http://www.jobster.com/at/person/show/362147?hbxcmp=feed&hbxsrc=rss_user_answers http://www.jobster.com/at/assets/images/jobster/logos/rss_logo.gif http://www.jobster.com/at/person/show/362147?hbxcmp=feed&hbxsrc=rss_user_answers Sat, 10 Feb 2007 15:05:53 GMT Most recently updated answers by Steven Baker http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/88264?answer_class=AnswerBase Besides being hired 3 years earlier? :-) Actually, I just wish the merger would have worked out long enough for Excite@Home to prove out what we all know now to be obvious -- consumers *definitely* want broadband connections & broadband content. Unfortunately, the company ceased operations before we really had a chance to deliver on the full promise. Sat, 10 Feb 2007 15:05:53 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/88264?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/88244?answer_class=AnswerBase The core members of the PersonalWeb server team -- Will Lowe, Ben Lindsey, Chris Wesley, and John Gray. Those guys are absolute superstars. Sat, 10 Feb 2007 12:55:12 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/88244?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173846?answer_class=AnswerBase I'm passionate about the internet's role as an absolutely revolutionary force of change with respect to how we view the world. Those sound like lofty words, so let's work with an example or two: Just ten years ago, if you wanted to be famous, you needed a prime time show. Now, all you need is a $20 webcam. Fifteen years ago, if you wanted to have your voice heard around the world, it was -- for all intents and purposes -- impossible. Today, you can get a blog going at Wordpress in 30 seconds and, instantly, you have global reach. The ability for information to flow bottom-up now, instead of just top-down, completely changes news, politics, and world events going forward. Perhaps most interesting of all is how it changes business. The technical means now exist for web companies, in particular, to allow their most avid users to add massive value directly *back* into the product. That's fascinating to me and it's never been possible in this way before. All in all, it's a *really* neat time to be alive. Mon, 12 Feb 2007 06:23:32 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173846?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173842?answer_class=AnswerBase I was speaking to a young Stanford grad a few weeks ago at a developer event and the advice I gave him was simple: (1) Identify the people you know that are true game-changers (2) Stay in touch with them (3) Do whatever you can to get in a group with them and build something great. The happiest, most rewarding experiences you'll have as a software engineer in Silicon Valley are when you're scrapping it out late at night with a group of people you love working with and can learn from. Mon, 12 Feb 2007 06:19:37 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173842?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173844?answer_class=AnswerBase The one I usually get is: "Do you ever sleep, man? Why are you bolding my Inbox at 4am?" Late night hours aside, I think that my co-workers would probably call out the fact that I'm *all over the map* when it comes to tackling tasks related to software development. Usually, "development" means just pushing out fresh code. That's fine. That's what we get paid to do. But I also love the meta of the job just as much, and I think that's where my co-workers start to laugh and shake their heads. I really enjoy activities such as: * researching what our competitors are doing * reading up on what the blogs are saying about us * setting up internal blogs to help improve cross-functional communication * setting up wikis to improve documentation * demonstrating UI ideas by jumping head first into Photoshop * passing on bug reports to the team by recording full-motion screencasts and describing the issues via microphone ... At this point, I don't think it would surprise anybody I work with if I were to start some sort of "Release Notes Podcast." Heh, I don't know, I just live for that stuff. I can't help it. Mon, 12 Feb 2007 06:18:59 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173844?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173843?answer_class=AnswerBase There are lots of days where I think Scoble has the greatest job in the world -- meet great people, see new products, and tell the world about both. A pure technology evangelist. But if I had to *really* step outside of my current profession, it'd be to write and produce electronic music and introduce it to the entire world as a DJ on a weekly internet radio show. (Hey now, stop laughing...) Mon, 12 Feb 2007 06:17:44 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173843?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173860?answer_class=AnswerBase For now, I'd love to work at a small startup in the area, knocking out great code on a team full of hungry, talented developers. My ideal would be to: (1) build out externally-facing web services & APIs, and then (2) publicize that functionality through a wide array of social media (blogs, screencasts, developer meetups, etc.). Smart web companies can now gain incredible mindshare by turning things loose and actively fueling the energy of developers and early adopters right in their own backyard. I want to do that fulltime in 2007. Eventually, though, I plan to be an entrepreneur. I need to scratch that itch. I'd love to cofound an interesting, profitable web service with a handful of brilliant minds and build it into something big. That's why you come to Silicon Valley. Mon, 12 Feb 2007 06:17:21 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173860?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173845?answer_class=AnswerBase Interesting problems, talented coworkers, and a highly energetic company culture. Sat, 10 Feb 2007 14:59:51 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173845?answer_class=AnswerBase http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173841?answer_class=AnswerBase My first professional job was back in 2000, as the lead software engineer on the Sports application at Excite. (http://sports.excite.com/) Sat, 10 Feb 2007 11:42:10 GMT http://www.jobster.com/at/answer/view/173841?answer_class=AnswerBase