
The Boss - First, $99. Then, Millions.  - peter123
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/jobs/07boss.html?_r=2
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tghw
I wonder if there are photographers that specialize in the "I'm a rich douche"
headshot. Probably pays pretty well...

~~~
callmeed
Actually, yes. I know of a few.

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mingdingo
This guy has a huge ego (check out his blog).

But taking a 30K risk when you're 16 is pretty impressive, especially
considering how poor his family was.

EDIT: Not his blog, his site.

~~~
patio11
_But taking a 30K risk when you're 16 is pretty impressive, especially
considering how poor his family was._

He would have been, practically and legally speaking, able to walk away from
that deal totally without consequence. Remind me who was taking the risk
again?

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mingdingo
I was under the impression that he would have to pay in 90 days.

Otherwise, it's one hell of a deal.

~~~
icefox
As a minor was the agreement legally binding?

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Poiesis
From the article it sounds like he got his brother to sign, reading slightly
between the lines. So his brother would be the one on the hook, legally, if
that were the case.

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kareemm
1- license tech now, pay later

2- ?

3- profit!

~~~
caffeine
Honestly: 30 days? $100K revenue from a new tech venture when you're 16
working in the afternoons and _can't code_? Reaaallly?

I realize these were crazy times but .. I smell a fish.

~~~
jonknee
Especially since they _were_ crazy times, but not because of crazy revenue.
Those were the days of big cash outs, not big revenues.

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DarrenMills
I enjoyed the article, but it was all over the place. It ended rather abruptly
too. Props to this guy for jumping on board when he did, and getting out when
he did.

~~~
brianobush
yes, the article was a written form of ADHD.

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markbao
The guy is pretty impressive for a lot of reasons. It's better read in his
book/autobiography: [http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Learned-Rewards-
Entrepreneurship...](http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Learned-Rewards-
Entrepreneurship-Millions/dp/0230610951)

It's a great insight in his building a business against his parent's wishes
(while still a minor), how he managed things, partnerships and legal stuff
that went sour, what he did between his first exit and his second company
(built a restaurant, invested in stocks and quit, etc.) and more. It's a good
read.

~~~
raffi
I started to read the article and it sounded like a very short version of the
book. I read the book (on a recommendation from HN) and took a lot from it. In
particular I found the dynamic between the programmer who made the technology
and himself (who did the business development) interesting. He made the
programmer what I thought was a fair deal, worked his ass off selling, and
things grew fast. The programmer got really pissed and created all kinds of
headaches. Reading this gave me a chance to evaluate any future business
relationships I might have as a programmer.

Overall the book isn't on my must read list but I still thought it was pretty
good. I

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socmoth
might enjoy reading his personal site

<http://www.chahal.com/>

~~~
Alex3917
I'm not sure whose site is funnier, his or Eric Litman's:

<http://ericlitman.com/>

~~~
izaidi
We need a ".ego" TLD.

~~~
lsb
Looking at where he came from, and where he is now, he's got plenty of reason
to flaunt it. He came from the slums, and made tens of millions! (It doesn't
mean it's not tacky, but he's got the street cred to say he did it (mostly) by
his own skills.)

~~~
Keyframe
I haven't been to california in a while. I didn't realize San Jose was the
slums now. Things have changed.

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shughes
I remember him from the show, "Secret Millionaire," where millionaires dress
as poor people for a week, then give away money to citizens that helped them
out.

While I respected him for doing the show, I remember thinking at the time that
he was way too into himself. He'd wear v-neck, designer shirts even though he
was supposed to look homeless.

Then he'd cry a lot, and say, "And I normally never cry, but this has gotten
me so emotional.." Which means he probably cries all the time to make himself
look sensitive.

And he spread out his giveaway, which made the episode boring. Where other
millionaires gave $100,000 per person, he'd give multiple people, $10,000.

All around bad episode. Now I'm mad..

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californiaguy2
This story has so many missing pieces it's not even worth reading.

What I want to know is who's the engineer he suckered into getting his first
codebase up and running?

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jasonlbaptiste
It basically summarized his book up in 2 minutes. It leaves out all the
details and good information. It's articles like these that do entrepreneurs a
dis-service:

a) You don't get the nitty gritty important details on how he really did it.
You should definitely read his book to find that out btw. b) The focus is on
the zeros and commas, making everyone think they can make million on teh
internetz easily.

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gojomo
Are the rest of the details in his book? If so, it's acceptable that a
~650-word newspaper account just provide a taste/tease; it's all the medium
can do.

~~~
mhb
If it's an ad for the book it's acceptable. But it's unclear exactly what it
is - it doesn't even mention that there's a book. It sure isn't much of an
article.

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desu
ClickAgents! I remember them! I still have an uncashed cheque from them from
1999 or something. Somehow my personal website managed to make USD$40 or
something. It would have cost me $30 to cash in Australia so I just kept it as
a momento of times gone by.

