<story><title>He Has Millions and a New Job at Yahoo. Soon, He’ll Be 18</title><url>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/business/media/nick-daloisio-17-sells-summly-app-to-yahoo.html?hp&amp;_r=0</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dinkumthinkum</author><text>I hear what you&apos;re saying but I think what you&apos;re describing is not the most notable part of the story, in fact, possibly the least interesting part of it. I don&apos;t know what his algorithm is; I have some doubts as to it&apos;s efficacy but apparently Yahoo! did not. I&apos;m more interested in how this person got celebrities and billionaires interested in the product early on. Seems odd.</text></item><item><author>jaysonelliot</author><text>While stories like his are interesting novelties, I feel like they are distracting and counterproductive to the startup scene at large.&lt;p&gt;Instead of focusing on what Nick D’Aloisio has actually created, perhaps looking at this &quot;algorithmic invention, which takes long-form stories and shortens them for readers using smartphones&quot; and digging into what makes it special, the story is all about the jackpot of millions he&apos;s lucked into.&lt;p&gt;I&apos;d love to know more about the technical details behind Summly, or what Nick went through to create it.&lt;p&gt;This kind of lottery mentality just gives the general public the impression that there&apos;s a gold rush going on, and causes the kind of magical thinking that&apos;s similar to teenagers all hoping to become the next rock star or sports legend, or in this case, startup founder, that will make millions, focusing on the money instead of asking themselves what they want to do with their lives.&lt;p&gt;For every teenage millionaire that hits the startup jackpot, there are thousands of hard-working entrepreneurs that build for the love of building. I&apos;m not saying Nick D&apos;Aloisio isn&apos;t doing what he does out of genuine passion - I don&apos;t know anything about him, I expect he&apos;s very driven and geniune - but I would rather focus on the work than the jackpot.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>jaysonelliot</author><text>It seems like we&apos;re seeing evidence that the class system is alive and well in the UK. Listen to his posh accent, and look at the easy way he casually hangs out with Stephen Fry: &lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/52014691&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http://vimeo.com/52014691&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;I suspect the story behind this is simply &quot;upper-class child with family connections finds success.&quot;</text></comment>
<story><title>He Has Millions and a New Job at Yahoo. Soon, He’ll Be 18</title><url>http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/business/media/nick-daloisio-17-sells-summly-app-to-yahoo.html?hp&amp;_r=0</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>dinkumthinkum</author><text>I hear what you&apos;re saying but I think what you&apos;re describing is not the most notable part of the story, in fact, possibly the least interesting part of it. I don&apos;t know what his algorithm is; I have some doubts as to it&apos;s efficacy but apparently Yahoo! did not. I&apos;m more interested in how this person got celebrities and billionaires interested in the product early on. Seems odd.</text></item><item><author>jaysonelliot</author><text>While stories like his are interesting novelties, I feel like they are distracting and counterproductive to the startup scene at large.&lt;p&gt;Instead of focusing on what Nick D’Aloisio has actually created, perhaps looking at this &quot;algorithmic invention, which takes long-form stories and shortens them for readers using smartphones&quot; and digging into what makes it special, the story is all about the jackpot of millions he&apos;s lucked into.&lt;p&gt;I&apos;d love to know more about the technical details behind Summly, or what Nick went through to create it.&lt;p&gt;This kind of lottery mentality just gives the general public the impression that there&apos;s a gold rush going on, and causes the kind of magical thinking that&apos;s similar to teenagers all hoping to become the next rock star or sports legend, or in this case, startup founder, that will make millions, focusing on the money instead of asking themselves what they want to do with their lives.&lt;p&gt;For every teenage millionaire that hits the startup jackpot, there are thousands of hard-working entrepreneurs that build for the love of building. I&apos;m not saying Nick D&apos;Aloisio isn&apos;t doing what he does out of genuine passion - I don&apos;t know anything about him, I expect he&apos;s very driven and geniune - but I would rather focus on the work than the jackpot.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>Bamafan</author><text>&lt;i&gt;&quot;I&apos;m more interested in how this person got celebrities and billionaires interested in the product early on. Seems odd.&quot;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ding ding ding!  That&apos;s my &lt;i&gt;real&lt;/i&gt; issue with stories like this.  They don&apos;t explain how these young geniuses got capitol to build their ideas or how they were able to market them to people with influence or how they are able to convince influencers like Marissa Meyer to fork over $30 million.&lt;p&gt;Not hating on the kid, but without proper explanation of those three aforementioned things, there&apos;s no real story here.</text></comment>