Sam Altman (Loopt) is talking right now at WWDC

Perhaps it's just I don't have any need for it. It seems like it might appeal to twitter lovers though, though even then it seems like it is a feature rather than a product to me. Is Loopt popular in the US?

For example, say I have an idea for a great product. I work on it effectively by spending time on the important features and ignoring the unimportant features. I release the software and my site rises to Alexa Rank 600.000, the slowly fades away. I was an effective programmer, but did not have any idea about marketing or sales or post sales or customer acquiring or viral growth or any of that stuff. That's not a lack of effectiveness, that's a lack of information.

I may have the ability to complete a task effectively, but if I do not have enough information about what tasks need to be done to be successful, I cannot apply my 'effective' skills on those tasks.

Do you get what I'm saying? Sam may be effective, but he's also knowledgeable about a wide range of topics, and so is able to know where to apply his methods towards. He knows about these topics because he is likely more intelligent and widely read than the average other startup founder. He is more widely read because he is more intelligent and it is easier for him to absorb more information.

What you call effectiveness is actually just applied intelligence. What you're actually saying is this: become more intelligent and learn how to gather a wide range of information, and then apply this information as effectively as possible, given the constraints you have to work with.

What I'm saying is this: this 'effectiveness' you say Sam has, it's not replicable, because it's made up of intelligence and a talent for applying this intelligence. And those are not available to everyone, unfortunately.