13 comments

  • alec salec s, almost 7 years ago (edited almost 7 years ago )

    Having worked with you before, it unfortunately leaves a lot to be desired in your work. I'll elaborate because I've always been a fan of products you work on: I felt a massive lack of attention while working with your team which led to a lot of lack-luster results.

    Not trying to sound insulting, because the talent is obviously there, but this was my experience.

    16 points
    • Andrew WilkinsonAndrew Wilkinson, almost 7 years ago

      Hey Alec,

      Bummed to hear that! When and where did we cross paths?

      1 point
      • John PJohn P, almost 7 years ago

        Maybe if you showed up a bit more you'd remember, just saying. ;)

        13 points
      • alec salec s, almost 7 years ago

        We worked with ML on a small iOS app called Squid that dealt with live conversations and communities (it consequently was never released, but I'm not comfortable saying what company it was for).

        The owner of our project abruptly left ML, and we weren't even told until the next meeting wherein we met the new owner of our project who had to then be brought up to speed on the work. It also felt like this lack of attention resulted in a poorly thought through re-work of the stuff we'd already done. Essentially, it felt like a glorified facelift when we were engaging you for product design.

        0 points
        • Andrew WilkinsonAndrew Wilkinson, almost 7 years ago

          Ah, yeah. I remember that project. We were pretty small and disorganized back then, and we had the guy who was running the whole design team leave on short notice. I'm sorry we let you guys down.

          0 points
        • Santiago BaigorriaSantiago Baigorria, almost 7 years ago

          Alec, I'm an outsider, I know, but I feel you can't argue so strongly when all you got is one personal negative experience. Plus, to what would you attribute all the successes? Everyone has failures, no matter who they are. That doesn't make Andrew's article less true.

          0 points
          • alec salec s, almost 7 years ago

            I'm not sure what you're trying to say. The article was opposite of my experience working with them, I don't think that's invalid at all.

            1 point
            • Santiago BaigorriaSantiago Baigorria, almost 7 years ago

              You're making quite a critique based on a project, that apparently happened years ago, and when the company was just starting. TO me, it's pretty invalid...

              0 points
              • alec salec s, almost 7 years ago (edited almost 7 years ago )

                One year ago doesn't seem very far back. The company was not "just staring" then. They already had a few huge projects under their belt (Slack being one) and were widely hailed as wonderful to work with. I didn't make an over-the-top critique, I explained my experience and how it differed. Pretty sure a single user's feedback is valid. He even admitted to the disorganization at the time, so I'm not sure what you're trying to assert.

                3 points
  • Rhys MerrittRhys Merritt, almost 7 years ago

    "First, you cut out the middle man (your boss) and start working for yourself. Then, you hire someone else to actually do the work while you handle the high level stuff."

    So - you cut out the middle man, and then become the middle man?

    The article kind of felt like you were saying some obvious stuff which made perfect sense, like "work ON your company, not IN it".. But there was a distinct feeling that you are leaving out other factors to your success. Surely you aren't successful simply because you delegated work to others, and to suggest as much makes your article just feel disingenuous.

    I could be entirely wrong though, I'm not even nearly as accomplished as you.

    3 points
  • Taylor PalmerTaylor Palmer, almost 7 years ago

    This sounds like a career path I could get behind.

    I haven't caught the startup entrepreneur fever for that reason: I don't actually want all of the administrative work.

    3 points
  • Pedro PintoPedro Pinto, almost 7 years ago

    This was a fantastic read. Andrew, the tech world needs more leaders like you

    2 points