| ▲ | roarcher 12 hours ago |
| > In order to keep prices low and quality high, we don't offer any customization to the box or ordering process. If you aren't capable of ordering through the website, I'm sorry but we won't be able to help. Has this guy never worked on a B2B product before? Nobody is going to order a $10 million piece of infrastructure through your website's order form. And they are definitely going to want to negotiate something, even if it's just a warranty. And you'll do it because they're waving a $10 million check in your face. The tone of this website is arrogant to the point of being almost hostile. The guy behind this seems to think that his name carries enough weight to dictate terms like this, among other things like requiring candidates to have already contributed to his product to even be considered for a job. I would be extremely surprised if anyone except him thinks he's that important. |
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| ▲ | codemog 7 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| I haven’t seen tinygrad used for any mainstream production project or thing of value, yet. Besides a lot of self congratulatory pats on the back for how elegant it is. Honestly, when I read it, it looked confusing as all the other ML libraries. Not actually simple like Karpathy’s stuff. All that to say, I do really want it to succeed. They should probably hire some practical engineers and not just guys and gals congratulating themselves how elegant and awesome they are. |
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| ▲ | jen729w 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Your framing of this section is misleading. On the site it's preceded by a FAQ-style 'question': > Can you fill out this supplier onboarding form? That's very important context, as anyone who has been asked to fill out a supplier onboarding form (hi) will attest. |
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| ▲ | roarcher 11 hours ago | parent [-] | | Filling out an onboarding form is an example of what he's not willing to do, not the only thing he isn't willing to do. > we don't offer any customization to the box or ordering process Every B2B deal of that size that I've ever seen requires at least weeks of meetings between the customer and vendor, in which every detail is at least discussed if not negotiated. That would certainly constitute a "customization" to this guy's prescribed ordering process, which is to "Buy it now" [1] through the website at the stated price like you're ordering a jar of peanuts on Amazon. This is not "framing", it's what the guy said. If it isn't what he meant then he needs to fix his copy. [1] Yes, there is an actual "Buy it now" button for a $65,000 business purchase that takes you to a page that looks just like a Stripe form. There isn't even a textbox for delivery instructions. Wild. | | |
| ▲ | awesomeMilou 9 hours ago | parent [-] | | Then if they succeed, I guess you're going to see a different process for the first time in your life. On a website where we frequently talk about disruptive business models, this whole attitude kinda stinks. | | |
| ▲ | roarcher 9 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | > Then if they succeed, I guess you're going to see a different process for the first time in your life. Sure, I guess. Far more likely that they won't succeed, and it will be because of their pointless refusal to cooperate with others. I'm curious why you think we should "disrupt" companies putting a little due diligence into massive purchases. > On a website where we frequently talk about disruptive business models, this whole attitude kinda stinks. I could say the same thing about making a comment like this on a website where groupthink is rightfully mocked. | |
| ▲ | pegasus 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | > you're going to see a different process for the first time in your life That sounds very neutral, but wouldn't this, by removing the human element and flexibility from business transactions, be a further step along a general enshittification trend? |
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| ▲ | phrotoma 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| > arrogant to the point of being almost hostile First encounter with geohot eh? |
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| ▲ | wmf 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| He's not actually selling the exabox yet. It sounds like he put up a hypothetical config to see if anyone is interested. |
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| ▲ | HWR_14 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| There isn't a $10MM device right now, just $64M and under. I doubt the order process will remain the same in 12 months when the $10MM device becomes available |
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| ▲ | Havoc 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| > arrogant to the point of being almost hostile. The YouTube rap video of geohotz telling Sony lawyers suing him to blow him is still up. His style of dealing with corporate matters is certainly unconventional |
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| ▲ | kube-system 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| The specs for the “exabox” scream “this is a joke” to me. > 20,000 lbs > concrete slab Huge-scale IT systems are typically delivered in one or more 42/44u cabinets, and are designed to be installed on raised floors. |
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| ▲ | 0xbadcafebee 8 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | It's a shipping container. Look at the dimensions. They say concrete slab probably half as a joke, half because building code would require it to consider it a non-temporary structure. | |
| ▲ | wmf 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | It's a shipping container that you install outdoors. | | |
| ▲ | kube-system 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | Are you referring to the images of branded shipping containers on their Twitter page that have visible Gemini watermarks … and jokes in the comments about AI trailer parks? | | |
| ▲ | wmf 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | 20x8x8.5 ft is the dimensions of a half shipping container. You think that render is a joke but it's not. They don't have photos yet because it's a 2027 product (if it actually comes out which I would bet against). | | |
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| ▲ | roarcher 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | It's also funny that they explicitly list driver quality as "good" for the base option and "great" for the intermediate one. You're really going to deliberately provide worse drivers for the machine I paid you for, just because I didn't buy the more expensive one? I mean I'm sure lots of companies do this in practice because tickets for higher-paying customers naturally get prioritized, but directly stating your intention to do it on your home page is hilarious. | | |
| ▲ | wmf 10 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Nvidia drivers are better than AMD. It's not really something they have control over. Geohot is definitely obsessed with bitching about driver bugs though. | | |
| ▲ | roarcher 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | That may be, but then it's an inside joke that many of his customers won't get. It just looks like a "fuck you" to anyone buying the cheaper system. This guy desperately needs a marketing intern to look over his copy. Or hell, anyone who knows how to talk to humans. | | |
| ▲ | fwipsy 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | Not a joke. It's just true. | | |
| ▲ | roarcher 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | It doesn't matter if it's a joke. The non-technical manager or VP making this purchase will not understand it and will expect poor treatment from this vendor, an expectation that will be reinforced by numerous other things on this page. There is no reason to include it at all. | | |
| ▲ | kube-system 10 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | It doesn’t read as if they actually care about broad appeal, given their plain refusal to accommodate traditional procurement processes | | |
| ▲ | pegasus 6 hours ago | parent [-] | | So they're only interested in taking on customers who are OK with being treated poorly? |
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| ▲ | vkazanov 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | It seems that you work a lot with managers who have no clue what they are buying and why. I mean, you're not wrong: buying enterprise software from Oracle or Microsoft or Salesforce is pure pain. But nobody expects buying niche hardware from a tiny vendor to involve the usual 128 pre/post sale meetings and 256 hours of professional services. Also, relevant VP buying these things usually do understand the difference between AMD and Nvidia stacks really well. Like, really-really well. | | |
| ▲ | roarcher 8 hours ago | parent [-] | | > It seems that you work a lot with managers who have no clue what they are buying and why. There are certain quirks of this platform's user base that always make me laugh. For example, HNers absolutely love to imply something condescending about the other guy's workplace in order to make their point. Watch this, I can do it too: Working with managers who make $65,000 (or $10 million) purchases with no more due diligence than reading a marketing page and clicking "Buy it now" is not the flex you think it is. | | |
| ▲ | vkazanov 5 hours ago | parent [-] | | I was involved in it-related deals on both purchasing and selling sides. Sums involved were larger than both numbers you mentioned. And I honestly see almost no correlation between the amount of negotiation involved, and value received. Some of the most useful things we've integrated were either free or meant that only the "buy it now" button had to be clicked. Some of the absolutely worst systems I had to work with were purchased after making a call to that "let us know" number. This tiny guy is mostly saying that he doesnt have the time for enterprise bla-bla. I am not sure he can organise enterprise sales with this attitude but can definitely relate to it! |
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| ▲ | kube-system 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | I took that as a dig against AMD vs Nvidia driver quality. | |
| ▲ | zekrioca 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | I guess it is called ‘honesty’. |
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| ▲ | jrflowers 12 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| I imagine that the FAQ might get updated when there’s actually a $10M machine for sale |
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| ▲ | roarcher 12 hours ago | parent [-] | | Maybe. Frankly I'd be very surprised if any business ordered a $65k machine that way either. | | |
| ▲ | jrflowers 11 hours ago | parent [-] | | Yeah it’s a little odd. Maybe they are meant to be really really cool toys? People regularly spend more than $65k on things like cars to show off, so it could be like that. I have no use for these but I might buy one anyway if I won the lottery. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ |
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