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dotBen

7,647 karma · joined July 27, 2008

Hi, I'm Ben Metcalfe (aka @dotBen) - venture capitalist (Monochrome Capital, monochrome.vc), startup founder (WP Engine), former engineer (BBC, MySpace), former product manager (Uber, WP Engine).

Before I moved to the dark-side of VC, I built + ran Uber's Public Policy Product & Technology division, which was a crazy and eye-opening experience going from ~1000 worldwide to 6000+ people when I left.

I am also one of the two founders of WP Engine (http://wpengine.com) but have not worked there since 2014, views are just my own, etc.

A long time ago I helped build the BBC News Website as a software engineer, back when Objective C was a server-side language :). I went on to design and run the BBC's developer platform and later I was Director of Engineering for MySpace's Developer Platform - back when MySpace was a thing, I promise.

Personal site: http://benmetcalfe.com/

You can email me at: hn AT benmetcalfe DOT com

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dotBen··on UK military jamming other nations' satellites to defend itself, BBC told
You may be right, but if that happens the resultant space debris will serve as an additional terrible outcome of any major conflict.

We will have to kiss goodbye to any future space launches, existing satellites are likely to get knocked out and ultimately our frontier space era will grind to a hault.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome

dotBen··on Shutting down our public encrypted DNS
In related news, the Spanish soccer league LaLiga successfully won an injunction against Cloudflare so that during Spanish soccer matches ISPs have to prevent access for their users to the entire Cloudflare CDN network.

The reason is that the CDN network is/was being used to illegally stream games so access to the entire CDN network is closed.

https://apnews.com/article/laliga-cloudflare-piracy-spanish-...

https://hayahora.futbol/#sobre-los-bloqueos (click "IN" to view in English)

dotBen··on Discovery of a new OpenAI agent message board
I would politely and respectfully point out that you are being as performative as the administration is being performative on this issue.

In other words, you know exactly why they restricted Anthropic and as (presumably) liberal and thoughtful technologists it just isn't helpful anymore to apply the kind of reasoning you're trying to do on a situation that you know isn't based on previous era rationale.

The reason we need to stop is because they want people like us to get hung up over stuff like this (playing by the old rules) so they continue to steamroller their own agenda by the news rules. They divert and contain our energy that will go nowhere while they get on with their agenda.

You are appealing to reasoning which is in the gallery but no longer on the bench.

You're fighting their karate with your judo and it doesn't work.

dotBen··on FDA authorizes first wearable device that monitors ketone and blood sugar levels
Which makes me think the market for these is diet-focused folk. Get the FDA to clear it on medical grounds for a specific usecase then sell it more broadly.

This already happens with CGMs. The bulk of the sales is with people who want them for lifestyle monitoring even though they're only medically cleared for diabetes use.

dotBen··on Felony charges for citizen deleting phone data at US Border
Your setup doesn't really work.

At the border you have the same right to refuse to provide the pin/password on boot of your otherwise encrypted phone as you do to refuse to provide the key for an encrypted USB. (That right differs slightly depending on whether you are a US citizen or not).

What the subject in question of this new story did was cause the border official to inadvertently destroy the evidence on the phone and therefore indirectly destroyed the evidence himself.

(I'm not making a commentary as to whether or not it's a valid charge and criticism, or not. I'm just saying that's the material difference between your scenario and the original scenario)

dotBen··on How Hollywood stopped making movies in Hollywood
Stagecraft is just one implementation but you don't think that the Unreal 3D worlds that are used behind it are beginning to be generated with AI?

You're right that my relative probably isn't going to be at the top of the list to be hired for that work. He doesn't work in Hollywood level stuff and I also think that he knows he's going to have to fight to stay relevant and compete for the work that's available to him. Fortunately he's at the end of his career and his kids are adults. I think he can see the writing on the wall for his career either way.

Color management and maintaining context across multiple renders is actually the conversation we were talking about and the software that he is using has mechanisms to define context across a rendered shots and even across multiple projects. He just wasn't using them as it's an alien concept to him. My point is all of that is possible and solved and will become easier as the market matures.

I also have a friend who was significantly involved in Odyssey and I think the reason why so many films are made with film at the moment is because the industry is clinging on to what it believes is authentic when being pushed towards a commoditized race to the bottom.

As people stop paying to go to the cinema and Netflix demands tighter and tighter budgets for work, I think we will sadly see the end of this means of production because fewer and fewer people will want to pay for it.

The end goal of all of this is actually customized content where the film that I see and the film that you see is different because it's rendered to our tastes. There's a whole school of thought there around a collective experience versus an individual experience, but the technology will allow it if it's completely digitally created and one would assume that will be where it will go.

In other words, I might want Odyssey but framed as a horror filmed in noir and you might want Odyssey framed as a rom-com and the AI will just generate the version for us based on the original directors prompt. I actually think that's kind of sad, but that doesn't mean that isn't where things are going.

dotBen··on How Hollywood stopped making movies in Hollywood
An interesting read but also feels like the rearranging of the deckchairs on the Titanic given the forthcoming disruption from generative AI in this industry.

I spent some time last month with a relative in the industry (camera operator and producer) and he already uses some very sophisticated AI to map out scenes and shots in gen ai full video before they shoot IRL. It's mostly a cost saving exercise as well as occasionally helping to improve the quality of the deliverable.

He is totally expecting that the next shift will be that gen ai video will become good enough to be considered the master (ie no need to film) and he is already transferring his skills as a camera operator into prompting and AI assisted scene design.

He knows that many different disciplines he works with will all compete for that prompting work and there obviously won't be enough work for everybody to go around.

The first part of this is using human actors in front of 360 video stages like The Volume [0] to display the sets (which was pioneered by The Mandalorian) and then ultimately the actors themselves will be AI rendered.

And at this point it doesn't matter where this is filmed.

I grew up close by to Pinewood Studios 30+years ago - I can't imagine them putting a lot more investment and development into that lot given where this is all going.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StageCraft

dotBen··on Building an HTML-first site doubled our users overnight
"Old people don't have that because they didn't grow up with computers."

You know, it's time to stop this trope.

People who are 60 today were born in 1966, they probably entered the workforce in the mid 80's. They probably are not even retired yet. They know how to use computers, they own a smartphone (or if they don't, it's probably for economic reasons unrelated to their age).

As a founder and product manager, this kind of thinking is unhelpful as we design the future. In many ways it's actually ageist to imply that old people are unable to utilize everyday technology.

I was building public service websites (BBC News website) back in the early 2000's where accessibility was a real and important consideration. Technology progresses, and the bar for accessibility has moved up.

My father is about to turn 80 - he checks his heart with his Apple watch, video calls his grandson from his iPad, and asks ChatGPT questions from his iPhone and MacBook Pro. Maybe he's more unusual for 80yo's but it's time to stop this lazy trope that old people are technically illiterate.

(also, shit, I'm only 15 years away from being 60 myself :/ )

dotBen··on Guy Goma's Accidental BBC Interview Lives on After 20 Years
I'm familiar with the beef he has with CF, but why put up the fake cloudflare interstitial to me the end user who is just trying to use his service. I remain confused...
dotBen··on Pgbackrest is no longer being maintained
It's funny how developer time is considered free, but tokens are not.

In other words when it comes to FOSS contribution, developer time can be donated but tokens can't - so as we move into agentic code era all FOSS development carries a cost unless it is purely done by hand (which more often it isn't).

Not saying this is what is going on here but it's presumably a factor if the author was looking for an employer to sponsor development with his labor (and tokens).

dotBen··on Ask HN: How to solve the cold start problem for a two-sided marketplace?
Airmule. (There may have been others).

From my recollection the issues were that it is against the terms and conditions of many carriers to bring packages for other people.

What was being shipped was also dubious - sure it wasn't drugs but it was often ASIC chips, strange hardware from China etc.

I don't think I would want to take any packages in this way, but I certainly would be worried about export control stuff.

This is not a viable startup to be honest.

dotBen··on Turning a MacBook into a touchscreen with $1 of hardware (2018)
I wouldn't want a touchscreen MBP even if it was free, anyone else feel similar?

I don't get the draw - we already optimize for keyboard commands to avoid living our fingers over to a touchpad. Why would I want to start clicking on my screen?

If you're using your computer for tasks (rather than entertainment) and you're not a visual designer, I don't get why Apple are apparently going to be putting them into the new MBP line later this year.

dotBen··on Running Tesla Model 3's computer on my desk using parts from crashed cars
Up until v recently cars were not remotely accessible and part of a command-and-control network which Teslas are (perhaps other modern cars are too, I only know Tesla because I have one).

I know that the car reports practically all user events to Tesla in real time over the cell network (eg, open door), and I know it has root access. I don't know if that root is available remotely and I don't know if foundational commands like steering, acceleration and brake are accessible via the CLI (they are computer controlled actions locally)

THUS I would not want to drive a Tesla if there was the possibility of all cars being rooted and remotely controlled by an unauthorized actor.

dotBen··on Cloudflare flags archive.today as "C&C/Botnet"; no longer resolves via 1.1.1.2
People are painting this as a mutually exclusive ideological decision. Yet two things can be true:

1) The act of archive.today archiving stories (and thus circumventing paywalls) is arguably v low level illegal (computer miss-use/unauthorized access/etc) but it is up for interpretation whether a) the operator or the person requesting the page carries the most responsibility b) whether it's enforceable in third party countries neither archive.today or the page requester reside in

2) DDoSing a site that writes something bad about you is fundamentally wrong (and probably illegal too)

dotBen··on Fix the iOS keyboard before the timer hits zero or I'm switching back to Android
Just use Android (Google stock not Samsung). Come over, the water is great.

Yeah he's right - my Pixel 10 is not as sexy as an iPhone but not only is the keyboard great but the AI integration is first class citizen.

iOS will never have first class citizen AI even if Apple finally develop their own model because Apple doesn't control the user's data.

dotBen··on Waymo seeking about $16B near $110B valuation
It makes particular sense for vertically integrated conglomerates like Amazon-Whole Foods which owns Zoox.

I buy Whole Foods French fries shipped to the store via Amazon logistics and purchase those at Amazon owned Whole Foods, at a discount via my Prime membership on my Amazon credit card which is processed on AWS infrastructure and I ride home on an Amazon owned Zoox that also runs on AWS infrastructure.

Amazon owns so much of the profit margin across that stack that they can afford to give rides away for example.

dotBen··on Waymo seeking about $16B near $110B valuation
Well, given that it is an equity sale, split still feels like it is the prorated amount so that alphabet continues to own its percentage - not more not less.

Obviously you're entitled to your view, but I don't think it's that kind of finance model right now - it's far too speculative and the upside too unknown to be adjusting for small amounts on risk models.

dotBen··on Waymo seeking about $16B near $110B valuation
I guess that's semantics. If you opt in then yes I guess they could do anything. I think the point was that enshitification would occur if they forced you to do that.

You could opt in to have blood or plasma taken on every ride if you so wanted I guess.

dotBen··on Waymo seeking about $16B near $110B valuation
/cries into my Uber shares and the deletion of the Uber ATG repos when the parts were sold to Aurora.
dotBen··on Waymo seeking about $16B near $110B valuation
What I'm talking about is that is still considered an external capital raise for the purpose of the markets and where those assets sit on the balance sheet.

Also, keep in mind the Alphabet doesn't fully own Waymo. I don't know the percentage ownership of hand, but that also feels like it's probably a prorated investment based on ownership so Alphabet doesn't reduce its voting control.

That's what I'm talking about.

dotBen··on Mozilla is building an AI 'rebel alliance' to take on OpenAI, Anthropic
Sure and my time is limited.

The last I heard was that the Google rev-share agreement was on the skids and they stopped developing projects like Thunderbird and Fake Spotter because they were capital constrained.

If you know otherwise then you're better informed than I am I guess

dotBen··on Waymo seeking about $16B near $110B valuation
They already will be selling your ride data and there is no way they could monitor conversations in the car for commercial purposes (at least in Western countries).

Ads in cars, partnerships with alternative destinations, etc. definitely would feel like enshitification for a demographic comparable to the hacker news one here. But these are all per session/user settings just like most of us have a paid Spotify account and never see advertising and those who don't get a very different monetized experience.

What is exciting about monetization like this is the possibility for rides to become very cheap or even free. If my dentist offers free rides to the office in return for my loyalty, I'm quite happy to take that.

dotBen··on Waymo seeking about $16B near $110B valuation
It's a very capital intensive operation given the amount of vehicles that need to be carried on the balance sheet.

There are many reasons why a conglomerate like Alphabet doesn't want to hold all of that directly on the balance sheet, which is why Waymo is run as a subsidiary with its own sources of capital.

When I was at Uber 10 plus years ago and we were ideating autonomous vehicles. The general consensus was that we would run the technology platform and private equity would own fleets of cars built and operated to our specification.

Waymo has concluded either we are too early in the journey to decouple the tight vertical integration or they want to go very big and own all of the capital expenditure for what will presumably be a global rollout ultimately.

For anyone like me with a finance and technology crossover interest I actually think this is as interesting, maybe more interesting, than the private equity play around data centers at the moment because all of that is constrained against chip delivery and power constraints.

dotBen··on Mozilla is building an AI 'rebel alliance' to take on OpenAI, Anthropic
The concern, I think, is that their spare cash is dwindling and thus financial prudence might be beneficial - especially for those who rely on the core Mozilla propositions like Firefox.
dotBen··on Tell HN: Bending Spoons laid off almost everybody at Vimeo yesterday
If your comment is referring to the bending spoons business model, it's worth pointing out they are not VC, they are private equity.

If your comment is referring to the software company's exiting to provide a return to shareholders, that happens all the time whether it's venture-backed or privately owned. The owners of privately held bootstrapped companies still want an exit one day too.

As an open source software engineer who is now a venture capital investor, respectfully, I think your beef is with capitalism, not with the institutional investors.

dotBen··on How London cracked mobile phone coverage on the Underground
One of the frustrating things about international roaming in the UK is typically your plan does not include coverage on this neutral network on the underground
dotBen··on UK Petition: Do not introduce Digital ID cards
Give the government your name, postal address, email address and citizenship information to store on a government database in order to protest against the government having your name, postal address, email address and citizenship information to store on a government database.
dotBen··on Want to meet people, try charging them for it?
The best way to get rid of junk is not to put it outside your house with “free” on it. It’s to put “$10” on it. Someone will steal it.
dotBen··on Iran asks its people to delete WhatsApp from their devices
Remember Snowden outlined the Google<>US government interface:

The US agency would type in the gmail address of the subject (ie the primary key/identifier) and somewhere between the agency and Google a decision would be automatically made as to whether the owner of the account was a US person* or not.

If yes - FISA warrant was required

If no - the US agency user would have immediate access to the entire google account (think Google Take Out).

In other words, if you were not a US person there was no duty to protect data.

* = US Person is either a US citizen located anywhere in the world or anyone of any nationality who is physically in the US (current interpretation includes visa holders, visitors and even undocumented but that's shifting)

dotBen··on Exeter's unassuming co-op worker leads double life as 'Lord of the Logos'
wow you have a much better memory than I do, I don't even remember anything about the event (tbf for several years I used to attend a WordCamp somewhere practically every other week!)
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