In addition, the strategy you've outlined is the one nearly every incumbent in every enterprise space has leaned on to protect themselves from disruption, but it only works for so long (as we've seen time and time again). I also think people overestimate the ability of large companies to quickly adapt their offering—the machinery of enormous sales, marketing, and product organizations can't turn on a dime.
People at Seneca Systems wake up every morning with a purpose: to design, build, market, sell, and support products that change the way local government does business. That drive to make the lives of millions of goverment employees easier permeates everything we do here, and manifests itself in a closely-knitted, diverse team of individuals who strive for excellence.The challenge of blazing a...
Every few years, I make an attempt to learn to use one of the classic editors like vim or emacs, and inevitably give up after the enormous productivity drop I suffer when writing code. I just can't seem to pick up the muscle memory required to become fast with these tools, and the overwhelming array of customization options leaves me frustrated.
The most annoying thing is that I want to learn one of these, because I think I'll enjoy it once I do. Any suggestions from people who have picked one up on how to accomplish this seemingly Herculean task?
And, I suppose, I have another another question: is it worth it?
If you want to...
* Work on the platform local governments use to manage their city services
* Solve interesting problems that are having a daily impact on the way communities function
* Work at a company dedicated to upholding strong values externally and internally
* Work with team members who personify those values
* Get your own private office because we hate open space set-ups
* Work at a YC company (though this should be the least important thing on this list)
* Have this dog randomly stop by your office to say hello: https://i.imgur.com/kTUBQLD.png
...then we want to talk!
See the positions we're hiring for at http://seneca.systems/careers
View our employee handbook at https://github.com/SenecaSystems/employee_handbook
That's quite the stretch, and I'm even one of the commenters in your linked thread who used to work there. Gusto has made some mistakes on the employee equity side, but, with a few exceptions, it was a wonderful place to work.
Which isn't to say you're wrong, but I think it's pretty uncharitable to say there aren't any "coherent" arguments in favor of free will. You did say you haven't "seen" any arguments, which I suppose is not the same as a claim that are none, but a cursory glance at that article should be illuminating for you. People have been thinking about this for a very long time, and no consensus seems to have emerged. :-)
You might also be interested in http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/materialism-eliminative, which seems to fit what little you've said about your current thinking.
For me, the group partners were the primary value delivered by YC during the program, and I look forward to that value being continued under Michael's leadership. Congratulations!
* Work on the platform local governments use to manage their city services
* Solve interesting problems that are having a daily impact on the way communities function
* Work at a company dedicated to upholding strong values externally and internally
* Work with team members who personify those values
* Get your own private office because we hate open space set-ups
* Work at a YC company (though this should be the least important thing on this list)
Then we want to talk!
See the positions we're hiring for at http://seneca.systems/careers
https://www.amazon.com/How-Scots-Invented-Modern-World/dp/06...
On the other hand, it was awesome to meet so many people excited by what we're doing in a single day. The investors we spoke to were engaging and thoughtful, and we didn't have to worry (for the most part!) about whether speaking with them was worth our time.
The algo for matching investors with companies seemed to work _okay_, although there were a few meetings we had to schedule outside of Investor Day with people who didn't make the cut for whatever reason.
On the whole, it was absolutely worth it and I highly recommend YC keep it as a mechanism for speeding up fundraising after Demo Day.
But you're right--we should put it in the handbook as well, because that's our living document for past, present, and future employees.
It wasn't until a buyer had been found and the company had been notified that they pulled out the company bylaws and revealed this extra clause deep in the bowels of that document--a document which had never been furnished before.
What these companies want is to have their cake and eat it too: prohibit sales of stock to outsiders without having to pay for the privilege.
The cynic in me says that this is because companies of this kind are far less likely to be in the position to exercise ROFRs and pay for it via profits simply because they are not yet profitable. And I'm sure investors don't like the idea of their capital being used to buy back shares of vested stock from employees.
The problem is not with the spirit under which that clause was added to the company's bylaws--the problem is the knee-jerk reaction by which they halted any discussion of sales (and didn't try to find a solution that worked), whether or not the proposed sale actually had a material effect on the cap table. Not to mention that ROFRs exist to eliminate cap table problems altogether.
Employees are unaware of these "veto" clauses, and continuing to hide them is acting in bad faith. But of course companies don't want employees to be aware of these clauses--it would become crystal clear how absolutely worthless equity is for the vast majority of employees at startups (even at Valley darlings like Gusto).
So in order to construct functions that accept more than one argument, you actually return successive functions that apply successive arguments, known as currying.
He was a complicated man, no doubt, and he tended to gloss over some of the consequences of his actions when recalling his past, but he was, mostly, just vilified for being a brilliant businessman at a time when it was popular to do so.
In fact, we managed to close a department in Miami in only six days--that's basically unheard of in local government software sales.
We haven't done any work yet at the state or federal levels, so maybe we'll encounter this attitude there.
Wealthy patrician Romans used to keep busts of their ancestors in a hallway in the entrance to their home to keep them (and their guests) reminded about whence they came. We might be able to do something similar for our ancestors, except with "living" imagery and audio. Imagine being able to watch a clip of your great-great-great grandfather and hearing him speak! That's what future generations have to look forward to.
