Topic: BFL May 12th Update - page 2. (Read 4488 times)

Probably busy packing.

 I'm actually pretty stunned at how much the tables have turned over there on the BFL forums, and even more stunned that Josh hasn't gone on a massive deleting spree of all the negative comments on the forums.

I believe the Apocalyse and Second Coming will come long before there exists a BFL ASIC. I see on BFL forums people who also think the same and have opened threads to that same effect. Sad, isn't it?

Bad cow....bad cow. Never let them see you naked.

My experience is that most engineers at tech companies, and especially staff engineers, don't need to put up with that non-sense.  Nor do competent managers need to or wish to create such an environment.  In a reasonably well functioning environment everyone knows what needs to be done, when, and why.  Everyone trusts that the other persons are doing their best so there is not a lot of haranguing.  Most of "You done yet?  No, go fuck yourself!" banter is of a joking nature and is usually a lot of fun.  I've worked primarily with start-ups though.  Some were successful and some not so much.  Even large companies can function with the same mentality but I suspect that it is less common.

 Perhaps Josh should have thought of the consequences of his chest-puffing, posturing, hubris, ignorance, myopia, inexperience, and a trail of broken promises spanning the globe over the last 8 months.

 Schadenfreude, in this case, is completely justified.

 Especially if you are a multiple pre-order customer waiting to take delivery of a product we have ordered almost a year ago.

My 2 cents

Bashing Josh is not going to get us anywhere and IMO makes thing worst –he has to spend time defending himself instead of focusing on getting products out the door.
I believe Josh has tried very hard to get this product out the door and from what I can see has worked most Saturday and Sunday for the last 4 months.

I have orders outstand since the 24 June 2012 for 60 GH rigs.
So I am also very frustrated with BLF lack of progress as the windows of opportunity is closing fast.

In general I agree this project has being badly managed and IMO required better management support  EG  Director/VP of engineering responsible for both R&D and manufacturing --- who should have employed a full time Project Manager  and had Josh as part of that team.
(I don't believe 1 person   can do  the work and do the PR and manage the project - will be to busy on day to day stuff to see the big picture )

My estimate is that BFL now has a 100% working proto type so are now able to order all the parts required for full manufacturing -- so I would expect products  mid to late June.

Yes, in all my time in business, I could have never have that done.


Companies usually want a timeline, ask for how long that is going to take, you start a project plan and then you will constantly mention what the plan is, if it is going to be met and whether or not it needs to be amended. If people depend on you and you say "Well ti will be done when it is done" you will maybe not get fired. In my line of work, who gives a shit what my line of work is, you don't get fired. You just don't get booked anymore. Then, after some time, a letter will fly in. A letter that basically states how the project had been escalated, what the delays cost the other company and how much YOU are going to pay them. I have seen this happen before and it went into the millions.

What a load of BS.  All companies, big and small have product roadmaps.  Some of them are kept confidential internally, but for BIG business for *BIG market segments Product Roadmaps are a staple.

*One could argue that Bitcoin ASIC miners ARE the BIG market segment.  So, should be treated in accordance with standard business practices for public companies - oh, right, they aren't public.  Still, it's not unreasonable or rare that private companies publish product roadmaps.


This is just more BS "telling us like it is - like it should be" from Josh's opinion.  And, I'm afraid, those opinions aren't, and never have been in regards to BFL's products, ones based in the little place called reality.


Spin, spin....eat, drink, take a shit, spin some more.  


Reality check:  It's a bad operation - not publishing data is just an escape route from any added responsibility.  Done.


Edit:

I can't resist.  I've worked as a PM and engineer at GE and HP.  If I heard the sort of premise and attitude being displayed by Josh - that person would be canned.  Simple.
Results oriented middle management are not push-overs - don't let Josh make you think this.

We had a slang used in management meetings called a "Come to Jesus" meeting.  Those meetings were never good - since somebody f'ed the pooch - and they either capitulate or career - game over.

We need one big "Come to Jesus" meeting for BFL.  I have a feeling rain of fire, the four horsemen, and the end of days would result if that even had a chance of happening.

Damnit:  I broke a cardinal rule of giving personal info.  Uhg.

I am starting to think that the BFL rep is on rather nasty terms with his employers to make a statement like that. I have never heard of an employee openly saying they are irreplaceable (and not a cog).

This leads me to think there are serious problems and this may explain why Josh has been nastier than ever before with his statements. If this is the case, then I just want to let BFL management know that they have my backing for the next step.

If nothing else, ejecting a sprocket will give them a healthy image for at least 2 more months while they find someone who can work "more effectively" at their job. Its either that or face the eventual collapse of the company. It is their choice...

Yes, there will be cookies.  The cake, however, is still a lie.  A BFL.

I have been pretty critical of BFL, but I believe they will eventually deliver something before getting crushed by the competition.
It will not meet their specs (or even get close), be weeks before anyone sees it in bulk, and will probably die after running for a few months, but it will be something. A decent percentage of their pre-orders might even be filled.

You thought and apparently still think that BFL was a real company trying to make real gear for real people.  You were chumped like there rest.  The joke here is that berating Josh for not being a good product manager...and I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the joke is on you.

Everyone is just another 'cog in the machine', including you Josh… there are some at the very top, but you aren't one of them. If someone is telling you when something will be done, its because they have management  skills and know how to get their 'skilled labor' to do what they need them to do. But that person has their own management skillset (and possibly other skills) and is answering to someone else. You, Josh, are at the mercy of many others… the more you think you are a king, or one of the 'untouchables', the less of a chance BFL and/or your employment at BFL has in the long run.
(I am envisioning a photoshop'd picture of Josh with a head 5 times larger… maybe a bobble Josh? if only I had time to do a quick photoshop right now!  )

As for your current employer, you may want to get control of your timeline & your delivering of results over there, boss… or you - oh yes, even you - could be replaced.  

Josh really doesn't seem to be the person to make comments about timelines or delivering of results. Nor does he seem like the right person to be upset about not being able to have a "civil, intelligent discussion" on the internet… given some of the immature behavior he has exhibited in both BFL and bitcointalk forums. But, maybe I am just living in a false reality.  

This. The fact that they strung customers along with "delivering in 2 weeks" when they had no working prototype is just plain wrong--it's tantamount to lying [EDIT: and that's been going on for MONTHS]. It's like they just expected to get wafers and Presto! Finished product! Things just don't work that way in the real world.

Dont be thick? You telling that to a Smoothie? lol oh the irony 

He had as much of a clue as he needed...which was not really a whole lot.  Don't be thick.

If Josh was competent his time estimates would have been much more accurate.

So no, he doesn't have a fucking clue about any part of the process. Or he does and was just lying. Either way it is pathetic.

Yup.  That should tell us something.  Not something definite, but a decent clue.  That is why on a different post I did not except the assertion that Josh was stupid or incompetent.  It's just that most people (including his fiercest opponents like you) are totally mis-mapping what 'competence' and 'skill' mean in the context of BFL.  Just as was the case with Pirateat40, a brazen 'in-your-face' attitude is/was very effective bait for a certain class of 'customers'.  This kind of operation in Bitcoin-land seems to be as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.

I dont see much difference when it comes to pride between BFL and Pirateat40. Same bullshit different day/year.