Markus and POF is probably the best example of dumb luck being more important than anything else in business (and in life, really).
I read an article about the guy a few years ago where he talked about how he started POF as basically an experiment to help him learn to code. He never did any advertising and somehow the site managed to blow up over the next few years. The site itself has always been a complete piece of shit from a design an functionality perspective, but it's never mattered. It's basically like that dive college bar that everyone goes to for some reason, so the owner/management feels no need to upgrade. As far as I know the guy still has under 10 employees and has no plans to expand the business or start another site because he'd rather play computer games and RISK all day. It's like he knows POF was dumb luck that he couldn't hope to replicate because he has no special business or tech acumen. He was just in the right place at the right time and smashed the ball out of the park on his first at-bat.
Now he says the site basically runs itself and he puts in about an hour of work a day, while cashing checks upwards of $1 million per month.
All that, and he still feels the need to cockblock dudes with this ridiculous rule.
That's some seriously deep rooted beta/white knight tendencies. What a chode. Will give him credit on his hustle, though, even if POF's massive success was mostly luck he still took the initiative to get it started.
Here is the article about him: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090101/and...ng-in.html
I read an article about the guy a few years ago where he talked about how he started POF as basically an experiment to help him learn to code. He never did any advertising and somehow the site managed to blow up over the next few years. The site itself has always been a complete piece of shit from a design an functionality perspective, but it's never mattered. It's basically like that dive college bar that everyone goes to for some reason, so the owner/management feels no need to upgrade. As far as I know the guy still has under 10 employees and has no plans to expand the business or start another site because he'd rather play computer games and RISK all day. It's like he knows POF was dumb luck that he couldn't hope to replicate because he has no special business or tech acumen. He was just in the right place at the right time and smashed the ball out of the park on his first at-bat.
Now he says the site basically runs itself and he puts in about an hour of work a day, while cashing checks upwards of $1 million per month.
All that, and he still feels the need to cockblock dudes with this ridiculous rule.
That's some seriously deep rooted beta/white knight tendencies. What a chode. Will give him credit on his hustle, though, even if POF's massive success was mostly luck he still took the initiative to get it started.
Here is the article about him: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20090101/and...ng-in.html
[size=8pt]"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”[/size] [size=7pt] - Romans 8:18[/size]