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Luckily for cryptocurrency exchanges, recent decreases in market prices for tokens mean that …exchangehaslostmorethan100million.com doesn't need an update due to: wsj.com/articles/crypt…
"Why does this keep happening?"
Because the market is clownshoes, top to bottom.
Users are clownshoes: they are gambling, and so they overvalue ability to move money ~instantly in and out of exchanges. This results in exchanges competing on custodial risk. The winners lose.
Because the market is clownshoes, top to bottom.
Users are clownshoes: they are gambling, and so they overvalue ability to move money ~instantly in and out of exchanges. This results in exchanges competing on custodial risk. The winners lose.
There is a well-known triangle in accounting to separate controls and thereby prevent embezzlement: authority to move funds, physical custody of funds, recordkeeping. Anyone who has all three can steal all the money.
Root any computer at a Bitcoin exchange. Get all three.
Root any computer at a Bitcoin exchange. Get all three.
A tip for receiving compliments, specific to American business culture:
“Thank you.”
“Thanks; that made my day.”
“Thanks; it is always great to know the work matters to people.”
are all probably better socially adjusted than deflecting compliments.
Just macro your favorite.
“Thank you.”
“Thanks; that made my day.”
“Thanks; it is always great to know the work matters to people.”
are all probably better socially adjusted than deflecting compliments.
Just macro your favorite.
I grew up in a social milieu which expects self-effacing behavior and I know many other folks who are socialized similarly. This is not generally rewarded in the American professional sphere.
If someone says “Thank you. Your work was key to shipping $X.” and you say “Oh I don’t deserve that! Many people worked on $X.” you have just stapled “WAS NOT KEY CONTRIBUTOR ON $X” to their memory of your performance.
If you have to choose between being bland and being remarkable as a small company, choose remarkable. But you should probably choose to concentrate your remarkable budget rather than spreading it thinly over a bunch of places where most customers won’t perceive it.
BigCo is BigCo not because they don’t have smart people but because they are pursuing variance minimization intentionally. That took them a lot of hard work to achieve.
But you’re going to hopefully look a lot like BigCo in places where BigCo is BigCo simply because efficiently operating processes are a good thing.
You probably do not need to spend much time reinventing invoicing.
You probably do not need to spend much time reinventing invoicing.
coffee ($5) or help for the 
server cost ($10):
Reading this report by the NY Attorney General is really frustrating because with subpoena power on the Bitcoin industry they investigated and found perfidious... ability of professional investors to outperform amateurs via use of computers, volume pricing, and skill.
It is the fraudiest fraud in the history of frauds and the problem which the *New York* AG identifies is maker/taker fees!?! ag.ny.gov/sites/default/…
They also talk about “sophisticated order types” like... all the ones I implemented for Starfighter, in a freaking game, in a day, given a one sentence description of their mechanism.
I think there are two sides to this story (about how large banks are gobbling up deposits and regional banks are flat or declining) and both of them are very technically-inflected: wsj.com/articles/the-b… (for further analysis, see here: crnrstone.com/insightvault/2… )
The sides:
The sides:
In retail banking, historically you get accounts by having branches located near a customer's home, place of work, or along the corridor between those two places. The branch is the buy-in for competing for that household's money.
Branches are not cheap.
Branches are not cheap.
There exist economies of scale in branch-building and there exist efficiencies of management in running banks, but you could never dominate branches like Google dominates search.
But this assumes that your customer cares about having a branch to walk into.
But this assumes that your customer cares about having a branch to walk into.
I had one of the best meals of my life recently, a $13 bowl of braised pork over rice, and the story of the guy who made it is one I think you may appreciate. Cleaned up from a more fluid conversation in Japanese (he’s French, and better than me at it) and English:
“I always wanted to be the best. So I went to the best chefs in France and asked under whom I should study, and they said that if one wanted to be the very, very best, one should learn Japanese. So I did, and I came here, and I found a chef to work under.”
“And I worked hard, and he was as good as you could expect... but I wanted more. I asked him when we would learn the people’s food, but he said that the best in Japan do not make it. They make kaiseki and [list of high cuisine types].”
I really like this thread and, partially to demonstrate that there are a lot of takes on life/business and partly to demonstrate overlap, thought I’d do my version:
What do you *want*? Why are you doing a business as opposed to getting a job somewhere? This is important because there are multiple trajectories you could plausibly want to get on and the advice for them bifurcates at some points so let’s get on same page on this.
What are you making? Explain it to me like you’d explain it to a domain expert; I’ll ask for help if I don’t know any words. Be as concrete as possible. You said “platform”; what does that mean in real life? You said “app”; web, mobile, etc? You said “marketplace”; what type?
I recall a conversation with an American developer where I said "Of course we need some time from the schedule to put hurricane* mode in the app." "Hah hah hah hurricane mode?" "Yeah we build it in everything." "YOU ARE HILARIOUS." "Dead serious."
* Japan, so, slightly broader.
* Japan, so, slightly broader.
The app was a university portal site. Students could access it on their cell phones to e.g. get a class schedule. There are circumstances which mean that the app should say "%#(%) the History Quiz at 10 AM GET TO HIGH GROUND IMMEDIATELY" and so it did.
Hurricane mode was, quite literally, the first thing in the requirements document and the first thing on the testing plan (think Excel sheets... LOTS of Excel sheets). We'd fail any release and slip any deadline if it didn't work perfectly.
I think it is underappreciated how much delivery apps are going to change food production and consumption, specifically via the mechanism of replacing expensive retail footage with relatively cheap industrial kitchens running multiple brands across all the apps.
This model (commissaries) already provides food for airlines, Starbucks, and a variety of places which can't have an on-site kitchen, but just-in-time logistics mean that they'll be able to compete on palatability rather than merely price and shelf stability.
Also this is one of those virtuous cycles created by infrastructure: the reason you can get delicious food from convenience stores in Japan for ~$5 and can't in the US is because Japanese convenience stores hook to a network that can source 500 meals like that every morning.
git commit -m "That is some pretty pedantic nonsense, linter."
^^ You know it's been one of those sorts of mornings when you're anthropomorphizing particular pieces of software and hate his guts.
^^ You know it's been one of those sorts of mornings when you're anthropomorphizing particular pieces of software and hate his guts.
Linter wants me to put a complete sentence with enclosing HTML tags all on one line but I want to put it indented to match style elsewhere but linter says "Haha but *this* sentence is short so you could fit it all in 80 columns; one line it is!"
But as vexing as having this argument with a machine is it is FAR FAR SUPERIOR to having arguments like this with other engineers at the company, which is the inevitable consequence of not having a linter. I would seriously avoid sitting with a human linter at lunch.
I would support this existing, but the best possible argument I can make for working In The Real World (TM) temporarily (at the start of a career in startups/tech/founding) is that you will gain an appreciation for why things work the way they do and where points of leverage are.
Voice of someone older and wiser: my regret with respect to this is I spent 6 years on it when the pace of learning dropped off substantially after the first 6 weeks.
(I still learned things in any 6 month stretch of time but rate of learning was lower than in other options.)
(I still learned things in any 6 month stretch of time but rate of learning was lower than in other options.)
"Should I optimize for pace of learning or for material rewards early in my career?"
I'd probably use pace of learning as the gating function and then, subject to that constraint, maximize for material rewards. Or, since we're on Twitter:
I'd probably use pace of learning as the gating function and then, subject to that constraint, maximize for material rewards. Or, since we're on Twitter:
In which an ICO promoter (and scammer, but I repeat myself) makes the argument that tokens are not securities and gets dunked on by a judge lucidly and at length:
courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
(It's the September 11th document here if that link expires: courtlistener.com/docket/6317033… )
courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
(It's the September 11th document here if that link expires: courtlistener.com/docket/6317033… )
The judge kicks the ultimate issue to the finder-of-fact (summary dismissals are basically "Is there no set of alleged facts which would be sufficient to satisfy legal requirements here?") but it's a brief and pretty readable application of the Howey test.
The Howey test determines whether something is a security / security offering for the purpose of triggering the US' substantial regulations of security offerings.
Are ICOs securities offerings? Spoiler alert: yes, of course they are. There is no serious dispute of that.
Are ICOs securities offerings? Spoiler alert: yes, of course they are. There is no serious dispute of that.
In possibly the only user ever for Twitter moments: twitter.com/i/moments/1039…
The recent earthquake in Hokkaido has disrupted (normally incredibly reliable) logistics networks, resulting in some stores having far, far less selection than usual.
You will enjoy the spirit.
The recent earthquake in Hokkaido has disrupted (normally incredibly reliable) logistics networks, resulting in some stores having far, far less selection than usual.
You will enjoy the spirit.
"Boss, we can't open our convenience store today. All we have is bananas."
"The people have to eat. Shelve the bananas. Shelve ALL THE BANANAS."
"The people have to eat. Shelve the bananas. Shelve ALL THE BANANAS."
(I am reminded of a conversation I once had with a supermarket manager in the small town I lived in. Slightly modifying this to save unnecessary embarrassment:
“We once almost ran out of rice.”
“Oh really?”
“You can’t run out of rice.”
“I understand.”
“Worst day of my life.”
“We once almost ran out of rice.”
“Oh really?”
“You can’t run out of rice.”
“I understand.”
“Worst day of my life.”
I'm reading about the funding environment in SF right now, which feels pretty frothy, but I imagine conversations about it between founders:
SaaS company: "You can raise a seven figure seed round with code but no customers!?"
Cryptocurrency: "$5M doesn't even buy you a deck."
SaaS company: "You can raise a seven figure seed round with code but no customers!?"
Cryptocurrency: "$5M doesn't even buy you a deck."
If this sounds a little convoluted, you can imagine the transaction between people with money and people with execution ability as "If you provide me certain proof points, I shall purchase your future availability with my money."
You're allowed to bid whatever you want to in terms of required level of proof points and financial terms, and founders are allowed to accept any bid which they can (credibly represent) as having sufficient proof points for.
In "interesting things learned in Sunday annual report reading": the Softbank Vision Fund will be consolidated with Softbank for accounting/etc purposes and a material portion of their funding of it was with ARM shares which they apparently intend not to liquidate.
Not sure if I'm reading the tea leaves correctly: 
"Can you even do that?"
Well, speaking generally, LPs generally do not sign over their entire contributions in cash on day one. They contractually obligate themselves to the contributions. The fund then periodically issues "capital calls" and then the LPs have to settle up.
Well, speaking generally, LPs generally do not sign over their entire contributions in cash on day one. They contractually obligate themselves to the contributions. The fund then periodically issues "capital calls" and then the LPs have to settle up.
Some years ago, my software got posted to a Chinese warez forum complete with hotlinked screenshots.
For unaccountable reasons my Nginx config soon started replacing those screenshots with freetaiwan.jpg
That fixed that.
For unaccountable reasons my Nginx config soon started replacing those screenshots with freetaiwan.jpg
That fixed that.
This was when I was still selling license codes and, like all sellers of license codes, dealt with an enormous amount of piracy. I was quite put out about it; the constant feeling of being stolen from (and lectured to by thieves on how it's not stealing, technically) was tiring.
Then I started selling SaaS.
SaaS solves piracy so hard you can successfully sell it in China.
SaaS solves piracy so hard you can successfully sell it in China.
a) It's a great thing about product businesses (and a bit less true of service businesses, and very less true of jobs) that you can cheerfully decline requests.
b) It is probably better to phrase this as "No." or "That may be available eventually but it will not hit that date."
b) It is probably better to phrase this as "No." or "That may be available eventually but it will not hit that date."
You might think that promising a reasonable date is a reasonable downsell, but it increases risk to the customer relationship without offering anything of material value to them or to you.
It is never remarkable when things ship on promised schedules. It is remarkable when not.
It is never remarkable when things ship on promised schedules. It is remarkable when not.
The nature of engineering projects is to run over time. This is *particularly* true at small companies which are bandwidth constrained, but it happens at AppAmaGooBookSoft, the federal government, and every engineering team you've ever loved.
With the debatable exception of Waterloo for early career CS and a very small number of US university Japanese language programs using similar pedagogy I’ve never in my career had call to say “Ahh they are clearly using the superior technology they got at school.”
Note this doesn’t mean human capital isn’t a thing... it’s just not really a thing from undergrad. (It’s not terribly difficult to pick up signal on “Has worked at Google/similar” from a discussion of e.g. scaling.)
Curious about the Japanese pedagogy sidenote?
How it is taught almost everywhere: memorize these word lists and associated symbols.
How it is taught at schools which adopted Japanese: the Spoken Language (a textbook): “Drill the }^}*#*{* out of these conversations.”
How it is taught almost everywhere: memorize these word lists and associated symbols.
How it is taught at schools which adopted Japanese: the Spoken Language (a textbook): “Drill the }^}*#*{* out of these conversations.”
@SuMastodon @AustenAllred Because if you have a demand deposit which is a material percentage of the total liabilities of the bank they both are incapable of putting that much money to work very quickly and, if they do, you can singlehandedly cause a bank run on any given Tuesday.
@SuMastodon @AustenAllred "What's a demand deposit?"
I'm glad you asked, Internets. One of the fundamental sources of value in banking is maturity transformation: "borrow short and lend long." The loans of a bank generally have long time scales (e.g. 30 year mortgage) but deposits have much shorter ones.
I'm glad you asked, Internets. One of the fundamental sources of value in banking is maturity transformation: "borrow short and lend long." The loans of a bank generally have long time scales (e.g. 30 year mortgage) but deposits have much shorter ones.
@SuMastodon @AustenAllred Some deposits are fixed-term, like CDs. The money might be (theoretically, for the case of CDs) locked up for 6 months or a year.
Others are "demand" deposits. You get the money ~immediately "on demand", at your own option, w/o paying a penalty.
Others are "demand" deposits. You get the money ~immediately "on demand", at your own option, w/o paying a penalty.
No lie, I had an irrational fear that authorities would be summoned the first time I tried to deposit a large check (from consulting). I asked for a private conference with a banker so that I could explain the circumstances.
Whereupon we had a very classic conversation:
Whereupon we had a very classic conversation:
"I need to deposit a sizable check into my account. It is the proceeds of a consulting contract. I'm then going to wire it to Japan, where I live."
"That all sounds quite reasonable."
"And I just wanted to give you documents in advance of this."
"I mean if we need them we'll ask"
"That all sounds quite reasonable."
"And I just wanted to give you documents in advance of this."
"I mean if we need them we'll ask"
"Just want to make it clear that this is above-board."
"*sigh* Alright. Mr. McKenzie, how much are we talking about here?"
"Five figures."
"Mr. McKenzie, this is the Wall Street branch of (among the biggest depository institutions in the US). That is NOT A LOT OF MONEY here."
"*sigh* Alright. Mr. McKenzie, how much are we talking about here?"
"Five figures."
"Mr. McKenzie, this is the Wall Street branch of (among the biggest depository institutions in the US). That is NOT A LOT OF MONEY here."
A specific genre of this: for some of the effort I’ve seen put into crime, people could have run a thriving small business with no legal risk or victims.
(I honestly think that one of the things the world could do is aggressively drain pools of criminal expertise. There is an entire fraud ecosystem just like there is a startup ecosystem and if we could say “Hey guys we also hire marketers/sysadmins/social media mavens and we pay.”
Acknowledging that there are substantial challenges for getting the folks usually staffing scams to work on more professional projects... but some of them seem pretty solvable.
I’m surprised that the Kindle (and related options) hasn’t brought a Choose Your Own Adventure renaissance. Think what you can do with that format when you’re freed from the 180 page constraint.
Heck since the length is functionally unlimited and you can make a compiler for books you could do things like e.g. an inventory system.
Or even hit points or something.
Can I rewrite this Oracle ad?
“Would you overrule your eng team’s database choice because of the back page of the Economist? Then call an Oracle sales rep. (Honestly, it’s an offense against nature that we haven’t found each other already.)”
“Would you overrule your eng team’s database choice because of the back page of the Economist? Then call an Oracle sales rep. (Honestly, it’s an offense against nature that we haven’t found each other already.)”
Or: “Like the article about blockchains? Want one? Buy Oracle. It’s like a blockchain, only better in every way.”
Not even untrue.
In talking to hundreds of software people over the years I know exactly one who had sufficient donations to buy their own time back, and many, many who people assume "Ah that person is Internet famous -> $$$" who were very far from covering rent.
Note that "covering rent" means different things to different people.
Suppose your rent is $400 because you live in Ogaki. I mean they were not making $400.
Approximately no business owner with $4,800 a year in sales would describe themselves as "covering rent."
Suppose your rent is $400 because you live in Ogaki. I mean they were not making $400.
Approximately no business owner with $4,800 a year in sales would describe themselves as "covering rent."
Most business owners, who either start at more sophisticated or (more likely for software people) learn it from the school of hard knocks, understand that businesses soak up money like a sponge soaks up water, and that if your rent is $400, you really need ~$10k revenue.