
Video Of The Week: Paul Graham in 2005 - _pius
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2013/10/video-of-the-week-paul-graham-in-2005.html
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rpm4321
One of my favorite pg videos is the one where he's being "heckled" at Defcon
2005:

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8Lb8ZgQP74](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8Lb8ZgQP74)

I don't know why, but there's something sort of inspiring about rolling with
the punches and then going on to keynote PyCon.

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natch
Interviewed by a guy who doesn't know how to do audio.

Unfailingly repeats every single question so we can hear it.

Respect.

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matiasb
Otherwise... subtitles.

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natch
Perhaps you didn't notice that the subtitles didn't show up for the questions.

And even if there was some assurance up front that there would be subtitles
(albeit shitty ones, as anyone who looks at them can see) he still wouldn't
know up front that the assurance was going to be backed up with action.

So.. what were you saying?

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rmason
The most useful piece of information was don't spend all your time studying
successes but study failures. I had to personally learn that one the hard way.

Every startup wants successful founders as advisers. Theres nothing wrong with
that. Yet people who failed can provide just as valuable if not more valuable
lessons. They're also a lot easier to get time with than the startup all
stars.

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KedarMhaswade
Coincidentally, I had run into it recently. I wanted to ask pg the following:

\- Around 12:30 you say that there is a combination of 3 things that drives
hackers: 1) the desire to get rich (so they could be "free") 2) the desire to
"make something" 3) the desire for "power". If that is still your observation,
then how does it relate to the change in YC focus to admit a nonprofit
startup? I mean, by definition, shouldn't the hackers doing a nonprofit
startup give up on 1) above?

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pg
The reason they want to be free is to work on what they want. If someone
starts a nonprofit that they expect to be their life's work, they've achieved
the same result (though perhaps with a bit more risk).

~~~
paulbjensen
As a developer watching that video, that line was the one that stood out the
most.

There is nothing more frustrating than to be asked to build something using
old tools when better options exist, or when you are asked to build apps that
don't stretch your abilities, or when you work for people who don't understand
how software can change the way that their business operates (who tend to not
be technical).

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bliti
Very, very true.

> when you work for people who don't understand how software can change the
> way that their business operates (who tend to not be technical).

This is rather frustrating for me. I love automating labor, and making things
more efficient. But people won't trust a computer to do repetitive work as
much as they'd trust a person who is more prone to errors. Plus they don't
seem to understand how it impacts their finances. If you pay me $5K to
automate very labor intensive tasks and processes that take 2-3 people to do,
then you are making money. Even if workers are paid minimum wage, the business
is going to start making money on the investment after the first month.
Without the extra set of issues that employees bring in.

I also want to add that it is a bit frustrating when you are told to work on a
code base that is in an obvious need of a cleanup and targeted refactor. You
spend more time fixing issues that writing code. And must somehow explain why
progress is not being made, because new features are still waiting to be
incorporated. Its also a rather boring.

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coherentpony
Interesting.

I must admit, when he says, "Ummm," it _really_ annoys me.

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pg
Yeah, it is a problem. Sorry. I should remind myself not to do it when I'm
giving talks or being interviewed.

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nocman
I'm going to go out on a limb here and disagree with you :-D

I know that the Toastmasters folks will ding you for saying "Um" or "So", etc.
And yes, if it is too common it _can_ be annoying (sort of on along the lines
of someone who inserts "you know" into almost every sentence). However, in
this interview, it was obvious that you were doing that while trying to come
up with a thoughtful and meaningful answer. I don't think that it detracts
from the interview at all. In fact, I would say it is a sign of you being
_real_ , sincere -- and not just trying to BS your way through the interview.

My two cents.

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SurfScore
I guess pg chose to pursue YC instead of that kickass goatee...

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o_s_m
When you are young, "Do stuff that's hard."

Don't cash in.

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wellboy
The most mesmerizing "Hummm" I know. :)

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kpapke
As I am working on my startup today, I found the interview very relevant and
insightful. I wonder how much of that information has changed for 2013 if at
all?

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non-sense
In a was I liked that the interview did not focus in one particular direction.
It had nuggets of wisdom spread all over!

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wyclif
Matches Seglousy will love this one.

~~~
wyclif
Are people still upset because Matches was hellbanned? Wow.

