It was great working with Cliff and many other folks at Powerset. I think I got cynical a little earlier than some of the other folks and left before the acquisition, so I might be less justified in my opinion, but anyway,
On the below-market wages issue: I think Powerset's really crazy marketing/hype allowed it to hire stronger engineers than would have been justified given its product and technology. All the startup spinoffs he mentions (Serious Business, Crowdflower, Github... and later some more I can't even keep track of...) I think are an indication of that. I guess that's how you hire using equity. You could say it's taking advantage of the psychology of overvaluing low-probability, high-impact outcomes. Or you could say, those people were duped.
I'm just glad for all the folks who, like Cliff, were able to take the bonuses to help support families or later business ventures.
On the below-market wages issue: I think Powerset's really crazy marketing/hype allowed it to hire stronger engineers than would have been justified given its product and technology. All the startup spinoffs he mentions (Serious Business, Crowdflower, Github... and later some more I can't even keep track of...) I think are an indication of that. I guess that's how you hire using equity. You could say it's taking advantage of the psychology of overvaluing low-probability, high-impact outcomes. Or you could say, those people were duped.
I'm just glad for all the folks who, like Cliff, were able to take the bonuses to help support families or later business ventures.