Tom Sparks

Software Engineer, Y Combinator · 1 appearance on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

8statements → 4claims → 2claims resolved → 3.38/5average certainty → 2.12/5average debate potential →

1 supported 1 partly supported 0 contradicted 2 not checkable as stated how the 4 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

2 predictions · 2 assertions · 2 opinions · 2 insights · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 4 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 2 are resolved, and 2 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Tom argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Prediction Held up

Sparks: Smart scales will provide personalized dietary advice within five years

“Five years, we'll probably have a scale that'll be like, oh, you know, should probably cut out eating this, or you should eat more of this, or something like that. I think we'll see some pretty interesting consumer technologies come out of, you know, weird pot…”

Tom Sparks Jan 5, 2018 ▶ 47:50 Leah Culver of Breaker and Tom Sparks of YC Answer Your Questions About Security and Podcasting · Y Combinator

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1

none yet certainty 2

100% certainty 3

50% certainty 4

none yet certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

What they said8 Episodes1

Everything Tom Sparks said on the Y Combinator Startup Podcast that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Opinion

Sparks: Government Cannot Force Apple to Decrypt Data, Android Is Less Secure

“They can't make Apple decrypt what you've got. If you've got an Android phone, you're much less well off.”

Tom Sparks Jan 5, 2018 ▶ 3:21 Leah Culver of Breaker and Tom Sparks of YC Answer Your Questions About Security and Podcasting · Y Combinator

Opinion

Sparks: Git Has a Poor Security Model Compared to Older Version Control

“I feel like maybe the Git security model is pretty bad when you compare it to some of the older stuff, but you know, the usability you get out of it is like way, way higher.”

Tom Sparks Jan 5, 2018 ▶ 56:41 Leah Culver of Breaker and Tom Sparks of YC Answer Your Questions About Security and Podcasting · Y Combinator

Prediction Not checkable as stated

Sparks: Consumer devices will probably adopt DNA or chemical identification

“Looking forward, I think we'll even see probably like DNA ID. I mean, sensors are getting smaller and smaller all the time. You know, you can detect so many different factors, like humans have, you know, unique chemical fingerprints even. So you could have som…”

Tom Sparks Jan 5, 2018 ▶ 9:05 Leah Culver of Breaker and Tom Sparks of YC Answer Your Questions About Security and Podcasting · Y Combinator

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Sparks: A personal friend was first to break iPhone Touch ID

“Funnily enough, a buddy of mine was the first person to break the touch ID on the iPhone.”

Tom Sparks Jan 5, 2018 ▶ 12:38 Leah Culver of Breaker and Tom Sparks of YC Answer Your Questions About Security and Podcasting · Y Combinator

Insight

Sparks: Reinventing security mechanisms is the worst mistake developers can make

“I think there's a good trend of people just not reinventing the wheel for security. Reinventing the wheel is pretty much the worst thing you can do. I mean, every time we see, you know, a big hack, it's because of somebody did something where they're like, oh,…”

Tom Sparks Jan 5, 2018 ▶ 15:15 Leah Culver of Breaker and Tom Sparks of YC Answer Your Questions About Security and Podcasting · Y Combinator

Insight

Sparks: Startups should outsource authentication rather than build custom auth systems

“I think outsourcing auth is a really important thing. You know, a lot is great. You know Samuel is great. Most companies don't really need to worry about auth, you know, in, in that way, you know, Facebook auth is great. It's ubiquitous. It's pretty solid, you…”

Tom Sparks Jan 5, 2018 ▶ 15:41 Leah Culver of Breaker and Tom Sparks of YC Answer Your Questions About Security and Podcasting · Y Combinator

Prediction Held up

Sparks: Smart scales will provide personalized dietary advice within five years

Tom Sparks Jan 5, 2018 ▶ 47:50 Leah Culver of Breaker and Tom Sparks of YC Answer Your Questions About Security and Podcasting · Y Combinator

Assertion Partly supported

Sparks: Two-factor authentication concepts date back to the 1880s

“Two-factor auth, you know, kind of started with one-time passwords. That stuff was originated in the 18 eighties. So like, it's really not new.”

Tom Sparks Jan 5, 2018 ▶ 7:52 Leah Culver of Breaker and Tom Sparks of YC Answer Your Questions About Security and Podcasting · Y Combinator

Appearances (1)

Episode	Date	Speaking time
Leah Culver of Breaker and Tom Sparks of YC Answer Your Questions About Security and Podca	Jan 5, 2018	19m

Tom Sparks

The record, in short

Their most notable supported claim

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

Appearances (1)

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