anon8418

You would think with 15K creators and their traffic they would be able to monetize better... having to cut down to only three employees suggests they aren't making much revenue at all...

Traditionally, the only lead roles afforded to Asian males are either 1) nerds or 2) mystical martial artist

As others have mentioned, the security issue the student highlighted was a known issue.

I think going through official channels is the right thing to do for mission critical zero day type of vulnerabilities.

Bringing increased attention to a known, unfixed, issue, doesn't seem like a jerk move to me.

Any reason to think this is at all the case?

I recall Google getting into trouble over this in the past [1]. I can definitely see data scientists and other employees at FB taking a peek... if anything just finding out who looked at your profile/photos/etc would be pretty tempting.

At this point, FB is just too valuable as a source of intel. I just assume that the US Govt (and others) has direct and easy access. Use at your own risk.

1. http://www.businessinsider.com/google-engineer-stalked-teens...

FB could have turned this around and scored a marketing coup: "look we're hiring the hacker who exposed a security flaw, he'll be patching up the hole he found this summer - because at FB we're committed to user privacy and saving baby harp seals!"

But then again, is this really a big surprise? Just another data point in the growing contradiction between what SV is and what SV wants to be.

It is true, though not to the extremes I think you believe. I would guess that you're getting downvoted because you go from that to "Anything that is published in China, by definition is representative of the opinions of the Party." which is just patently not true (there is plenty of criticism of the CCP in both official published mediums - print, media, etc. - and even more so on blogs, weibo, etc.)

Lastly, your statement can also be applied to many western countries...

Here is one example: Lucia Rijker vs Somchai Jaideea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsaTPtUl4vs

Wiki's description of this fight:

An exhibition match involving a man verses a woman was sanctioned between Lucia Rijker who was then undefeated and Somchai Jaidee who considered a journeyman amongst his division, they both were almost identical in weight apart from the arbitrary weight discrepancy of 1 pound, during the opening minutes of the first bout Rijker proceeded to stand virtually toe-to-toe with Somchai whos strength advantage was already apparent, however Lucy shows impressive speed, Lucy then makes several attempts to kick Somchai to which Lucy bounces of him and loses her balance on multiple occasions due to the lopsided physical superiority of Somchai, Lucy however did not make it to the end of the fight when she attempted to brawl the stronger male Somchai and was knocked completely unconscious, many believed that it served as an example of why a women should not be sanctioned to fight a man(hungdaddy patriarchy), the match was since then dubbed the "cook the man some eggshibition".

There's been plenty of discussion about this on Sherdog and /r/mma... and even some historical precedent. I recall seeing a video awhile back of a then female undefeated kickboxing champion vs a journeyman fighter and while the female fighter showed more speed and skill, the physical advantage made the fight extremely lopsided.

The question I'm posing is if the profit is worth the image-hit the greater Thai culture/brand is taking.

It's certainly possible to have both, there are other countries that have legalized the sex industry without tarnishing the greater cultural brand. See Netherlands, Germany, etc. The sex trade in these countries also seems more heavily regulated... for example you never hear about child molestors flocking to Amsterdam.... (I can buy why this is the case in Cambodia, etc. but Thai is a relatively developed and modernized country...)

Thailand's sex industry is also distinct in that it heavily markets itself to foreign sex tourism. This is in contrast to other Asian countries where the sex trade is basically locals-only (see Korea, Japan, etc.).

I'm surprised I had to clarify my post for you. Perhaps english and common sense are not native to you. :P

And yes, I do know the genesis of the "me so horny" line, but my point still stands. Thailand, especially the seedier aspects, is synonymous with "sex tourism" in the west.

Compare the image of Thailand's sex industry with say that of Amsterdam's red light district...

I've always wondered why the Thai government and King are okay with condoning the massive sex tourism industry there (the majority of which is built to serve foreigners... which stands in contrast to the sex industries in other Asian countries). Don't they know that in the western world, Thais are at the butt of all the stereotypical sucky-sucky-me-so-horny jokes?

I find it unbelievably demeaning culturally... and it seems so contradictory to the otherwise prideful Thai culture...

Any local Thais care to comment?

I fly out of UA hubs frequently and have had nothing but excellent service from them this year (over 50 segments flown this year, ~60K miles).

Definitely helps to have status too...

Personally, I consider SW to the be shittiest of them all. I hate having to fight for a seat...

Lastly, use google.com/flights by far my favorite booking tool now.

You attend an Ivy for the prestige, the social signaling an Ivy degree provides, the unique job opportunities offered, and most importantly the networking.

The real learning at an Ivy is done outside the classroom... being exposed to people and social classes you wouldn't have otherwise, learning the social cues of the 1%, how life "really works", etc.

For the real elites, this process actually starts much earlier than Hahhhhvahhd. You should see what life is like at the old blue blood independent K-12s...

Visiting via google removes the paywall.

He claims to have spent only a handful of hours on BCC last year. So spending less than say 20 hours on a project and having it generate ~30% of revenue, passively, seems like a pretty good deal.

Another poster mentioned focus, but that doesn't really seem to be the case here.

Of course all this is conjecture.

[1] http://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/12/22/kalzumeus-software-year-...

I find it interesting that his goals for 2015 seem to be focused on selling his courseware, etc. on optimization, etc.

This is where the Tim Ferris comment comes from...

Nothing at all. Just a general observation.

I just find it interesting that he couldn't apply the very skills he has (which he is certainly talented at - no doubt) to save his business.

I wish he would do a detailed writeup about why. He makes it sound like neglect (only spending a few hours on it last year) and opportunity cost (his booming consulting work), but I wonder if he tried to slow down / reverse the declining revenue and just failed or whatever.

I'm not sure the opportunity costs are that high... especially when you're 1. Only spending a handful of hours on it (his claim) and 2. Your whole schtick for your consulting services is how you deserve $$$$ because using your A/B optimization whatever skills you can improve conversion/traction by xxxx%!

He spent 9 years on BCC that resulted in ~30K (edited, misread as 60K) in ARR.

I think his ideas and insights are valid. I just find it odd the contrast between his curated HN celebrity image as an uber-hacker with his actual results.

Doesn't seem like his skills resulted in much success with BCC but it sure helps his consulting career...

Sorry I'm the awkward guy at the party that makes people feel uncomfortable :)

Why did he abandon BCC?

Reminds me of Tim Ferris and Rich Dad Poor Dad.... those guys make their money selling their brand, seminars, ebooks, etc. and not via the methods/techniques they preach.

I see their point about the high average cost of most medical devices, but I'm interested in why they started out with an infusion pump... that market is pretty competitive, even in the low-cost segment.

Driving around Singapore you see trucks carrying loads of migrant workers everywhere you go. When you first arrive its heartbreaking to see, but of course one gets "used" to it over time.

I suppose Singapore > Qatar.

In regards to the latter, EdTech is a good example. Time to exit is at a minimum double what it is in the enterprise or consumer space. This is driven by the bureaucratic nature of the sales process which in turn leads to much longer sales cycles (think 6-18 months to close a deal). The upside of course are things like high customer retention / low churn and almost guaranteed collection rates.

Companies that operate in industries like these reach a point where they have a proven product and real product, but profit may not be high enough or is not growing fast enough for the founders to make the investments they KNOW will generate additionally growth.

Large VCs are turned off by these companies because the industries they operate in are not big enough to sustain the large 9-10 digit exits they seek, while smaller VCs looking for smaller exits are equally turned off because the ROI comes too slow.

For these companies, oftentimes the only option is either private Angels who are personally vested in the space or bank loans. It's hard to find the former and even then they can't offer much $$$ and the latter tends to be unworkable because of either the lack of assets, misunderstanding of the business models, or established (5+ years) historical revenue track.

Just my $0.02