Biz Stone's Awkward Meeting with Mark Zuckerberg(thenextweb.com)
thenextweb.com
Biz Stone's Awkward Meeting with Mark Zuckerberg
http://thenextweb.com/facebook/2011/07/18/twitters-biz-stone-on-an-awkward-meeting-with-mark-zuckerberg/
7 comments
From the transcript of the NPR radio show this is taken from:
Mr. STONE: That wasn't even the worst moment. The worst moment was he was like hey, do you guys want to go have lunch at our cafeteria. So we had to wait on this huge line for lunch. Evan was like aren't you the boss? Can't you like kind of cut the line a little bit here?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. STONE: And he's like that's not how we do things here.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. STONE: And that's when I said, oh my gosh, Evan, we have that thing.
SAGAL: Really?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. STONE: You bailed?
Ms. POUNDSTONE: All because you waited in a line?
(Soundbite of laughter)
(Soundbite of applause)
Mr. STONE: We don't like to be queued up.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Really curious from anyone who has the time to listen to the whole audio if it comes of as a joke or not.
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/16/138160765/twitter-co-founder-b...
Mr. STONE: That wasn't even the worst moment. The worst moment was he was like hey, do you guys want to go have lunch at our cafeteria. So we had to wait on this huge line for lunch. Evan was like aren't you the boss? Can't you like kind of cut the line a little bit here?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. STONE: And he's like that's not how we do things here.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. STONE: And that's when I said, oh my gosh, Evan, we have that thing.
SAGAL: Really?
(Soundbite of laughter)
Mr. STONE: You bailed?
Ms. POUNDSTONE: All because you waited in a line?
(Soundbite of laughter)
(Soundbite of applause)
Mr. STONE: We don't like to be queued up.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Really curious from anyone who has the time to listen to the whole audio if it comes of as a joke or not.
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/16/138160765/twitter-co-founder-b...
Realize that the blog mis-characterizes this as an "interview". It was an appearance on the NPR comedy show "Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me". While Peter Sagal and crew are a bright group of people, they are producing a humorous program. This Q and A moment aside, Stone was on there to "answer three questions" unrelated to what he does or is. (They're changing the format slightly, but the segment has traditionally been titled "Not My Job".)
Still, it was an interesting moment of apparently candid observation from Stone, albeit with emphasis of humor as an obvious aspect. Zuckerberg does come off as difficult to relate to.
Still, it was an interesting moment of apparently candid observation from Stone, albeit with emphasis of humor as an obvious aspect. Zuckerberg does come off as difficult to relate to.
The audio starts from 5:24 from the link above.
This is also a great example of how things can get 'lost-in-translation' when people try to describe situations/stories in text form. Listen to the audio and compare with TNW's post to see what I mean.
Edit: I mean this bit specifically "Both Stone and Williams looked at Zuckerberg and enquired as to why he wasn’t pushing to the front of the queue, only to be met with a “that’s not how we do it here” rebuttal. The duo from Twitter promptly left, Stone telling Sagal “we don’t like to be queued up”."
This is also a great example of how things can get 'lost-in-translation' when people try to describe situations/stories in text form. Listen to the audio and compare with TNW's post to see what I mean.
Edit: I mean this bit specifically "Both Stone and Williams looked at Zuckerberg and enquired as to why he wasn’t pushing to the front of the queue, only to be met with a “that’s not how we do it here” rebuttal. The duo from Twitter promptly left, Stone telling Sagal “we don’t like to be queued up”."
It definitely came across as a joke. The interview was really, really funny (on an otherwise average wwdtm episode). If you listen to the show, you'll know how tongue-in-cheek it is. Both Biz and Mark came across as good people, just wildly different.
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There's no distortion. He might have been joking, but it was related during banter when he was a guest on the "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" game show, not an edited interview.
Tech founder a bit awkward shocker.
The most interesting thing in the whole piece for me is that (a) Zuckerberg took them to the canteen and (b) that he was happy to queue (while they weren't).
Now you can argue about whether it was appropriate to take them to the canteen but I'd argue that if you're going to do it then having the decency to queue is a good thing and the "we don't like to be queued up" is the shitty view.
Never thought I'd find myself on Mark Zuckerberg's side in this sort of thing but there you go.
The most interesting thing in the whole piece for me is that (a) Zuckerberg took them to the canteen and (b) that he was happy to queue (while they weren't).
Now you can argue about whether it was appropriate to take them to the canteen but I'd argue that if you're going to do it then having the decency to queue is a good thing and the "we don't like to be queued up" is the shitty view.
Never thought I'd find myself on Mark Zuckerberg's side in this sort of thing but there you go.
I think I agree that they should wait in the queue just like everyone else. That said I hate long queues and I would think that those 3 guys could probably go out and grab some lunch outside of Facebook if they knew there was a long line everyday.
I had the same reaction - my guess is that the queuing up was as much an excuse to leave as it was a reason to leave for them.
It wasn't really a serious NPR Interview. Biz Stone was a contestant on "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me," NPR's humorous news quiz program. I'd take it as a funny anecdote and not the literal, objective truth.
Anyone listening to the actual recording should be able to discern that he was joking. He also says at one point in the interview "I would like to show you my crotch right now". This isn't TMZ. Chill out and stop looking for drama where there is none.
The bit about closing the door is a stroke of genius. I suspect Zuckerberg responded exactly as vaguely as he meant to, evoking the non-committal response from Williams and learning much about him in the process.
I'm not sure about "stroke of genius". I gave the same noncommital "yes" answer when asked if I wanted sausages for my dinner, aged three! This sort of humour is very common in the UK.
"Talking in an interview with NPR’s Peter Sagal"
Something tells me @petersagal would get a kick out of that characterization of a WWDTM appearance.
Something tells me @petersagal would get a kick out of that characterization of a WWDTM appearance.
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This story is told from Stone and Williams' perspective, but Zuck comes out sounding a lot better. Who wants to work in a place where the founders will push you out of the way to get to the food first?
Let's hope this is media distortion, not their real attitude.