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Re:Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble by wavephorm on Saturday November 12, 2011 @10:17PM (#3229743)
It was an interesting read. But by the end I have no idea what Nguyen is really good at other than selling a startup. He's a wheeler and a dealer, but I sure don't have the impression that he knows how to build something as truly disruptive as he says he can.
Re:Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble by felipemnoa on Saturday November 12, 2011 @10:44PM (#3229812)
So he is missing a Wozniak, I guess.
Re:Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble by wyclif on Sunday November 13, 2011 @01:59AM (#3230210)
No, he's missing a Wozniak and a Jobs.
Re:Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble by wavephorm on Saturday November 12, 2011 @10:55PM (#3229839)
But there was nothing in the article that gives me the feeling he is anything like Steve Jobs. He's just phenomenal at the flip, and that says a lot about what the Silicon Valley VC's that invested in Color are after.
Re:Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble by wyclif on Sunday November 13, 2011 @02:05AM (#3230217)
He flips companies. That's nice and everything, but it's not innovation. He's essentially a parasite.
Re:Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble by OstiaAntica on Sunday November 13, 2011 @05:30AM (#3230458)
"Parasite" is unfair. You still need guys like him to agitate, to unsettle and disrupt the marketplace. Color was a pretty innovative idea, it was just terribly executed both in technology and marketing.
Re:Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble by wyclif on Sunday November 13, 2011 @07:07AM (#3230551)
Yeah, that's unfair...I retract that. But I wouldn't suggest for a second that you don't need "guys like him" i.e. great salespeople who can sell ice to eskimos. That's why I find his arrogance so over the top insofar as he compares himself to Jobs and other innovators.
Re:Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble by mathattack on Saturday November 12, 2011 @11:44PM (#3229960)
This is still a valuable skill. Not the only one but a valuable one. Who wants to tie their money or career to someone who can't get you paid on the other side?
Re:Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble by wavephorm on Saturday November 12, 2011 @11:56PM (#3229978)
Absolutely true. However the article leans toward framing him as a visionary capable of superhuman feats:

  "IBM didn't survive the PC, none of the PC guys survived
  the web, and I don't think any of the web guys will 
  survive the post-PC world,"
Bill Nguyen is implying that Color.com will do what IBM, Microsoft, and Facebook can't, and survive the post-pc world. And there is no evidence he is capable of this since he flipped every company he started.
Re:Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble by arihant on Sunday November 13, 2011 @01:27AM (#3230170)
No, he is implying some startup will do what IBM, Microsoft and Facebook can't. Historically speaking, this is a decent analogy. After all, Facebook did what Microsoft and Google couldn't. Apple did what IBM couldn't.
Re:Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble by i386 on Sunday November 13, 2011 @02:29AM (#3230242)
Why even mention it if he doesn't think that Color could be the disruptive company that can make that leap?

I doubt he's saying "Yeah a bunch of companies are going to fail at this, including Color, but hey throw cash at us anyway". That doesn't make for a good sell at all.

Re:Bill Nguyen: The Boy In The Bubble by mathattack on Sunday November 13, 2011 @10:26PM (#3232682)
Isn't the job of spinster to imply that? :-)