I'm black and I've worked with black youth to get them involved with tech and here's what I've found:
Black youth don't necessarily need to find other black idols to look up to. They - much like any other youth - need to feel like they have access to the same tools that everyone else does to succeed. Tools = access, technology, opportunity, mentors, funds, etc...
Typically, these youths assume that others that look like them had access to the same tools that they have/had hence why they "need" to see successful people that look like them. As a result, if you truly want help them succeed in the long run, rather than simply show/tell them about successful black people (who may/may not have had a similar upbringing), help them gain access to those same tools.
Wasn't implying that your service doesn't provide benefits. I actually believe the exact opposite to be true.
What I'm saying is that it doesn't make sense for you guys to do a revenue split based on how many of the leads closed since you would then be 100% reliant on the lead list purchaser's ability to close the deals (and track each dollar received from the leads).
Although this sounds like a decent idea, the challenge with it is that you're assuming a couple of things:
1) The start-up acquiring the lead list has the ability to progress the deals to closure.
2) The start-up acquiring the lead list is able to appropriately break-down their revenue in an easily audit-able/non-modifiable manner to demonstrate which $ came from the acquired lead list(s).
This type of thing may be an option for these guys going forward (once they figure out the kinks), but I think they're doing the right thing right now by charging up-front.
Based on your comment, I'm going to assume you've never worked in B2B sales. "Lead Lists" are not something enterprises want to share - small or large.
They themselves said "..this unreleased version caused issues". That could be referring to anything - including service-overload issues but I don't know why that would be that surprising.
This is exactly why companies like to have tight control of the roll-out of new products. They want to find these types of bottle-necks and glitches in rather controlled environments.
Not sure why you think there's more to the story. It's extremely common for "unreleased" versions of various apps/services to have bottlenecks that the production-ready versions would not. That's typically why they're "unreleased".
While the idea of Google knowing every wi-fi password is bad, they already know everything you search for and they also have a very good idea about all the websites you visit. So ...
I have read a fair amount of this thread and I still stand by what I said. Furthermore, for obvious reasons, I don't believe HN is an objective place to discuss the merits of PG's statements past & present.
Look, I respect PG as much as the next person so this is not a slight against him since I feel HN far too often comes to his defence as if protecting their newborn. Having said that ...
I don't understand how a man of his stature and someone in his position can allow himself to make those statements about accents (or anything that sounds remotely xenophobic). I say that because even his blog post says the following:
"A startup founder is always selling. Not just literally to customers, but to current and potential employees, partners, investors, and the press as well ... there is little room for misunderstanding."
That statement doesn't just hold for startups but for anyone in business. His initial statements left plenty of room for misunderstanding. Furthermore, I would also find it very difficult to believe that his inclination towards avoiding "excessive" accents does not also subconsciously lead him to have a slight bias against founders with a "slight" accent. That's how biases work - the threshold for when your brain decides to evoke that bias is not black-and-white.
So, you do all realize that this was an investment (of less than 10%) and not an acquisition right? Everyone here is talking about how this plays right into Google's plans - no. With their stake, Google does not have enough leverage to direct what direction Uber should be moving in.
"Not everybody has 5 hours a day or a stay-at-home wife to cook their Whole Foods organic produce into a masterpiece of nutrition." ... you sir must live in the same age that your username implies.
Also, your argument here is silly. This guy's diet is not "above average" in quality by any means and a Chipotle Burito Bol is not a "legit meal" based on what one would consider to be a healthy lifestyle. The amount of sodium alone in those things is enough to make me and some of your organs cringe - literally.
Go to the grocery store. Pick up some raw foods. Cook them on a Sunday night. Put them in the fridge. Pat yourself on the back. You've just managed to prep your lunch/dinner for the week and you did it all without having to find a stay-at-home wife.
Black youth don't necessarily need to find other black idols to look up to. They - much like any other youth - need to feel like they have access to the same tools that everyone else does to succeed. Tools = access, technology, opportunity, mentors, funds, etc...
Typically, these youths assume that others that look like them had access to the same tools that they have/had hence why they "need" to see successful people that look like them. As a result, if you truly want help them succeed in the long run, rather than simply show/tell them about successful black people (who may/may not have had a similar upbringing), help them gain access to those same tools.