Found+READ: Comments on stories by Matthew Maroon

Brian Cooley — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:26:51 GMT

@Leon

A successful poker player gets paid for exploiting his opponents’ weaknesses, much the same as a successful entreprenuer gets paid for exploiting his competitors’ weaknesses.

Also, it is fairly common for a successful player to stake an up-and-coming player in order to generate some residual income. The relationship between staker and stakee are strikingly similar to that of a VC and a startup.

Finally, a well played bluff isn’t that uncommon in the startup arena.

Leon Chism — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:56:47 GMT

I’ve spent a fair amount of time at a poker table, too – I’m sure it pales in comparison to the author’s experience, but it was long enough to notice how it can affect your thinking. Two things to look out for in your thinking 1) life outside the poker table isn’t usually a zero-sum game, and treating negotiations, weather with VCs or partners, as if they were could lead to some novel results 2) getting paid at poker is, in essence, getting paid for lying. A constant search for angles, setups, or worse can, again, lead to some less than optimal results.

Carleen Hawn — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:26:07 GMT

Funny, and good to know J.R., only I had to look it up: *card·sharp* Pronunciation: -“shärp
Variant(s): or card·sharp·er Noun: *“a person who habitually _cheats_ at cards”*

Naturally, and using the vernacular known so well to those of us who don’t own a deck, I took “card shark” to mean “expert.” Anyway, ‘tis my choice in headline, not Matt’s, so any error is mine, too. But heh, thanks for playing!

J.R.Bob Dobbs — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 14:25:57 GMT

I listen to card sharps, not sharks.