I was just beginning to warm up to Mixergy. I liked the Noah Kagan interview, which was also popular here. Gambit seemed like a really great company, and they both kept mentioned how much they liked the food at Chipotle.
Only a week later, Michael Arrington broke the story on how Gambit is one of the companies that got banned by Facebook for running scam offers.
Then, just this evening, I went to the new Chipotle restaurant that just opened in my town, and it sucks! Cold and dry meat, slopped together with some sauce and barely any fresh veggies.
I'm pretty disappointed in Andrew Warner, and I'm going back to staying away from his interviews. (Yes, I take my food pretty seriously)
Game recognizes game, and you're not recognizing Mixergy.
The point of the site is not to review local eats and treats joints, or recommend apps to you; that's the consumer side. Mixergy tells you about successful businesses, so you can .. be inspired by them.
I have never eaten at Chippotle but when I saw the interview I had to listen to it; there is a Chippotle in every major city, and if the Chippotle guys made it to Mixergy, I was sure I will get the inside scoop on how they got the ball rolling (it takes hell lot of effort to glean that information from the sterile content issued by a company's PR wing; Mixergy gives you the founders' voice(s).)
Your comment is making me think that maybe I should find a way to get more community input before doing my interviews so I can improve my research.
Having said that, on the day I did my interview, I don't think the ads that Gambit/Zynga/others ran were considered scams. Facebook itself didn't have a problem with them and respected investors like Fred Wilson didn't object either.
Even the HN community (which is quick to point out what I miss) didn't call the business a scam when I ran my interview. Perception in this industry changed after the TC article. Industry standards changed after that.
What's considered right in an industry often changes. If you listen to my interview with Matt Mullenweg, you'll hear him say that the way he promoted Wordpress in the early days might be considered spam today.
Industry standards change.
Give my work another try akamaka. I keep improving it based on feedback like yours.
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I guess it's a bit unfair for me to expect you to get at the personal motivations and philosophy of a startup founder, while at the same time grilling them on the ethics behind their business. I have to say I did enjoy the interview at the time, and watched the entire thing, and only afterwards did I question its value.
As for Chipotle, I am living pretty far from where it originated. Maybe the quality control is lower here. I'll give it another try when I'm in California.
Only a week later, Michael Arrington broke the story on how Gambit is one of the companies that got banned by Facebook for running scam offers.
Then, just this evening, I went to the new Chipotle restaurant that just opened in my town, and it sucks! Cold and dry meat, slopped together with some sauce and barely any fresh veggies.
I'm pretty disappointed in Andrew Warner, and I'm going back to staying away from his interviews. (Yes, I take my food pretty seriously)