I feel like I was reading a summation of my career.
Readit Newsbrianhama commented on 30 years of <br> tags artmann.co/articles/30-ye... · Posted by u/FragrantRiver
I'm wondering if the culture of an "exit plan" may be a contributing factor.
I grew up in a world, where companies were supposed to be ongoing concerns, with no end in sight. You established a company, and worked towards achieving at least an equilibrium, if not growth. Most brick-and-mortar companies are like this. The focus is on the product/service provided by the company, and all efforts are devoted to maximizing efficiency and steady profitability. Plans are made with a long view, as the company needs to be around to support their product. I know a lot of folks that own/run standard companies. None of them want to sell the company (it does happen, but it's an unusual thing; usually around the time they want to retire).
A standard company might consider an IPO to be their "exit."
Tech companies seem to have the company as the product. They have a plan to "exit," i.e. sell the company. That means they work on making the company, itself into an attractive package, and their product/service is simply a tool to maximize the company's attractiveness. In this case, descending into debt, in order to make the company look good in the short term, makes sense.
I could see this resulting in a situation, where the product made by the company is doing OK, but the company is not succeeding in being sold, so is considered a "failure."
A start-up needs to have an exit to pay back investors. A company that isn’t hoping to exit is just a lifestyle business. Both are valid options, but very different tactically.
brianhama commented on It’s time to free JavaScript (2024) javascript.tm/letter... · Posted by u/pavelai
Side question: can the CEO or sole proprietor of a corporation/small business/ nonprofit litigate pro se on behalf of their company? I know you can do this when acting as an individual, but if a business is too poor to afford representation, can they "wing it" as a last ditch measure? Or is it checkmate at that point?
If possible, I would like to see the good guys in these cases go down fighting, and try to delay proceedings and waste as much money of their well-funded opponents as possible.
Only if the owner happens to be a lawyer. Otherwise it would be the illegal practice of law.
brianhama commented on Am I missing out in my 20s living in South Bay instead of SF? · Posted by u/fishmeat
I prefer living in the South Bay, but almost all my friends prefer living in SF. I tried living in SF for one year and came running back to Palo Alto. I’d say, just try it.
I suddenly lost the hearing in my left ear at the age of 24. One moment I was fine, eating a slice of pizza, the next moment I suddenly could sense something was wrong. I tried to stand up and walk, but my balance was gone. My ear felt full and there was a strange metallic echo. I waited about 24 hours and it hadn't gone away, so I went to the urgent care. By that time, just standing up was enough to cause me to vomit. I've had a pretty healthy life, so everything that was happening was rather disconcerting to me!
The doctors at urgent care erroneously diagnosed the problem as dehydration as a result of my telling them I had played tennis earlier before the incident. They sent me home with instructions to drink lots of water. After waiting another 48 hours completely unable to hear or even stand up, I went back to the urgent care. This time, they diagnosed it as an ear infection and gave me antibiotics. Over the next two weeks, my balance slowly returned, but what little hearing I still had slowly deteriorated further. About a month after it started, I finally was referred to an audiologist that concluded that I was completely deaf in my left ear, possibly due to a viral infection, but there isn't any way to know for sure the cause. Had it been treated with steroids immediately, it might have saved my hearing.
I am now 40 years old and have lived with being single sided deaf for half my life. Initially I didn't think much of it. I've slowly realized it has had a profound impact on my personality and sense of identity. I am much less social due to the difficulty I have hearing in group settings. Conversations are frustrating because it takes so much effort to hear the other person properly. I am reluctant to tell people about my condition because I don't want to be seen as handicapped in any way. Usually by the time I do end up telling someone, they say they had already figured as much.
Tinnitus is a major daily issue as well. I can’t seem to understand how this website helps though.
This author is being disingenuous. All of those actions are indeed suspicious. I am not a fan of the Patriot Act, but these new guidelines actually seem pretty reasonable to me.