tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post9028699079841921851..comments2024-02-13T02:39:22.756-05:00Comments on EconomicPolicyJournal.com: Zuckerberg's Early Mastery of Computer ScienceRobert Wenzelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14296920597416905488noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-61676146789149100362012-07-12T11:16:55.082-04:002012-07-12T11:16:55.082-04:00Really cool story. One can only imagine the hours ...Really cool story. One can only imagine the hours of work he must have put in to achieve that level of mastery. For him it probably wasn't "work", he loved every bit of it. It was probably his life.Nikhil Hoganhttp://nikhilhogan.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-46420523760221125632012-07-12T10:10:30.108-04:002012-07-12T10:10:30.108-04:00Can you prove this "all revenue from selling ...Can you prove this "all revenue from selling porn to kids" claims through accounting statements and a list of their highest grossing advertisers? Seems a bit sketchy to me.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-69992793256429306642012-07-12T09:31:53.414-04:002012-07-12T09:31:53.414-04:00I think there's some confusion between a great...I think there's some confusion between a great programmer and a great entrepreneur. I've done a little programming but am no expert--I can't compare Zuck vs. some random "brilliant" programmer lost in the middle-upper class strata. I'm sure Zuck quickly moved away from programming and into management as FB took off. I doubt he keeps his skills as sharp or up-to-date Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-67066408113469858342012-07-12T09:26:17.198-04:002012-07-12T09:26:17.198-04:00I didn't attribute solely to luck.
I attribut...I didn't attribute solely to luck.<br /><br />I attributed it to him screwing his partners. I also made the point that he is not a good programmer and wrote an almost unmaintainable application that is costing them billions a year just to keep what they currently have going and can barely add new features (3 a year is not innovation which is what they currently average).<br /><br />I also James Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00691491559386497208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-8603845778287307572012-07-11T22:45:01.831-04:002012-07-11T22:45:01.831-04:00Amazing. How does a guy fight his way out of the s...Amazing. How does a guy fight his way out of the slums and graduate from Phillips Exeter Academy? Nary an elite or benefactor of the military industrial complex has ever even heard of this school. Truly a hardscrabble story of American ingenuity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-40303029590598967122012-07-11T16:59:18.087-04:002012-07-11T16:59:18.087-04:00Just for the sake of argument, how do you build a ...Just for the sake of argument, how do you build a business by giving away free access to everyone? How do you get someone to invest hundreds of millions in such a scheme? In my long business career, I have yet to meet a venture capitalist who was stupid - most are extremely shrewd and often as not, cut throat businessmen. So where is the "pinch point", as one once asked me?<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-7233676856529997732012-07-11T16:27:06.310-04:002012-07-11T16:27:06.310-04:00Zuck's coding skills are above average, yes. H...Zuck's coding skills are above average, yes. His success in three words:<br /><br />Alpha Epsilon Pi<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_Epsilon_PiAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-43879929831899083482012-07-11T16:07:46.502-04:002012-07-11T16:07:46.502-04:00Well, reading these comments, it is hard not to th...Well, reading these comments, it is hard not to think that it is sour grapes. You do not become a 50 B$ company by accident or luck. It takes a statistically improbable series of lucky accidents for that to happen. THe converse is not true though. Even if you are extremely talented, your startup could fail miserably as there are too many factors that are outside your control, like the market, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-81659084728229570042012-07-11T15:02:26.514-04:002012-07-11T15:02:26.514-04:00I mostly agree with your comments. There is defin...I mostly agree with your comments. There is definitely nothing genius about Zuckerberg or Facebook. Facebook, like most things in tech, was a successful second version of an idea -- the first version being Myspace. The things Facebook did right that surpassed myspace were:<br /><br />*) they kept the interface clean and avoided the morass that was uncontrolled CSS customization in Myspace Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758330678390419129.post-4211882614508867042012-07-11T14:10:44.119-04:002012-07-11T14:10:44.119-04:00Sorry but I know the problems that Facebook is hav...Sorry but I know the problems that Facebook is having and has always had scaling to handle it's users, to the point where very little innovation happens now because they can't make it scale.<br /><br />And let us not forget that Zuckerberg hired a guy (that he later shafted) to write most of what is now Facebook in the first place.<br /><br />He was genius in how he screwed over his James Hancockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00691491559386497208noreply@blogger.com