Reply to: Lack of software engineering talent 'could derail London’s Tech City'

[Clever Hans]

Boo's financial acumen seems unimaginative compared to the Wrekin construction group which went under with 300 jobs a couple of years ago.

This despite having the fabulous £11 million "Gem of Tanzania" ruby propping up its accounts, which eventually went under the hammer for the slightly less fabulous price of £8010 which - according to the article - appears to be an overestimate of a practically worthless lump of purple rock which first appeared to attain its fabulousness when owned by a peddler of a cure for Aids based on Goat Blood.

Inspirational.

[lilelvis2000]

I'll save you the hassle. I'm not although neither was the person i reported to or his boss.

I can give you stories that aren't in the book including the solution to the first finance crisis. Did you know that a middle east governments kept $10m in cash in their embassy. The money arrived so late that one bank closed 4 branches in central London to count it between the time the cash was received and close of day.

Given the book was written by one of the company directors...it did have that "alls going well, ah we need more cash, got some back to normal, ah we're outta cash again, oh darn now we really are broke, oh the humanity we have to close down" kinda vibe.

Was that the investor from the middle-east...Lebanon was it? Now they were stupid. I was shouting at the book, "Noooo" when I read that part.

[eek]

Yeah but most of your punters where on dial up - not everyone could and still can get cable broadband.

You missed the earlier statement. Anyone who wasn't working on the front end knew it was insane, unfortunately those working on the front end were working all plausible hours only stopping to see their mates at other startups or digital marketing agencies. Common sense had left that department well before I first saw them and ran away.

After that all I did was invoice, invoice, invoice, laugh and add a large sum to chris Evan's bar tab.

[SueEllen]

As for internet connections I didn't have any problems working from home via my cable modem (a fast 512kb line).

Yeah but most of your punters where on dial up - not everyone could and still can get cable broadband.

[eek]

Cool, you're part of history. How NOT to run a startup! Apparently Boo had something like 400 staff and could have been run with like 50!
though my memory is fuzzy..


I'll have to pull boo hoo off my bookshelf and see if you're mentioned.

I'll save you the hassle. I'm not although neither was the person i reported to or his boss.

I can give you stories that aren't in the book including the solution to the first finance crisis. Did you know that a middle east governments kept $10m in cash in their embassy. The money arrived so late that one bank closed 4 branches in central London to count it between the time the cash was received and close of day.

[lilelvis2000]

Do you mind I believe it was nearer £125m or $188m. As for sales I know I spent £500 while working there so that figure could be slightly out (the staff discount at one point was 90% so I got a lifetimes supplier of north face gear).

Cool, you're part of history. How NOT to run a startup! Apparently Boo had something like 400 staff and could have been run with like 50!
though my memory is fuzzy..


I'll have to pull boo hoo off my bookshelf and see if you're mentioned.

[Clever Hans]

I read it in a very authoritative source.

But, not being as organised as Nick F, I forget where. You'll just have to take my word for it.

A misquoting of McConnell, perhaps? He claims 10 to 1 with sources and rebuttal to counter-claims here.

[eek]

Considering you were the only feckers who could get online in the UK I'm not surprised.

The vast majority of people in the UK used dial-up at home if they had an internet connection.

I did integration work rather than the front end (I remember rewriting the entire customer service system over two weekends). The number of developers on the front end was insane, many of them actually were.

As for internet connections I didn't have any problems working from home via my cable modem (a fast 512kb line).

[Clever Hans]

I suppose you do realize the best developers are at least 50 times more productive than the average, competent joe shmoe?

And you need the best for a high-tech startup, at least until it is established.

The 'rockstar' (ugh) to average programmer productivity rate is normally quoted as about 10 to 1; though the salary on offer from companies requiring them doesn't seem to reflect that.

Nice to have no doubt, but any business model, high tech startup or otherwise, based around the performance of hard to replace individuals is rather dubious I would have thought.

[SueEllen]

Do you mind I believe it was nearer £125m or $188m. As for sales I know I spent £500 while working there so that figure could be slightly out (the staff discount at one point was 90% so I got a lifetimes supplier of north face gear).

Considering you were the only feckers who could get online in the UK I'm not surprised.

The vast majority of people in the UK used dial-up at home if they had an internet connection.

[shaunbhoy]

if that happened I'd be house owner back in 2000 and taking the piss at renters on this forum

But as it stands, you are a rocket-polishing rentboy yourself, dreaming of your own sofa, handgun, and a girlfriend whose surname is not jpeg!!!

[AtW]

Do you mind I believe it was nearer £125m or $188m. As for sales I know I spent £500 while working there so that figure could be slightly out (the staff discount at one point was 90% so I got a lifetimes supplier of north face gear).

So it's your fault??!?!

I'll see you later today at the nearest Armani store!

[eek]

Didn't Boo.com go through $125m and only had about $30,000 in sales?

Do you mind I believe it was nearer £125m or $188m. As for sales I know I spent £500 while working there so that figure could be slightly out (the staff discount at one point was 90% so I got a lifetimes supplier of north face gear).

[AtW]

Didn't Boo.com go through $125m and only had about $30,000 in sales?

They had the best people though making that expensive flash site

On the other side their failure fecked up our startup that planned to IPO a month later - if that happened I'd be house owner back in 2000 and taking the piss at renters on this forum

[lilelvis2000]

I think I still have shares from a silicon valley startup I joined (UK Office). I was looking for another job six months after I joined when they went tits up.

People were honestly looking up boats and where to put them in the med while the more realistic of us were thinking 'this is never going to work'.

25 million VC and no actual working product was ever made.

Didn't Boo.com go through $125m and only had about $30,000 in sales?