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spuiszis

516 karma · joined April 10, 2012

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spuiszis··on How to evaluate a product roadmap, for engineers
Author here, thanks for sharing your feedback. To your point, product is a high-stress, demanding role, and in reality, you might not hit every item from this list all the time. This ambitiously attempted to define greatness from when I've been fortunate to get there, see it, or be part of it. Getting to greatness can be done; it's just hard to achieve. I think it deserves that caveat up front, and I will update it.

I also agree that low-level teams might be very far removed from strategy, especially in large orgs. However, that team should have a clearly defined goal or mandate instead. So much of the product is context-driven, and the first few drafts were 3-4x longer to account for these differences between organizations, hierarchy, teams etc. I removed most of that to focus more on basic principles because this guide was starting to look like it was written by Charlie Kelly chasing Pepe Silvia accounting for all the edge cases :)

spuiszis··on Apple Rankings
This is simply fantastic - learned plenty of stuff about apples while genuinely laughing until my face hurt.
spuiszis··on Why Hanami will never unseat Rails
As a Ruby/Rails dev, the OP makes a good, directionally correct point: "I don’t believe that simply being better than Rails is enough to displace Rails."

However, he's off by a bit. It's going to take another framework to not just be "simply better". This framework will need to be an order of magnitude better to get me to switch from the amazingly productive Rails ecosystem. The framework/language marketplace is crowded and you are going to really need to standout to get any serious adoption to compete. For me, the cost of switching all new development projects to Hanami seems to out-weight the benefits (this also assumes Rails is the correct tool for the job of course, which it often isn't).

That said, a Rails/Hanami/Sinatra framework built on the Crystal language, which looks almost exactly like Ruby but gives you C performance, appears like it might be that order-of-magnitude to 100x game-changer that could get me to switch stacks. [0]

Whether you like him or not, Peter Thiel has some good thoughts when it comes to innovation and I think this argument perfectly encompasses this Rails/Hanami discussion:

"As a good rule of thumb, proprietary technology must be at least 10 times better than its closest substitute in some important dimension to lead to a real monopolistic advantage. Anything less than an order of magnitude better will probably be perceived as a marginal improvement and will be hard to sell, especially in an already crowded market. The clearest way to make a 10x improvement is to invent something completely new."[1]

[0] https://crystal-lang.org/ [1] Zero to One - http://amzn.to/2GaaMP0

spuiszis··on Snap Revenue Surges 72% on User Growth, Advertising Gains
Alternative headline: SNAP somehow surges 22% in after-hours trading despite reporting a $3.5BN loss and burning $819MM in cash.

While revenue and user growth are both positive signs, there are still plenty of red flags. SNAP's hefty valuation is based on much higher growth rates and a faster route to profitability that still has yet to be seen.

[1] https://investor.snap.com/~/media/Files/S/Snap-IR/reports-an...

Edit: grammar

spuiszis··on Show HN: I built a handful of Bootstrap 4 themes with an interactive code picker
That's not accurate on breaking changes, there will be additional ones in the future:

> We’ve done our best to prevent breaking changes, but we had to sneak some in. Regrettably, we’ll also have a few more coming in Beta 3, too. However, we’re clearly outlining all of them for you to make the upgrade and testing process as easy as possible.

Source: https://blog.getbootstrap.com/2017/10/19/bootstrap-4-beta-2/

spuiszis··on FTC Approves of Amazon and Whole Foods Deal
How so? From an Anti-Trust perspective, the FTC recently blocked the Walgreens/Rite-Aid[1] and FanDuel/DraftKings[2] deals. I'm not sure this deal is anti-competitive and certainly doesn't come off as anti-consumer to me.

However, as it relates to the FTC, I am concerned with the increasing size of Fortune 100/500 companies [3] and their relationship to the decline in entrepreneurship in the United States [4]. The biggest companies are getting bigger and growing faster than ever and the FTC affects that by reviewing M&A activity.

[1] http://fortune.com/2017/06/29/walgreens-rite-aid-merger-ftc/

[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2017/06/19/ftc-fi...

[3] https://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/big-business-is-getting-...

[4] https://www.inc.com/magazine/201505/leigh-buchanan/the-vanis...

spuiszis··on Now UI Kit – A Bootstrap 4 UI kit
Yeah I'm having trouble understanding why you release this or even use it in production when the underlying framework behind it isn't fully-baked yet? I've been messing around with the alpha bootstrap and there are a number of issues, the beta version should be launching soon: https://github.com/twbs/bootstrap/milestones
spuiszis··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (March 2017)
Table XI | Senior Product Designer | Chicago, IL | REMOTE | FULLTIME http://www.tablexi.com/

Table XI is a curious and humble group of people who love to build things. Learning is the key to our culture, and we’re always looking for new skills to pick up and ways to hone our craft. We bring that same curiosity to our clients, digging into their needs so we can make sure our design and development projects look great, work great and push their businesses forward.

We’re looking for a designer who can tease out user needs, design, and develop prototypes to solve them. Here’s what we expect from you:

* Be an empathetic designer. Everything you touch should be clean, precise, artfully crafted and visually stunning

* See the forest and the trees. Being a great product designer is about being equally concerned with strategic direction and micro-interactions users experience

* Be an experienced consultant, with a proven track record of building lasting relationships with your clients

* Talk to users, conducting user research and usability tests are just a few of the tools you’ll use to help clients make informed product decisions

* Implement your designs in HTML/CSS (Sass)

* Work collaboratively on a cross-functional team of developers, designers and business analysts

* Be a design facilitator: create engaging environments and lead groups of stakeholders through design-thinking exercises (bonus points for experience with Google Design Sprints)

If you're interested, please contact steve@tablexi.com or apply here: http://tablexi.applytojob.com/apply

spuiszis··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (March 2017)
Table XI | Senior UX Designer | Chicago, IL | REMOTE | FULLTIME http://www.tablexi.com/

Table XI is a curious and humble group of people who love to build things. Learning is the key to our culture, and we’re always looking for new skills to pick up and ways to hone our craft. We bring that same curiosity to our clients, digging into their needs so we can make sure our design and development projects look great, work great and push their businesses forward.

We’re looking for a designer to bring strategic and creative vision to solving user needs. Here’s what we expect from you:

* Be an empathetic designer.

* Everything you touch should be clean, precise, artfully crafted and visually stunning

* See the forest and the trees. Designing great products is about being equally concerned with strategic direction and micro-interactions of the user experience

* Be an experienced consultant, with a proven track record of building lasting relationships with your clients

* Talk to users: usability testing is just one of the tools you’ll use to help clients make informed product decisions Work collaboratively on a cross-functional team of developers, designers, and business analysts

* Be a design facilitator: create engaging environments and lead groups of stakeholders through design-thinking exercises (bonus points for experience with Google Design Sprints but not required)

If you're interested, please contact steve@tablexi.com or apply here: http://tablexi.applytojob.com/apply

spuiszis··on Ask HN: Is S3 down?
Wish I could +1 this more. Any time I get some error, I spend hours sifting through old documentation and forum posts.
spuiszis··on The Google Analytics Setup I Use on Every Site I Build
I think JavaScript analytics is more or less here to stay. A broader move to server-side analytics depends on what you're going to use the data for. When I want clean(er) data for important metrics, like revenue/conversion rate for eCommerce sites, I implement a hybrid JS/back-end solution where I send important data to the GA API or Mixpanel via some back-end service [1]. I've found that revenue data in GA compared to the database on a number of sites I have consulted for can be off quite a bit, and sometimes +/- 25%, depending on how the JavaScript has been implemented.

With larger businesses, you'll probably see more server-side implementations as they have the budgets to ensure the data they're collecting is accurate. For a blogger or a small publisher without a dedicated tech team, there's nothing easier than dropping in a script tag and watching the data roll in.

[1]https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection...

spuiszis··on Ask HN: Online Security Tips for Newbie Freedom Activists?
If you had to use a cloud-based storage system, what would you use to replace Dropbox? Spider Oak?
spuiszis··on 13M Pages of Declassified CIA Documents Posted Online
I haven't gotten the search to work at all, assuming that search bar is for the documents (the UX isn't great). I've been getting "CIA.gov is Temporarily Unavailable" each time.

That said, there are some interesting (and mildly terrifying) documents you can find from some general browsing of the categories.

spuiszis··on Show HN: Founderkit – Startup tool recommendations from 1,000 YC founders
This is so awesome to see polite, constructive criticism. This is why HN is awesome. I feel like I just saw a rose sprout up out of a concrete parking garage.
spuiszis··on Trump University Settles Fraud Claims for $25M
It probably won't even end up costing them the headline amount. Much of the settlement will likely be tax deductible similar to other government deals [1][2].

[1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2016/01/19/goldman-sa...

[2] http://www.newsweek.com/2014/11/07/giant-penalties-are-giant...

spuiszis··on Trump University Settles Fraud Claims for $25M
I can only wonder what effect this would have on voters if it settled prior the the election.
spuiszis··on UK Parliament Rubberstamps Mass Surveillance Law
This is a re-post but I think it's important to elevate awareness.

Related:

http://europe.newsweek.com/ip-bill-most-extreme-surveillance...

https://www.eff.org/issues/uk-investigatory-powers-bill

https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/17/uk-ip-bill-surveillance-...

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/ip-bill-law-details-passed

spuiszis··on How Silicon Valley Treats a Trump Backer: Peter Thiel
I didn't have the same experience, although I am using a couple AdBlockers. You might have a cookie already on your browser to trigger that login modal. There's also a possibility a major publisher like the NYT is trying to close that Google loophole.
spuiszis··on 2015 Angel Resource Institute Halo Report
Note, the link is an infographic - the full report is here: http://www.angelresourceinstitute.org/~/media/Files/Halo%20R...

Nothing too surprising in here if you've been reading the news, but even then, the 53% jump in median valuations still makes me raise an eyebrow.

spuiszis··on Unmasking the Men Behind Zero Hedge
This is 100% worth reading. From ZH authors:

> Regarding, the actual content of Bloomberg's platform giving voice to a disturbed individual, former drug dealer and alcoholic, we find it particularly amusing as it "accuse" Zero Hedge of being intent on generating profits.

> Coming from Bloomberg we find this not only entertaining but somewhat hypocritical.

> Incidentally, the chart above may explain why none other than our "competitor" Bloomberg decided it was its mission to voice a grievance of a disgruntled former employee who admitted it was his intention to "destroy" Zero Hedge.

spuiszis··on A Guide to Seed Fundraising
I kinda disagree, but it depends on the product/market. You can't pre-sell a nuclear fusion reactor before it's built (I'll bundle that with my swampland in Florida!) but there are ways to generate meaningful traction through list-building, pre-launch sales, commitments, etc. for SaaS apps that you could use to raise money. And frankly, that's what an entrepreneur should be doing in the first place to validate that you should be building that product for the target audience in the first place or that there is a market for your product. And you can always strip down your MVP to it's absolute core to get it out the door faster so you don't spend 6 months building it.
spuiszis··on Congress Passes $1 Trillion Spending Measure
Simply amazing... barely any mention of the additional last-minute cyber security measures attached to the bill.
spuiszis··on The Macro
Love the idea. I'm glad to hear they are using Middleman for the site, it has been a joy to develop with. I highly recommend checking it out if you're looking to build a static site [0].

[0] https://middlemanapp.com/basics/install/

spuiszis··on Sequoia's Sprawling Network of VC Scouts
If you don't have a WSJ subscription: https://www.google.com/search?q=sequoia+scouts+wsj
spuiszis··on Fidelity Writes Down Snapchat Investment 25%
I'm curious as to what materially materially changed in 6 months since Fidelity invested (at $15bn pre-money)[1], considering Snapchat it looks like they have been ramping it's revenue[2]. Maybe slowing user acquisition or lower than projected revenue growth?

1. https://www.crunchbase.com/funding-round/4a2de2da69d5ccaac85... 2. http://www.businessinsider.com/snapchat-is-on-track-to-gener...

spuiszis··on Watchdog: U.S. Paid for 'World's Most Expensive' Gas Station in Afghanistan
Also related, Vice has been covering this for awhile now and had a great piece on HBO (er, well-produced piece). Another example of the horrible spending: contractors spent $300 million to build a power plant to power Kabul, but this plant is not being used because the cost to run the plant is too expensive...so they import electricity from Kazakhstan and China (4:00 mark)[0]. We also purchased $700 million of new Russian airplanes and helicopters for the Afghan Air Force that they can't fly (7:20 mark)[0].

[0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CvWJVtEkUE [1]https://news.vice.com/article/the-us-just-cant-stop-blowing-... [2]https://news.vice.com/article/us-aid-to-afghanistan-has-larg...

spuiszis··on Cyber Sleuths Track Hacker to China’s Military
Copy and paste the article title into a Google Search and click the article link in the search results.
spuiszis··on Ask HN: What's the best ad-blocking, privacy-enhancing extension set up?
AVG Privacy Fix, HTTPS Everywhere, Ghostery.
spuiszis··on Deutsche Bank to Pay Record $2.5B to Resolve Libor
I agree in theory but in practice, it's not always the full amount but you get things like BofA deducting $12bn pre-tax from their $17bn mortgage settlement[1] or JPMorgan able to deduct a large amount of their $13bn fine[2]. There is always a loophole somewhere.

[1]http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/08/21/bofa-grabs... [2]http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/business/dealbook/deutsche... [3]http://www.newsweek.com/2014/11/07/giant-penalties-are-giant...

spuiszis··on Deutsche Bank to Pay Record $2.5B to Resolve Libor
This reduces their taxable income, so part of it is a benefit to DB so the real number they pay is around ~67% of the headline number. We also have no idea how profitable LIBOR manipulation is over several years. I can imagine incredible lucrative.
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