Satin hands in Silicon Valley: Twiiter reticulocyte for four years, why retire? -Reticulocyte, Silicon Valley-IT information
Startup l. Jackson even had time to say goodbye, disappeared in cyberspace.
Startup l. Jackson, is an anonymous Twitter account. In four years, account owner information is behind some advice on sharp and with black humor about entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley people in love-hate, sometimes happy and sometimes confusing. However, the closed technological circle almost nobody knows the real name of the account owner, the 78,000 fans don′t seem to mind.
The top VCs, such as Marc Andreessen, is often on Twitter with Startup l. stayed going for debate, just as it is a peer; many of the tech press will refer to Startup l. tweets and offered as well.
On December 31 last year, this account posted few messages as usual, and until today, no more updates.
"Silence for the @StartupLJackson. "Last month, an entrepreneur in the online tribute. Well-known venture-Chris Dixon posted on Twitter a little eulogy: "Startup l. Jackson. 2011-2015. "Although Startup l. has been silent ever since, but his fans still several Aite on Twitter all day and asked what his views on recent news, such as the downward trend in the market, Twitter algorithm, the SaaS sector collapse in valuations of the Unicorn Zenefit problems.
Fans figured, maybe he just go to funding, so the avatar once? Also had more brain hole is wide open, and wonder if he′ll get HBO docu-drama of the Silicon Valley wrote a quarter of the script, or that his true identity is just the death of David Bowie? People go through the Startup l. every Tweet, point trail on the Internet, hoping to find a clue. One of the fans pointed out that "I think he′s playing too high may be the new year hung up, but him January 26 others point out a case. It is strange. ”
Mysterious figure appeared
Coincidence is that two months after @StartupLJackson master up physically. Published by Bloomberg news interview with a venture capitalist named Parker Thompson article. In a modest building on Montgomery Street in San Francisco in a small conference room on the third floor,
He explained why they should be the establishment of such an account, and why a spur rest, and finally decided to end the anonymity on the Internet. "It becomes the kind of thing I have been criticized on the Internet. "Thompson said.
His true identity is in equity raised platforms, for investors and entrepreneurs to build a dock platform AngelList.
First he created this account just to prove one point: in Silicon Valley, the "obsession with status and origin" where, if people don′t know someone is dropping out of little bums or wealthy tycoons, and will they be attracted to his point of view?
Startup l. Jackson Twitter success shows that all this could happen. But growing fame brought negative impact to this test account. By the year 2015, this anonymous account has shown surprising trend of development, such as become opinion leaders on Twitter, even if it is nonsense word, there will be a lot of forwards and comments.
Thompson has proven its problems, thus losing the meaning. "I won, right? "Thompson said.
Thompson explained that the idea of creating StartupLJackson dates back to 2011, when he just talked to business best sellers of the lean startup (The Lean Startup), Eric Ries, author of chatting. Ries was recording the audio book of the lean startup, just another actor, the pulp fiction star Samuel l. Jackson is also giving another soothing their parents worked hard to coax her reading of the roll to go to sleep (Go the F**k to Sleep) recorded the audio version. At that time, Thompson was a Pivotal Labs, a software consultancy business development Executive, he joked, if Jackson of pulp fiction starring role, that often quoted the Bible always profane God′s role to give entrepreneurs advice, what effects will be produced?
? Samuel l. Jackson starred in the movie pulp fiction Jules killer roles.
It has become a joke within the company. Soon after, Thompson did this opened a Twitter account under a false name, avatar is the cartoon portrait of Jackson.
Network Red Raiders habit
Become red Startup l. left many classic jokes, many of which were inspired by the movie line:
"But those who in the name of profit, leading the user through the dark road warriors will receive blessing from God, because he is the guardian of the user. ”
"When the moment I put the money on you, you will know that I will be listing. ”
Thompson said, which "lasted about 10 Tweets." Gradually, he learned to turn into sarcasm, ridicule his views of quips and outspoken proposals. For him, it is a safe enough place, allows him to occasionally in the gums after a meeting to express their sharp observation. After all, if we use his name, likely to offend people, and Startup l. Jackson fans will only get forwarded on and sought after.
Account goes very smoothly, but more and more fans also brings greater responsibilities.
Thompson, 37, is the father of two children, is also an expert podcasts and tech news, said he did not want to break the normal life become a celebrity. However, Startup l. has attracted Silicon Valley′s most influential people, so he began to think about how to use Startup l. ′s influence.
Prior to the stop, Startup l. has initiated several signature controversy, such as exposing the Silicon Valley company′s employee diversity, for example, a sense of humor played a big role. Thompson said that anger than spicy reprimanded flippant tone of voice can resonate with readers.
? Startup l. Jackson home page.
Anonymous accounts can provide cover for Thompson, he pointedly noted that Silicon Valley′s unique cultural issues. His jokes are often right, sometimes made fun of those who are outside of the company t-shirt wearing sportswear programmers, sometimes satirical venture capitalists heard compliments make you obey. These original observations by people in hot pursuit, also reflects the new trend in the Silicon Valley: laugh at yourself.
"We really would t-shirt in sportswear," Thompson said, "I know the young man, maybe I am now before him. ”
In addition to sarcasm and irony, entrepreneurs want recommendations, and Twitter ecosystem is ideal for short aphorisms about entrepreneurship. Environment is such a blatant noise, then a false account for help, advice and funding accordingly is not so crazy. Do have some Startup l. seeking advice, Thompson often discussing matters with them.
Although just a cartoon avatar, but Thompson is quite sensitive to racial issues, after all, his image is made of black to cover their own white identity. At one point, a female may Startup l. funding, help set up the first Fund to help minority and women entrepreneurs, Thompson ultimately no investment, but private meetings with her. Finally, Thompson (instead of the Startup. L) became her company′s consultants.
"People just want to get help," he said, "but if you only have 500 fans, and not many people in the industry will help you out. They will say, who do you think you are? Don′t bother me. ”
Startup l. Jackson′s Silicon Valley is increasingly conspicuous, and more and more people want to uncover it behind his master′s face. Many entrepreneurs have launched a wide range of human flesh search, wanted to reveal his true identity. An amateur detective and even Startup l. tweets have done semantic analysis, to compare with other industry chiefs say, and really locked up nine "suspect" – However, Thompson is not among them.
Now, the Startup l. " Retired ", Thompson doesn′t mind the identity leak, or not. In fact, he had never intentionally is strictly confidential, many of my friends and colleagues know what he was doing, he himself supports Startup l. posted on all views. This status does not affect Thompson′s career, of course, because everyone feels that something witty and original published this account. "In my imagination, a lot of people would probably say, ′ Oh, I′ve heard of this person. "Thompson said.
Thompson also recognizes that only 3,536 fans his own Twitter account, does not bring the same excitement and thrill. Startup l. entrepreneurs Forum Product in a week on the Hunt for online sharing, when Thompson might be turned comedian back, but certainly not the same as ever.
"It′s like quitting smoking," Thompson said, "what people posted on Twitter in the past, I would think, ′ I can shake out the best of the burden ′. But now, I don′t care anymore. ”
硅谷段子手：当了四年Twiiter网红又为何隐退？ - 网红,硅谷 - IT资讯
Startup L. Jackson甚至还没来得及说声再见，就消失在网络世界里了。
Startup L. Jackson，是一个匿名的推特账号。四年来，账号背后的主人发布的信息都是一些尖锐并带着黑色幽默的关于创业的建议，让硅谷中人又爱又恨，时而高兴时而困惑。不过，这个封闭的科技圈子里几乎没人知道账号主人的真实姓名，那78000个粉丝也似乎并不在意。
如Marc Andreessen这样的顶级风投，也经常在推特上跟Startup L.嬉笑怒骂、争论不休，就像它是一个同行一样；许多科技媒体也会引用Startup L.的推文并奉若圭臬。
就在去年12月31日，这个账号如往常一样发布了几条消息，然后直到今天，再也没有更新。
“为@StartupLJackson默哀。”上个月，一名创业者在网上表示悼念。知名风投Chris Dixon也在推特上发了一条小小的悼文：“Startup L. Jackson。2011-2015。”虽然Startup L.自此一直沉寂着，但粉丝们依然会每天在Twitter上好几遍地艾特它，询问它对于最近新闻的看法，比如市场下行趋势、推特的算法、SaaS界独角兽Zenefit的估值暴跌问题等。
粉丝们默默盘算着，或许他只是去筹资了，所以分身乏术？还有更加脑洞大开的，怀疑他是不是去给HBO的剧集《硅谷》写下一季的剧本了，还是说他的真实身份其实是刚刚逝世的David Bowie？人们仔细检查Startup L.的每一条推文、在网上的点点蛛丝马迹，希望能找到点线索。其中一个粉丝指出，“我觉得他可能是新年的时候玩太high挂掉了，但他1月26日还给别人点了个赞。真奇怪。”
神秘人物现身
巧合的是，两个月后@StartupLJackson的主人现出了真身。彭博社发表了采访一个名叫Parker Thompson的风险投资人的文章。在旧金山蒙哥马利街一座不起眼的大楼三楼的一间不起眼的会议室里，
他解释了自己为什么要建立这么一个账号，又为什么临时起意要休息一下、乃至最后决定终结这个网上的匿名身份。“它逐渐成为了我一直在网上批判的那种东西。”Thompson这么说。
他的真实身份，是在股权众筹平台、为投资人和创业者搭建对接平台的AngelList工作。
一开始他创立这个账号只是为了证明一点：在硅谷这个“痴迷于地位和血统”的地方，如果人们完全不清楚某个人是辍学的小混混还是家财万贯的富豪，他们还会不会被他的观点所吸引？
Startup L. Jackson在twitter上的成功说明，这一切是可能发生的。但是渐长的名气给这个测试性质的账号带来了负面影响。到了2015年，这个匿名账号的发展已经显示出奇怪的趋势，比如俨然成了推特上的意见领袖，哪怕发的是扯淡的话，也会有大量的转发和评论。
它已经证明了Thompson的问题，因此也就失去了意义。“我赢了，对吗？”Thompson说。
Thompson解释道，建立StartupLJackson的想法可追溯到2011年，当时他刚刚跟创业畅销书《精益创业》（The Lean Startup）的作者Eric Ries畅谈一番。Ries正在录制《精益创业》的有声书，正好当时另一名演员、《低俗小说》的主演Samuel L. Jackson也在给另一本抚慰父母辛苦哄娃的读物《滚去睡觉》（Go the F**k to Sleep）录制有声版本。那时候，Thompson还是一位软件咨询公司Pivotal Labs的业务发展主管，他就开玩笑道，如果让《低俗小说》里面Jackson出演的角色、那个时常引用圣经却总是亵渎上帝的角色来给创业者提供建议，会产生怎样的效果？
▲Samuel L. Jackson在电影《低俗小说》里出演的杀手角色Jules。
这成为了公司内部的一个笑料。不久之后，Thompson却真的用这个假名开了一个推特账号，头像用的就是Jackson的卡通画像。
网红养成攻略
成为网红的Startup L.留下了很多经典的段子，其中不少都受到电影台词的启发：
“然而那些以盈利的名义，引领用户通过黑暗之路的勇士，必将得到神的护佑，因为他是他的用户的守护者。”
“当我把钱砸到你身上的那一刻，你会知道我终将上市。”
Thompson说，这种风格“持续了大概10条推文”。渐渐地，他学会把自己的观点化作一些挖苦揶揄的俏皮话和直言不讳的建议。对他来说，那是一个足够安全的地方，让他能够偶尔在废话连篇的一场会议后发表自己的尖锐观察。毕竟，要是用自己的名字，可能就会冒犯别人，而发在Startup L. Jackson上就只会得到粉丝的转发和追捧。
账号发展得很顺利，但粉丝越来越多也带来了更大的责任。
Thompson今年37岁，是两个孩子的父亲，也是播客和科技新闻方面的行家，他说自己并不想打破正常生活成为名人。不过，Startup L.已经吸引到硅谷那些最有影响力的人，于是他开始思考怎么利用Startup L.的影响力。
在停更之前，Startup L.已经发起了几次标志性的论战，比如揭露硅谷公司的员工多样性问题就是一例，其中幽默感起到了很大作用。Thompson说，相比愤怒辛辣的斥责，轻佻的语气更能跟读者产生共鸣。
▲Startup L. Jackson主页。
匿名账号能够为Thompson提供掩护，让他得以尖锐地指出硅谷特有的文化问题。他开的玩笑也往往恰到好处，时而取笑那些在公司文化衫外面穿运动服的程序员，时而讽刺风投资本家一听到恭维话就言听计从。这些独到的观察受到人们的热烈追捧，也反映出硅谷内新兴起的一股趋势：自嘲。
“我们的确会在运动服里穿T恤，”Thompson说，“我认识那个小伙子，或许以前的我就是现在的他。”
除了挖苦和嘲讽，创业者也时刻渴求建议，而推特的言论生态非常适合发表关于创业的短小警句。大环境就是如此浮躁嘈杂，那么向一个虚假的账号寻求帮助、咨询建议乃至筹资也相应地显得并非那么疯狂。的确有一些人向Startup L.寻求建议，Thompson也经常跟他们讨论。
虽说只是一个卡通头像，但Thompson对种族问题颇为敏感，毕竟自己是用黑人的形象来掩护自己的白人身份。有一次，一名女性希望Startup L.提供资金，帮助自己建立第一个帮助少数族裔和女性创业者的基金，Thompson最终没有投资，不过跟她进行了私下的会面。最后，Thompson（而非Startup. L）成了她公司的顾问。
“人们只是想得到帮助，”他说，“但如果你只有500个粉丝，这个行业里并没有那么多人会帮你的忙。他们只会说，你算哪根葱？快别来烦我了。”
Startup L. Jackson的形象在硅谷日益惹人注目，越来越多人想揭开它的幕后主人的真面目。许多创业者发起了大范围的人肉搜索，想要揭开他的真实身份。一个业余侦探甚至对Startup L.的推文做了语义分析，用来跟其他业界大佬的言论进行对比，还真的锁定了九个“嫌疑人”——然而Thompson并不在其中。
现在，Startup L.“退休”了，Thompson也不介意自己的身份泄露与否了。其实，他从来也没有故意地进行严格保密，许多朋友和同事都知道他在干什么，他自己也支持Startup L.上发表的所有看法。这个身份当然也不会影响Thompson的事业，因为大家都觉得这个账号发表的东西机智又独到。“在我的想象中，很多人大概会说，噢，我听说过这个人。”Thompson这样说。
Thompson也认识到，他自己那个只有3536个粉丝的推特账号无法带来同样的刺激感和兴奋感。Startup L.一周后将在创业者论坛Product Hunt上进行线上分享，到时候Thompson说不定会化身喜剧演员重新回归，但肯定跟以前不一样了。
“这就像戒烟，”Thompson说，“以前人们在推特上发点什么，我就会想，’我能抖出最好的包袱’。但现在，我已经不再计较了。”