acabrahams
Joined 12 years ago
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115
Submissions
24
Member since
Apr 17
www.alexabrahams.co.uk
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Comment · 10 years ago
1. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
2. One L by Scott Turow
3. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
4. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
5. Believer: My Forty Years in Politics by David Axelrod
6. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
7. Augustus: First Emperor of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy
8. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (re-read)
9. I, Claudius by Robert Graves
10. Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
11. The Fear Index by Robert Harris
12. Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (re-read)
13. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (re-read)
14. Hannibal by Thomas Harris (re-read)
15. Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin (re-read)
16. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (re-read)
17. Claudius the God by Robert Graves
Re-reads take hardly any time at all, so I'm not sure whether to count them. If you're not, then 11 books read so far.
Comment · 11 years ago
> Nothing that happens between twelfth grade and death decreases the percent of women interested in computer science one whit.
Statistics [1]: 56% of women in technology leave their employer mid-career, and 24% of these women take a non-technical job with a different employer. "This is double the turnover rate of men."
It would appear, then, that actually something does happen between high school and death which decreases women's interest in CS. It is not due to women leaving their career for family either, since many of this 56% decide to continue working, but in a non-technical role.
Thoughts?
[1]: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/the-state-of-women-in-te..., no 10
Comment · 11 years ago
This quote caught my eye from the FAQ section of the fellowship page:
Can a single person apply for funding? Yes, but the odds of being accepted are lower. A startup is too much work for one person.
A statement such as "A startup is too much work for one person" seems unusually stark and absolute for a company as progressive as YC. There are always exceptions, as mattkrisiloff as noted below.
Comment · 11 years ago
I never used the Homejoy service, but I was in the audience for the Startup School Europe talks last year where Adora gave a fantastic speech (Notes: http://theinflexion.com/blog/2014/07/26/notes-from-startup-s...) about going through so many ideas and working so hard to get to Homejoy. The talk's ending had a 'And look, we made it, so you can too' feel, and I had no idea that they were doing anything but crushing it after all those years of grinding work.
Its hard not to be disheartened when a pair who seem to have worked as hard as they have still don't make it with an idea. I just hope they keep going.
Comment · 11 years ago
I'm sure this is a stupid question, but after a few minutes of googling I am still unclear on the answer so I thought I'd ask it here. I am about to start studying in the US (college), so I was wondering if the USDS accepts non-American citizens? Even without a green card? (I'm British, btw).
Comment · 11 years ago
Sounds like what EF already do in London (joinef.com) with technical grads.
Comment · 12 years ago
"Also, the sooner "pull" payments become a rare exception, the better."
Credit card charges that are pull-based are generally a bad thing, but not all pull-based payments are bad for consumers. For example, the Direct Debit scheme in the UK requires the consumer to be notified 5 working days before payment is taken, and the consumer has the right to get a refund from the bank without dispute; it is then the bank's job to go and get the money bank from the merchant. This latter feature in particular is important, and should be implemented for credit card pre-authorisations as well.
Comment · 12 years ago
I've done a full-time 5 day course at Steer on iOS and a 10-week evening course at General Assembly on Ruby. Both were useful, but IMO not worth the cost. I have friends who have completed the GA full-time bootcamp, and some who have done the Makers Academy one. MA seems to be better for helping you become a real software developer, rather than someone who knows a bit about apps.
Comment · 12 years ago
Yes. You are generalizing. Massively. There is no possible situation in which a VC I had met could ask me out without making me feel extremely uncomfortable, to put it lightly.
There are lots of logical reasons for this reaction, and I will list some of them briefly. 1) Power of VC network is implicit threat to 'play nice' and go along with it, even if VC in question has no intention of being nasty in any way. 2) The power imbalance already implicit in VC/founder relations makes 'asking me out' incredibly tense. 3) It would make me doubt myself- "Is every other VC I am talking to (since they are 90% men) just interested in me for that reason?".
So follow the OP's advice. And just don't do it.