
Coffee with Tim Cook finishes at $610,000 - martin_
https://www.charitybuzz.com/catalog_items/337478#finished
======
olympus
From this 2010 article [1] it says charity buzz takes 20% off to cover
operating expenses. So this winning bidder just wasted $122,000 that could
have gone to charity. I would rather donate directly and have all the money go
to the charity and then call up Tim Cook and say, "I just improved my supply
chain efficiency by 20%. Want to have coffee?" Any CEO would be crazy to turn
down the opportunity to talk to me. Of course, I don't care about talking to
Tim Cook, so I'll just donate my measly few bucks like any decent person and
get no recognition out of it.

[1][http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-27/jay-z-s-new-
year-s-...](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-27/jay-z-s-new-year-s-eve-
lebron-jersey-fuel-charitybuzz-auctions.html)

~~~
ryderm
Yeah, that 20% should have a cap.

~~~
pyoung
To add to that, charitybuzz is a for-profit corporation. Not that I am against
that, but it is worth keeping in mind as there have been a number of scandals
in the past, where money from charitable non-profits gets re-directed to 'non-
profit services firms' that are for-profit entities (The Wycleaf Jean scandal
is a good example).

In general it is good to keep your eyes open when dealing with the non-profit
world. There are some very good, well meaning organizations out there, but
there also a lot of organizations that solely exist as tax shelters, influence
peddlers, and resume/ego boosters.

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diziet
The interesting thing is that even if Tim Cook were to spend every working
hour of his time doing $610,000 coffee, he would earn Apple only about one
billion dollars -- under 1% of Apple's yearly revenue.

~~~
cm2012
Thats a fascinating thought.

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hkmurakami
Lunch with Warren Buffet meanwhile costs $2.6MM

[http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/06/13/warren-buffett-
lunch-a...](http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/06/13/warren-buffett-lunch-
auction-raises-2-63-million/)

~~~
orangethirty
Which you would then turn around and write a book, blog, tour the country,
appear on MSNBC, and get a cozy job as a financial consultant for rich
dummies. Well worth the price.

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IvyMike
I hope the winner is Tim Cook. "I just wanted to have some alone time."

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asperous
Starbucks must have raised their prices again

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zeteo
Yay! One more way for rich people to hang out with rich _and_ famous people.

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N0RMAN
Oh, $9.95 shipping. Damn! :/

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tlarkworthy
Should be good coffee

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michaelochurch
Does anyone else want to write that comment?

Fine. I'll do it.

Is anyone else irked that some rich guy is getting even more connections in
exchange for a huge wad of cash, yet this is given the name (see: website
name) of "charity"? When rich people give society back the money they stole,
in exchange for improving their personal connections and reputations, we're
supposed to laud them because "it's for charity". Well, here's a fucking idea.
How about Tim Cook has coffee with a regular guy out in Montana who's never
seen $500 in one place?

~~~
Udo
I was going to write that comment, but you were quicker. Thanks, I absolutely
agree.

I would also say that the motivation for buying into that coffee meeting is
puzzling. If someone can afford that ridiculous price tag they're pretty
successful to begin with. Chances are, Tim Cook won't have anything meaningful
to offer to that guy/girl besides the bragging rights of having met with Tim
Cook.

It's kind of embarrassing to be that person. Even if I had that kind of money
and a desperate wish to meet Tim Cook (why?), I wouldn't want the press to
find that out.

Cook clearly doesn't need the money (edit: nor does he need to raise it this
way for charity). So he either does it for ego, or he actually wants to help
other people's businesses. Is this his idea of "giving back to the community"?
If so, he should consider doing an office hour once a week for startup
founders or something.

~~~
travisp
>If someone can afford that ridiculous price tag they're pretty successful to
begin with. Chances are, Tim Cook won't have anything meaningful to offer to
that guy/girl besides the bragging rights of having met with Tim Cook.

This seems to be an odd thing to say. The wealthy have nothing else meaningful
to gain or learn? Bill Gates had nothing meaningful to gain from reaching out
to Steve Jobs? Is the only reason you could want to meet with Tim Cook because
you want him to help your business?

I assume that Tim Cook is probably an extraordinarily interesting man with
many great insights. I think there are many reasons beyond "bragging rights"
an already successful person could have to want to meet him.

~~~
olympus
>I assume that Tim Cook is probably an extraordinarily interesting man with
many great insights.

He probably won't say anything more than you could get from an MBA at
University of Phoenix (which costs a smidgen less than $610,000). While I'm
sure he's an intelligent man, I wouldn't assume that he's anything more than
just a skilled businessman. If you're looking for managerial advice he's
probably a good person to talk to, but I wouldn't call him interesting or say
he has many great insights. So yeah, it's probably just bragging rights or
having something to pitch to Apple.

~~~
pazimzadeh
I guess you can say that about anyone if you don't provide any evidence.

Olympus, I'm sure you are an intelligent man, but I wouldn't assume that
you're anything more than the average HN reader. I wouldn't call you
interesting or say that you have many great insights.

But seriously, you don't think the CEO of Apple has insights about tech and
where it's going?

~~~
olympus
Let me start by saying that I don't dislike Tim Cook, but to me he's just
another rich guy running a company, not a tech visionary [1].

I certainly don't offer anything more than the average HNer but the difference
is that I don't auction off coffee dates with myself.

To answer your question, no, I don't really think that Tim Cook has insights
about tech and where it's going. He's a competent businessman, but he doesn't
offer $610,000 worth of insight unless you're pitching a business deal. He is
a businessman who works in the tech industry. He doesn't do tech, he does
management. He has an M.B.A. He does hiring and firing [2]. He isn't
ambitiously driving Apple in new directions, he has his hands full holding
onto what Steve created. He isn't responsible for creating any revolutionary
products. The only thing I would think he could speak with knowledge on is
Apple's product launch plans for the next few years. Beyond that, he has no
idea where tech is going more than the average HNer.

[1] I would regard Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Larry Page and Sergey
Brin, as tech visionaries because of the companies they created. I would
regard Tim Berners-Lee, Linus Torvalds and Dennis Ritchie as visionaries
because they created 'backbone' technologies that we still rely on today. [2]
Firing Scott Forstall is the most significant event of Cook's tenure as CEO.

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innguest
If no one will ask it, I will. Who's Tim Cook?

~~~
th5
<http://bit.ly/10N8k8N>

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fakeer
The way _The Joy of Tech_ sees it <http://tapastic.com/episode/5641>

