
The Fall of Trada (2019) - cdoxsey
http://www.doxsey.net/blog/the-fall-of-trada-and-the-facebook-marketplace-that-never-was
======
netsectoday
I went for an interview there in 2010 and it was the most absurd experience. I
walked into a dimly lit open gymnasium with a running track and desks sprawled
all over with people working, while voices echoed off the walls. The CEO had a
desk with a giant life-sized horse standing over it. The developer who
interviewed me was sad. I asked him how it was working there and his response
was "they just throw things at me and then leave me alone, we're also digging
ourselves out of a hole one developer put us in". Also, no one could really
explain what the company did. I declined their offer.

> I mean, just look across the street at Gnip - another Boulder startup...

So I had experience consuming their pipeline and Gnip had a real product.
Also, the people running Gnip are still in downtown boulder running the
Cognizant office. They are very competent.

~~~
cdoxsey
> So I had experience consuming their pipeline and Gnip had a real product.
> Also, the people running Gnip are still in downtown boulder running the
> Cognizant office. They are very competent.

I didn't mean to paint Gnip in a bad light. I worked there not too long after
I worked at Trada. They definitely had a solid product and many competent
engineers. Certainly a lot more capable than I was. I learned a lot while I
was there.

But they ran into issues early on and had to undergo significant
restructuring: [https://techcrunch.com/2009/09/28/gnip-clips-60-percent-
of-s...](https://techcrunch.com/2009/09/28/gnip-clips-60-percent-of-staff).

~~~
netsectoday
Gnip definitely had it's share of problems; even with a real product and
super-sharp people. The takeaway I have from this, and from decades of startup
experience, is that building and growing a startup is beyond difficult and
even with the right ingredients it's still going to drag you through hell.

------
creeble
Well-told story.

I keep waiting for the decline and fall of online advertising, and all it does
is keep going up.

