his employees/customers/suppliers" instead of laundering that responsibility through impersonal name.

The original article on bloomberg:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-07/quantum-c...

Has a seemingly less enthusiatic title:

Quantum Computers Today Aren’t Very Useful. That Could Change

Reply on news.ycombinator.com