misanthropic nonsense

life and business and such

Archive for August, 2009

Our revenue numbers for the year.

August 4th, 2009

You’re probably here for the wrong reason.

I never understood the need for software startups to publicly disclose every step of their growth; particularly their revenue numbers.

Small companies do this all the time. Companies that end their year with a few thousand dollars of revenue do this. It’s all in the spirit of “being open”.

Bah.

The only people interested in such things are other founders; usually those who just recently started their companies and are looking for some inspiration.

You’re standing on a six-inch tall wooden crate preaching to those who, with a bit of persistence and some work ethic, will eventually figure out how to build a wooden crate of their own.

At best, it’s silly fodder for your blog. But usually, it’s nothing more than a form of self-congratulatory masturbation.

It’s the same as when companies building their first offices obsess over photos of other offices; it’s corporate porn.

Speaking as a founder of a company that’s been growing for the past five years, I can tell you that after a certain point, the companies that you “look up to”, are those that no longer disclose their revenues publicly – probably because they matured beyond this nonsensical need.

That’s when things become interesting.

Incidentally, I’m being a complete hypocrite here, but am nevertheless pleased that I was able to stick the words “porn” and “masturbation” into a post that has nothing to do with either.

Defying Gravity on ABC.

August 2nd, 2009

Before the show started, I called it “watered down sci-fi” — Desperate Housewives in space.

As soon as the dialog mentioned “our YouTube feed” in the context of space exploration some time in the future, I knew I called it right. I’m waiting for someone to pull out an iPhone at some point within the next two hours of the pilot episode.

I hope to be proven wrong, as we’re seriously craving good sci fi since the end of BSG, but, I mean, Firefly lasted for less than 20 episodes, and instead we get this stuff.

Or maybe I’m just hard on any new entry into the genre …