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Does anyone have any pointers to or comments on the implications for the hiring/manager side based on this research? Namely, when hiring, should one consciously avoid the bias toward high-potential candidates versus experienced candidates? The article doesn't comment on this aspect, and I couldn't get a sense of whether the players/candidates went on to perform equally well. Unfortunately the full text of the actual research paper referenced in the article is behind a paywall.

While I haven't personally printed a photo in the past decade, the market is surprisingly large for photo printing services. A new revenue stream could be quite meaningful to Facebook as their ad revenue slows -- in 2011, Facebook did $3.7B in revenue while Shutterfly did $473M in revenue.

I haven't used AWS in a while. Is there a pattern to the AWS IP addresses? (e.g. are they using a set of specific blocks? ...that seems too simple). The other interesting data point would be how much AWS resource is consumed by Amazon itself. I understand that they have been moving big pieces of infrastructure onto AWS over the past couple years.

Can anyone think of any ways to collect data on just how big AWS really is? So far it seems like everyone is just trying to infer based on the "other" line of their revenues and anecdotes from the cloud community.

I joined a startup hedge fund six months ago after five years in VC. The amount of corruption and questionable practices on Wall St that continue today, even after enactment of supposed tougher regulation and oversight, surprised me. It's not a level playing field out there.

I think the situation will improve, but it seems to be an uphill battle against corruption in the regulatory bodies.

I do wish there were more software employed for the enforcement. e.g. it's blatantly obvious that there is insider trading if you examine spikes in volume prior to M&A announcements. I can't imagine it would be that hard to mine the transaction data for offenders.

But as the article says, you can't build up a good database of evidence if you are regularly purging the data.

Funny conversation in the office:

"A combination of excessive bureaucracy and corrupt officials makes it a hazardous enterprise."

Isn't that the same in the US?

Yes, except - in America, the government bribes business; in Soviet Russia, you bribe the government.

also, it's amazing how short our memories are. one "nice" day cures the ills of so many previously miserable days. as the data shows, these were lacking this past winter.

...but has anyone tried it? I'm quite happy with my new Schwab account after closing my previous (and first) internet banking account after 10 years. Maybe we aren't the right demographic for BankSimple. But maybe they are marketing to the wrong folks with their analytics, etc. How many of you have problems with triggering excess fees? It's never been a problem for me.

Cloudera is fast becoming the defacto commercial Hadoop brand. At the least, they have assembled an impressive collection of Hadoop celebrities.

As I understand it, they are still doing mostly consulting engagements. While lucrative, I expect them to build a product soon, if they are not already doing so. Anyone care to speculate?

It's interesting to see how the tech community will continue to nurture young entrepreneurs -- there are more structured seed programs like YC, TechStars, Start@Spark, summer @ highland, and then there's on the ground work that people like Chris are doing. For a number of reasons, a structured seed program does not make a lot of sense for big venture funds. However, developing young entrepreneuers is important and something I think firms like GC need to continue to spend time on.

maybe I just don't get it, but I don't think this site will be stealing any of Amazon's thunder. while Ztail's concept is interesting, it's way too complicated for the average consumer.

Agreed. As many have said, Seth's post sounds like a terrible idea. Although there's no simple solution, an up-front equity split will have fewer potential problems down the road.

Whereas vesting is just linked with the passage of time, putting in milestones is very dangerous. It can lead to all sorts of erratic behavior, all in the name of achieving milestones, which may or may not be relevant. You can't just look into the future and know what the right goals will be.

VCs definitely include vesting schedules but tend to avoid milestones.