Startup L. Jackson
Silicon Valley's anonymous, unfiltered tech pundit
Discussion
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Startup L. Jackson
@startupljackson · Social Media Expert
I used to tweet a lot about startups. Now my iPhone battery lasts much longer.
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- Kim Pham -
@kimpham404 · Growth Engineer
It's awesome that you're vocal about diversity and gender equality in tech, both as @StartupLJackson and @pt. You once said in a ProductHunt interview:
"If you don’t have [women] on your team, that’s because you haven’t prioritized it. // If you get to 20 people, and 18 are white dudes, you’re going to have some problems. That’s cultural debt."
I can't help but notice that 39 of 44* AngelList team members are men. How have you prioritized diversity at AngelList since joining as a Partner?
- Kim Pham -
@kimpham404 · Growth Engineer
*Total Includes founders + you. Reference: https://angel.co/angellist
Huong Tran
@huongtdt · Founder, Magpie
@kimpham404 @startupljackson @pt great question, thanks Kim! can't wait to hear your thoughts SLJ/PT
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Startup L. Jackson
@startupljackson · Social Media Expert
@kimpham404 @pt awesome question. It was a big topic of discussion at our last offsite and it's something we're actively working on. We're hiring now for sales and engineering roles and we'd love to hear from folks who aren't the usual suspects. You can email me parker @ angel.co.
Beyond what we can do for ourselves, we have one of the top startup jobs products. The team working on that has been discussing ways we can help companies hire better. I don't have any products to pre-announce, but I hope we see the tools get better for finding diverse talent and reducing bias in the hiring process. There's work do be done there across the industry.
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Startup L. Jackson
@startupljackson · Social Media Expert
@jamesthesnake twitter's macro problem is that it's "only" 300M users and 1B users have tried the product. Those 700M probably aren't coming back. As absurd as it is to say, that's sub-scale for advertisers and that has been the cause of their sliding valuation.
In terms of what they do, if I were CEO — and this is 100% backseat driving — I'd make Moments a standalone app and take a portfolio approach. That need to mint 1-3 more 300M user apps in the next couple years. I do not believe the core property can be grown, but I do believe it's an asset as part of a broader portfolio strategy.
I might consider taking the company private. There's been talk of this. Depending on how that were to go, it could be a good thing.
Again though, it's easy to criticize. I wish the team well over there and trust that they aren't stupid. They're in a tough spot and I'm not sure anyone else could navigate it better.
Nathan A. Cleveland
@tweededcleve · Field Access Specialist, Xcenda
When can we expect a "The Best of SLJ" coffee table book (Obviously with a kindle version for the coffee tables of the future)?
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Startup L. Jackson
@startupljackson · Social Media Expert
@tweededcleve I have nothing to pre-announce. I've received a few offers. I have committed to nothing, but if I can find a way to do it without it being a huge project, I'm in. I've got too much to do at my real job to spend a ton of time on media.
Adam Marx
@adammarx13 · CEO, Glipple, Inc.
@startupljackson @tweededcleve I think this is a fun little idea, and need not be such an intense process. I envision more of a @pmarca-style SLJ archives ebook that people can just download. Could be kinda fun. Thanks for the good material @pt :D
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
If being @startupljackson all this time has taught you one thing, what would you say that is?
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Startup L. Jackson
@startupljackson · Social Media Expert
@ems_hodge This may be the hardest question here. I don't think it was one thing. I learned some interesting things about how to make content go viral, what people find funny, how people interact on the internet given social cues and power structures, and what I myself think of certain aspects of the industry or kinds of businesses.
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Startup L. Jackson
@startupljackson · Social Media Expert
@leafbomb It was no one thing. Reasons included: the secret was getting out, the account was becoming big enough that it was "the man" vs a satire of "the man," I was a bit bored with the schtick after four years, and I have a ton of other stuff to think about and 80k followers are a lot of people to entertain.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
From all the advice Startup L Jackson gave over his time on Twitter which are the most crucial pieces that you'd like the persona to be remembered for?
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Startup L. Jackson
@startupljackson · Social Media Expert
@bentossell my meta-issue, which I tweet a lot about, is thinking for yourself. In practice though, I think the nature of these things is that different tweets will resonate with different people depending on their situation.
Drew Reynolds
@nydrewreynolds · Software Developer at Gramercy Tech
How did you keep your identity a secret for 4 years? There were people who claimed to have known all along, it had to be tough not letting it get out in the open.
A few have gone very far trying to find your identity. Can you remember the closest anyone got to discovering you?
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Startup L. Jackson
@startupljackson · Social Media Expert
@nydrewreynolds There were a lot of people who knew. Many were close friends. Folks I told really just loved being in on the secret, I think. It was only in the last 6-9 months that it started really getting out there to people I did't know well. That was, for me, kinda the beginning of the end.
I think the closest it got to getting out was tweets from the wrong account, like when there was an iOS client bug where I responded from the lock screen to a friend in Seattle about scheduling coffee and it sent from SLJ instead of pt. At that time my follower account was low enough that deleting it quickly avoided disaster.
Abe Storey
@abe_storey · Entrepreneur & Growth Marketer
What was the first time you realized, jeez, startup L Jackson is going to gain a huge audience? In other words, what was the tipping point?
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Startup L. Jackson
@startupljackson · Social Media Expert
@abe_storey Good question. There was probably a big viral tweet early, but I think for me the influence was more about the core following. Follower count was a vanity metric. So, I knew I was getting traction when I'd get people I respected following/engaging. As silly as it sounds, when Techmeme followed the account pretty recently, that was a big milestone. For me, that was a clear sign the account had become to some extent the official parody account of SV.
Jason Meeks
@jasonkristofor · Product @CrowdJoyEvents
What was your favorite SLJ moment or experience? Thanks for all the fun @pt
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Startup L. Jackson
@startupljackson · Social Media Expert
@jasonkristofor @pt I can't recall a specific moment, but putting out a "totally fucking true" idea and seeing it resonate with people is pretty fun.
Jason Meeks
@jasonkristofor · Product @CrowdJoyEvents
@startupljackson @pt Right on, good luck with your next adventure. I'll miss SLJ, but am glad we got to witness.