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Comment by antongm | Hacker News Reader

Author here, for all your trolling needs.

Between physics at Berkeley, derivatives at Goldman Sachs, and analytics at Facebook, could you summarize their pros and cons in terms of intellectual challenge and work/life balance?

I'd love to know about the work life balance. In an industry where burnouts are common, and your work history being some of the most demanding companies in the industry, how did you handle it?

I drank a lot, and did stupid things. It was really self-destructive. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Really.

All of them? Or one in particular?

Hello,

I haven't read the book but I am planning to.

I caught the last few minutes of your interview on NPR the other day. You said you built the FB Exchange. I made a mental note to look that up later and now serendipitously, it shows up here. Anyhow, not familiar with it but it sounded like some sort of an interface to Amazon. Would you care to elaborate?

Exchange is/was FB's retargeting/remarketing solution, AKA "we will follow you everywhere you go on the Web and remind you that you once looked at a pair of shoes on our site." Some detail would be cool -- adtech is intrinsically interesting, if ethically somewhat murky.

True!

Who is the target audience of the book?

You don't dig all that deep into the tech side of the valley, so it's not the geeks. You don't talk all that much about the details of the deals, so it's not the suits. That, leaves ... tourists?

No offense, but not the HN crowd. Supposed to be mainstream normals. Sales, yo....

When did you get the phd at Berkeley? What did you specialize in and did that specialization help you get a job at Goldman Sachs?

How would you contrast the culture at Facebook vs. Twitter?

Facebook was a bit frat boy, but also had a really cohesive culture. Twitter was a more hipsters and design-y, but they didn't seem to have the balls to ship every day all day.

Are you optimistic about the future of Silicon Valley?

What do you think of Michael O. Church?

Just started the book. Out of curiosity, what do you think about FB's decision to shut down FBX? It is hard to see past closed garden approach. Is there a better reason?

Thank you for joining and opening yourself up to the trolls, gadflies and haters. :-)

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