Hacker News Reader

Comment by hodgesmr | Hacker News Reader

I was surprised at how short this article was. I feel like a lot more than 240 words could be dedicated to "What I Wish I Had Known Before Selling to Google".. most of which was just filler for "think carefully about the return on investment, including the effect on team culture, not just the bottom line" and no real insight or guidance.

View on HN

The article is quite short, but I don't feel like it needed to be longer. I learned something from his experience, and I think that in order for me to have learned more, it would have taken a lot more detail on his part. Concision is a virtue, and I appreciate him not inflating a point larger than it needs.

The line you quoted was the filler. The meat of the article was, "Google integrated one of my products, and killed the other", and he had no way to know which would happen. Or 8 years ago Google was growing via acquisition, and 3 years ago Google was just buying competitors to kill them.

> buying competitors to kill them

Embracing them, extending their product, then extinguishing it? That sounds a bit familiar...

They seem to mostly skip 1 and 2 and move directly to the killing part. Which is rational I guess, why waste resource on something you intend to kill.

Foie gras?

Well maybe but I totally agree with this and will repeat to reemphasize based on my personal experience:

"My one regret was agreeing to stay on for four years."

When I sold my company I had to stay on to consult for 3 months.

3 months that was an eternity.

I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to have to work as an employee at a company that you just sold. Just hanging around not directly tied into the outcome in any significant way just is not the same as being "the guy" in charge.

I agree... almost felt like an introduction and then just ends.

   ... I was surprised at how short ... most of which was just filler for ...

So are you saying it was too short, or too long? ;)

Probably he is saying it is too short even after considering all the fillers that he included which was unnecessary, IMO.

"A play there is, my lord, some ten words long, Which is as brief as I have known a play; But by ten words, my lord, it is too long, Which makes it tedious; for in all the play There is not one word apt, one player fitted"

HN should automatically dispense karma for all WS quotes.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com