Comments on: Gaurav – “Why smart people are no longer at the big companies” http://sukshma.net/2006/08/11/gaurav-why-smart-people-are-no-longer-at-the-big-companies/ subtle threads between self, work & life. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:20:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Joe Cheng http://sukshma.net/2006/08/11/gaurav-why-smart-people-are-no-longer-at-the-big-companies/#comment-1462 Sun, 13 Aug 2006 21:14:35 +0000 https://sdawara.wordpress.com/2006/08/11/gaurav-why-smart-people-are-no-longer-at-the-big-companies/#comment-1462 I absolutely agree. The customer is a better proxy for reality than Wall Street investor. Both are better proxies, I believe, than the talented programmer. :)

I say this as a talented (IMHO) programmer myself… it has taken me years but now I know not to assume something is a good idea just because I want to build it!

(Oh, I should’ve mentioned in my first comment, I’m a Microsoft employee–by way of the recent acquisition of my previous company, a startup called Onfolio.)

]]> By: Santosh http://sukshma.net/2006/08/11/gaurav-why-smart-people-are-no-longer-at-the-big-companies/#comment-1450 Sun, 13 Aug 2006 05:05:39 +0000 https://sdawara.wordpress.com/2006/08/11/gaurav-why-smart-people-are-no-longer-at-the-big-companies/#comment-1450 Hi Joe, Thank you for leaving your comment. I do agree with you on spending wisely. My thoughts are that Wall street sentiment cannot (and should not) be used reliably for validation of a business idea. For example, several technology companies had insane valuations in the open market during the dot-com era. If a talented programmer feels that he would like to build something, I would suggest that he look to the customer first for validation (rather than the investor). Which is also why Microsoft will remain Microsoft and smaller private companies will continue to innovate.

- Santosh

]]> By: jcheng http://sukshma.net/2006/08/11/gaurav-why-smart-people-are-no-longer-at-the-big-companies/#comment-1445 Sat, 12 Aug 2006 20:04:39 +0000 https://sdawara.wordpress.com/2006/08/11/gaurav-why-smart-people-are-no-longer-at-the-big-companies/#comment-1445 Wall Street pressures aren’t always a bad thing. It’s healthy for companies to think carefully about whether they are spending their R&D dollars wisely; and just because a talented programmer wants to build something, that doesn’t necessarily make it a good idea. The history of the software industry is littered with the carcasses of big ideas, implemented by brilliant minds, that fell flat with customers.

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