Every argument clarity score on this site is built from rows on this page. Each
question and answer was assessed with names hidden, the host's own answers included, on
four things from 1 to 5:
directness (does it answer the question asked), coherence (do the ideas follow),
precision (concrete details and clear references), compression (says a lot per word). The weighted
mix (30/30/25/15) is the exchange score. A person's published score averages their exchange
scores on raw tape only, at least 8 of them, shrunk toward the cohort mean.
Full method →
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 5 · Cm 5 5.00
Q Absolutely. And how do you rate somebody's evolution into Yahoo News Digest that we have now?
A I mean, I think it's been a tremendous success. Um, it was, it happened phenomenally quickly, so within, I think it was within three weeks of the acquisition being announced, Summly had been included within Yahoo News Digest, which is their, their mobile app product, and that, I still think, is the record within Yahoo for the quickest integration ever. Um, so Yahoo News Digest is essentially kind of Summly It's a bigger and better version of what we were working on at the time. And I, you know, I think I don't have any visibility into this because I'm not with Yahoo, but I think more broadly, the suddenly technology, you know, the summarization technology that we had, I, I would be surprised if that wasn't being used more widely within Yahoo, because that's applicable to a whole bunch of mobile products, not just news. So, so this is just one, one example, I think of, of what we're up to.
AI assessment note: “I mean, I think it's been a tremendous success.”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 5 · Cm 4 4.85
Q And how did the introduction happen, if you don't mind me asking?
A No, sure. That was through, um, it was through a guy called Christian Hernandez, who, who ran Facebook for EMEA at the time, and he was an angel investor and advisor to the company. So I, so I joined suddenly very quickly, um, and, you know, together with Nick and the rest of the team, we ended up launching a couple of smartphone apps, first for iPhone and then for Android, and we went after the news vertical. So we essentially made news apps so that you could read personalized news in summarized form on your phone, and that, that was really well received. You know, we were featured by Apple a few times, which was helpful. We had hundreds of thousands of downloads, and then Ultimately, we were acquired by Yahoo, I think, in, in May of 2013.
AI assessment note: “That was through, um, it was through a guy called Christian Hernandez”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 5 · Cm 4 4.85
Q And what are your personal news reading preferences? Are there any sites or publications that you prefer and always seem to revert back to?
A Yeah, interesting. Um, well, obviously now who news digest is my first port of call. Um, I also use, yeah, exactly. I also use blog loving a lot, which is a, um, is a blog aggregator. And I use that as a sort of RSS feed to try and keep on top of the blogs I follow and that I think are interesting. Um, I use a product called nuzzle a lot, which essentially, essentially takes your social feeds and puts articles in front of you that a lot of people in your circles are reading. Um, and then beyond that, it's things like Twitter, and then scanning the major sites, whether it be Tech Meme, TechCrunch, Pando, those kind of things.
AI assessment note: “news digest is my first port of call”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 5 · Cm 4 4.85
Q And how did the introduction happen, if you don't mind me asking?
A No, sure. That was through, um, it was through a guy called Christian Hernandez, who, who ran Facebook for EMEA at the time, and he was an angel investor and advisor to the company. So I, so I joined suddenly very quickly, um, and, you know, together with Nick and the rest of the team, we ended up launching a couple of smartphone apps, first for iPhone and then for Android, and we went after the news vertical. So we essentially made news apps so that you could read personalized news in summarized form on your phone, and that, that was really well received. You know, we were featured by Apple a few times, which was helpful. We had hundreds of thousands of downloads, and then Ultimately, we were acquired by Yahoo, I think, in, in May of 2013.
AI assessment note: “That was through, um, it was through a guy called Christian Hernandez”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 4 · Cm 4 4.60
Q And with regards to your movement into the VC world, what do you think has been the biggest difference between your life as an entrepreneur startup man versus your life as a VC?
A Yeah, it's a great question, Harry, and it's, it's one I think about a lot. Um, you know, when you're in this kind of startup environment, um, It's sort of obvious what you should be doing. Um, you know, that you have clear sort of tasks, clear deliverables, clear deadlines to meet, and it's, it's very easy to work out how to spend your time. That's not the case in, in VC. You know, ultimately all that matters in venture is whether you deliver a return to the investors in your fund, but how you spend your time to achieve that is completely unclear. So You know, it's very easy to fill your days with company meetings and attending events and doing various marketing and all that kind of thing, but what's, what's less easy is to work out which, which of those activities, you know, are actually effective and help, and help you make great investments and realize returns on those. So, so I find myself, um, Spending my time very differently in this, in this role at, at White Star Capital. And, you know, I, I spend a lot more time helping people, um, for, for no immediate re, you know, for no immediate obvious gain. And, you know, whether that be entrepreneurs that, that we may not be investing in right now, but that we might be, you know, thinking about investing in, in the next couple of years, or, or even entrepreneurs who, you know, we probably won't invest in. Um, we, we at White S…
AI assessment note: “how you spend your time to achieve that is completely unclear”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 4 · Cm 4 4.60
Q Absolutely. And how do you rate somebody's evolution into Yahoo News Digest that we have now?
A I mean, I think it's been a tremendous success. Um, it was, it happened phenomenally quickly, so within, I think it was within three weeks of the acquisition being announced, Summly had been included within Yahoo News Digest, which is their, their mobile app product, and that, I still think, is the record within Yahoo for the quickest integration ever. Um, so Yahoo News Digest is essentially kind of Summly It's a bigger and better version of what we were working on at the time. And I, you know, I think I don't have any visibility into this because I'm not with Yahoo, but I think more broadly, the suddenly technology, you know, the summarization technology that we had, I, I would be surprised if that wasn't being used more widely within Yahoo, because that's applicable to a whole bunch of mobile products, not just news. So, so this is just one, one example, I think of, of what we're up to.
AI assessment note: “I mean, I think it's been a tremendous success.”
Answered raw tape
D 5 · C 5 · P 4 · Cm 4 4.60
Q And with regards to your movement into the VC world, what do you think has been the biggest difference between your life as an entrepreneur startup man versus your life as a VC?
A Yeah, it's a great question, Harry, and it's, it's one I think about a lot. Um, you know, when you're in this kind of startup environment, um, It's sort of obvious what you should be doing. Um, you know, that you have clear sort of tasks, clear deliverables, clear deadlines to meet, and it's, it's very easy to work out how to spend your time. That's not the case in, in VC. You know, ultimately all that matters in venture is whether you deliver a return to the investors in your fund, but how you spend your time to achieve that is completely unclear. So You know, it's very easy to fill your days with company meetings and attending events and doing various marketing and all that kind of thing, but what's, what's less easy is to work out which, which of those activities, you know, are actually effective and help, and help you make great investments and realize returns on those. So, so I find myself, um, Spending my time very differently in this, in this role at, at White Star Capital. And, you know, I, I spend a lot more time helping people, um, for, for no immediate re, you know, for no immediate obvious gain. And, you know, whether that be entrepreneurs that, that we may not be investing in right now, but that we might be, you know, thinking about investing in, in the next couple of years, or, or even entrepreneurs who, you know, we probably won't invest in. Um, we, we at White S…
AI assessment note: “when you're in this kind of startup environment... That's not the case in VC”
Partly raw tape
D 3 · C 5 · P 5 · Cm 4 4.25
Q First, I'm really curious about how you got into the technology industry, and then later made your transition into the world of venture capital. Could you tell us a little bit about that?
A Yeah, sure. Um, you know, in a sense, my career has been a, a series of transitions, I suppose. I, I started out straight after university, not so much in the technology industry per se, but, but definitely in the entrepreneurial space. I, with a friend of mine from high school, actually, I co-founded a business called Bush Campus, and that was a business that essentially provided an outdoor recreation experience for either a weekend or a week to high school students. And we spent two years on that, and you know, we did a bunch of different things, we built facilities, we had a team of 12, we had thousands of students come through our program, and it was a really tremendous kind of first start to small business.
AI assessment note: “not so much in the technology industry per se, but, but definitely in the entrepreneurial space.”
Partly raw tape
D 3 · C 5 · P 4 · Cm 3 3.85
Q So, you were head of business development and operations at Sumley, and what was it like then working there with Nick, obviously a very young founder, and, and how did your role change in the lead up to the acquisition by Yahoo?
A Yeah, you know, it's, it's interesting. A lot of people ask me this, and, and for those of your listeners that don't know, um, Nick was 16 years old when I joined him, so he was still at high school at the time, um, and, you know, people, a lot of people ask me, kind of, what was it like working with such a, a young entrepreneur, and, you know, to be honest, Nick's age was interesting, but, but Nick is a phenomenal entrepreneur of any age, um, you know, he's technically gifted, he has a, An unparalleled eye for design and product. He's fantastic with stakeholders, you know, whether it be customers or investors, he's charismatic. He's just, he's everything you want in a founder. Um, so, so for me, it was a tremendous experience. You know, obviously there's an unusual dynamic there, excuse me, being, being, you know, 10 or 15 years older than your boss. But, uh, but, you know, I really try and steer away from the age question to the extent that I can because, uh, Because Nick is, you know, he's a phenomenal entrepreneur of any age, and I would, uh, you know, I would hope to be involved in whatever he does next, because I think it will be as successful, if not more so than something.
AI assessment note: “Nick's age was interesting, but, but Nick is a phenomenal entrepreneur of any age”
Partly raw tape
D 3 · C 5 · P 4 · Cm 3 3.85
Q So, you were head of business development and operations at Sumley, and what was it like then working there with Nick, obviously a very young founder, and, and how did your role change in the lead up to the acquisition by Yahoo?
A Yeah, you know, it's, it's interesting. A lot of people ask me this, and, and for those of your listeners that don't know, um, Nick was 16 years old when I joined him, so he was still at high school at the time, um, and, you know, people, a lot of people ask me, kind of, what was it like working with such a, a young entrepreneur, and, you know, to be honest, Nick's age was interesting, but, but Nick is a phenomenal entrepreneur of any age, um, you know, he's technically gifted, he has a, An unparalleled eye for design and product. He's fantastic with stakeholders, you know, whether it be customers or investors, he's charismatic. He's just, he's everything you want in a founder. Um, so, so for me, it was a tremendous experience. You know, obviously there's an unusual dynamic there, excuse me, being, being, you know, 10 or 15 years older than your boss. But, uh, but, you know, I really try and steer away from the age question to the extent that I can because, uh, Because Nick is, you know, he's a phenomenal entrepreneur of any age, and I would, uh, you know, I would hope to be involved in whatever he does next, because I think it will be as successful, if not more so than something.
AI assessment note: “Nick's age was interesting, but, but Nick is a phenomenal entrepreneur of any age”
