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This is the Most Creative Way to Accidently Start a Company I've Ever Seen.

cangooglehearme.com — Hands down, one of the craziest ways to start a company I've ever seen, and I don't even think the guy meant to do it. If you're going to accidentally start a company, accidentally get employees, and accidentally make it rich, this is how you want to do it, let me tell ya.

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  • hgrave23, on 10/12/2007, -22/+7This guy is good!
    • LogicallyGenius, on 10/12/2007, -31/+1http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pune_Infotech/

      this is my company
    • beelz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5667032097311224591&hl=en
    • maddla, on 10/12/2007, -4/+29Is he good, yes! But accidentally falling onto this??

      • Accidentally come up with a good idea
      • Accidentally pay a programmer $10 an hour while making $7
      • Accidentally fly to LA and visit google
      • Accidentally visit with google
      • Accidentally make a website called "can google hear me"

      And BTW he isn't rich, but i'm sure you can paypal him some money.
    • hersito, on 10/12/2007, -7/+31He is no good.
      This smells like viral marketing SO bad.
      Oh yes, google is soooooooo cool, they hear me and now I'm going to be a millionaire, being a google fan is soooooo cool!!!!!!!!! (read that with Stewie's from family guy voice)
    • Saiing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Well, now it's just the most creative way to accidentally get your server dugg to hell...
    • 0o0Moylan0o0, on 10/12/2007, -11/+41: Try to think of some funny comment
      2: Come up with the old "1.... 2... 3??? 4: profit" criteria
      3: ????????
      4: Get Dugg Down.
    • themastersb, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Now I'm going to teach you how to play Magic: The gathering
    • juanotejano, on 10/12/2007, -1/+37Ok I read everything on that page and watched both videos and as far as I can tell his great idea is to get google to listen to his idea. And then apparently chapter 2 is to turn that quasi-idea into a product in only 6 months (ZOMG!) so I give up somebody please tell me: WHAT THE ***** IS HIS IDEA?
    • dkoon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12All I know is this poster doesn't even know what "Accidently" mean.
    • zebov, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"This guy is good!"

      In the same way that lonelygirl was "good."
    • LogicallyGenius, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Someone should enter his company and spy on him.

      Then expose him here with some photos for proof.

      Accidentally got on Digg.com ?
    • MiddleOfNowhere, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13> This guy is good!

      No, he’s not.

      Let me first say that I admire entrepreneurs, freelancers and people with balls more than anyone else. The two Steves, Larry and Sergey, even Bill had balls when they put their money where their mouth is.

      But this guy is just an annoying prick. I cannot watch his self-absorbed "Presentation Gestures for Dummies"-style videos for more than 50 seconds.

      He babbles publicly about his insanely great ideas and wanting Google’s attention, sitting in their lobby, blogging about it when he gets back to the hotel, rinse and repeat ...

      Yeah - if I were the biggest Internet company in the world, I would *love* to discuss business plans with a kid who has nothing better to do than brag to the other kids on his blog/site when he comes home. I am pretty sure they only let him in because otherwise there would have been a lot of negative publicity about them being arrogant.

      Wake up, people: This is "American Idol" for geeks. The guy is an attention whore. If he were professional, he would just *do* something great instead of getting on our nerves.
    • spinningobo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+81) Make a blog.
      2) Fly to Google's Headquarters.
      3) ???
      4) Profit!
  • SlimPaul, on 10/12/2007, -15/+20Way to go. :) Taking the first step took guts - taking the second step like this, when you're risking even more, that takes balls.
  • CaryCelia, on 10/12/2007, -9/+19I almost passed this up, but then read it and had to comment - Sweet! I don't think he accidentally did anything, though. Just seems like strong marketing, and he knew it would happen. So it might not be how to accidentally start a company, but it's certainly thinking outside the box. +1 for knowing how the Internet works.
    • hgrave23, on 10/12/2007, -29/+3Not just +1, but C++
    • 0x0000ff, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12hgrave23--; // subtract from hgrave23 for nonsensical comment
  • FatuLamarr, on 10/12/2007, -23/+2haha. Nice comment, hgrave...
  • RobPolar, on 10/12/2007, -17/+2I've been following this since chapter one, when it first hit Digg. +1 for keping the story going no matter if Google heard him or not. I was one of those 10,000 good luck e-mails he mentioned, and I think I might well send a second one. This kind of dedication and creativity deserves something.
  • Stewart, on 10/12/2007, -17/+0How can I buy stock? He's got the nack. Going places I think.
  • Matt4pres, on 10/12/2007, -16/+0If you are interested in starting a company there is a site going live in April which will definitely knock down some of the preventative logistical walls. It is called docstoc.com. To view it go to http://blog.docstoc.com/

    peace
  • StanleyKoolPrik, on 10/12/2007, -19/+131Empty hype is the ***** cancer of the internet. This idiot has all you fools paying attention to him and he hasnt even put forth one iota of substance. Its way too easy with you people.
    • ragipy, on 10/12/2007, -21/+11or this may be one of those paid submissions, the amount of positive comments seems very fishy to me. Buried as inaccurate.
    • gann, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2I clicked into comments to see if the link is indeed a spam or not. But now I am still suspecting.
      So can anyone tell me this is a spam or not?
    • tunit000, on 10/12/2007, -8/+0Re: StanleyKoolPrik - Well somehow you got here too didnt you?
    • gameforge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+25You can bury my comment, but I'm burying this story as inaccurate:
      1) the guy hasn't made it rich yet
      2) he has not actually proved anything in terms of starting a successful business (note the glorious absence of money)
      3) driving to an airport and flying to California to sell an idea to Google is ONE HELL OF AN ACCIDENT. It isn't exactly like he set out to make a pot of coffee and accidentally entered wormhole into the Googleplex while pouring a cup.

      Interesting way to confront Google (a month ago). Lame follow up with no actual product or money to speak of. Totally bogus headline and summary. Next time, the headline should be "Update on CanGoogleHearMe". It's accurate, non-sensational, and will make the front page if it's worth making the front page. Maybe that will be in August or September, when he hopes to have a product to talk about.
    • gfixler, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6GABBO!

      (coming soon)
    • crestfall, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1"Lame follow up with no actual product or money to speak of. "

      He probably signed a non-disclosure agreement.
    • gameforge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah, but I'm not defending his business, I'm disputing this Digg submission. I'm not entirely certain he even has a product at all - if he does, well he already said he can't say anything about it. Leaving me and you, average Digg readers A and B, absolutely 0 interesting anything about this. No money, no product, no pics of this kid with budding Google techs who loved his idea up and down.

      Maybe when he shows them that it works well and will be profitable, this will be an interesting Digg submission. Confronting Google like he (supposedly) did was interesting a month ago when it first turned up on Digg. But if he can't even tell me what his product is, has no real positive Google acknowledgment to show, and obviously no money, grants, investment capital or otherwise - then what is this going to teach me about starting a successful business on accident?

      Let alone teach me, it's not even interesting at this point.
  • FatuLamarr, on 10/12/2007, -16/+33Considering that he doesn't seem to be asking anything from anyone, Stanley, I can't really see what your problem is. So he's starting a company. He's doing it in a creative way. That's worthy enough of a nod, I think. The guy looks about 24, I'd guess, and there's worse things someone could be doing at 24 years old. Besides, he had the 5th fastest growing website on Alexa for a week, plus has thousands of e-mails, plus got his meeting with Google, plus apparently has sparked enough imagination on the Internet to get people to send in resumes... not one iota of substance? I beg to differ. There's a lot of substance there by itself, whatever his idea is.

    If he was asking for money, I'd agree with you. Otherwise, I don't understand your complaint.
    • mstnpb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+45his whole project would be a lot more interesting and would gain a lot more attention if we could have a goddamn clue as to what it actually IS. what this sounds like so far:

      "option A": google rejected his idea and told him that nobody would be interested. google is happy that he's gone, and he's happy that he followed through.
      "option B" (what he chose): google rejected his idea for now and told him to go make a prototype, then they'll consider it.

      no payoff = annoying
  • papium, on 10/12/2007, -13/+3Completely agree with you, FatuLamarr. I'm proud of the guy.
  • VicterHeart, on 10/12/2007, -10/+1Opps... not even dugg yet and the server seems to be down. Too bad - the title wasn't really very descriptive. I want to see what it was talking about!
  • rfilsinger, on 10/12/2007, -3/+31So has he said what his fantastic idea is yet?
    • triscuitbiscuit, on 10/12/2007, -18/+5No he hasn't unfortunately but I was thinking... Could this be google just pulling off some really elaborate marketing thing sort of like iluvbees, etc.?
    • spudnic, on 10/12/2007, -8/+17Not yet, but I'm guessing it'll revolutionize transport and change the world.
    • allenu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+26Yes, they will build cities around this idea!
    • clickwir, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15@triscut

      No. Google wouldn't have made such a 1995 looking webpage.
    • NipGrip, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16It's a mat with various outcomes on it. You stand on one end and leap onto the mat. Where you land is your outcome for whatever issue you might have. I call it the:

      "Leap to an outcome mat!"

    • mykool, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Would that be like the "jump to conclusions mat"?

      http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Jump+to+conclusions+mat


    • usherzx, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7jump to conclusions mat
      - office space
    • PolicePeople, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2@clickwir

      You're joking, right? Have you SEEN google.com?
    • triscuitbiscuit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This comment system is interesting... I say viral marketing and get dug down and another person says it after me and gets dugg up... interesting...
  • akey, on 10/12/2007, -2/+28Getting a meeting with Google isn't hard-- there's literally hundreds of Associate Product Managers straight out of college looking to fill their 20% 'free' time who will happily chat over lunch. They make you sign a lengthy contract before you walk in that says any idea you share in the meeting can be used by them, so they have literally nothing to lose but their time.

    Cheers to him for marketing his adventure so well, but this isn't really sticking your neck out-- it's actually kind of stupid. Use your college alumni network to set up a lunch meeting instead of sitting like a child in their lobby until someone pays attention to you. There's smart, and there's pandering. This is the latter.
  • johnshooter, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14With the amount of times this guy has made the front page of Digg, he could have made a killing off Adsense clickthroughs.

    His big secret is that he's probably a beta tester for Yahoo ads.
  • HyrulianGamer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7The site crashed? It didn't crash the first time it was on digg.. that's odd...
    • stalefries, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They must be doing mysterious, revolutionary things with the CPU cycles from that server.
    • KamikazeeDriver, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I remember that. When i first saw it, I thought, "oh, this guy again."
      Of course, I was somewhat curious to how his interview went. Now, I will not know.
  • SmokeAbowl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+27I read the 1st paragraph and fell asleep.


    And then woke up and posted this comment.
  • beartrash, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Is this a viral ad campaign for some indie movie about trying to date Drew Barrymore?
  • Meowbiusfox, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Yeh,I was like;"Where's the beef?"
    • DannySpace, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1When I was a kid, my uncle used to say "Where's the Beef?" and I'd say, "Up Your Nose!" and then we'd - (oops, I pooted).

      (hey, at least it was more entertaining than this front-page story)
  • MrPresident13, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yeah, except for the part where this story got submitted over 2 months ago.
  • binaryloop, on 10/12/2007, -1/+29ahhhhh...... the good old 'dot com days' are still alive and well

    1. Hype the crap out of some non-existant idea
    2. Get on the front page of Digg
    3. ????????
    4. Profit!
    • basta303, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is actually what concerns me right now. All the press coming out of Sillycon Valley is suggesting we're on the cusp of the Web2.0 implosion. Which, having lived through Web1.0, and thus being well out of the way of Web2.0, is fine by me.

      I remember an article in Business2.0 about two years ago which suggested that then was the time to seek VC attention because many VCs were running out of time to invest their clients' money. Looks like the "party's" over.

      What's the saying? "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce"? Well then Web1.0 is tragedy; Web2.0 is farce...
  • niradg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4i bet his big idea is a social news site
  • tunit000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Its annoying that he doesnt say what his special idea is. What is it!? And how are we supposed to help if we dont know what the heck he is doing?
    • robz0r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4You will simply steal it and implement it before he does.
    • LordofShadows, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5If he told us, no one would visit his website anymore.
  • DeFex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Electronic books!
    why did nobody ever think of that before!
  • RayMetz100, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4why do I feel like I just wasted 3 minutes watching that video? I wish him luck, but it's not a digg.
  • superpixel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Sometimes bubbles pop. Try not to get the soap in your eye.
  • Imus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Someone needs to develop a web enabled wifi athletic cup to count the number of times he gets kicked in the balls for coming up with an inevitably lame idea.
  • matthistory, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I was thinking about creating a simple search engine. Nothing crazy, white page, search bar, logo. Maybe expand it into the largest online entity with our hands in productivity, email and advertising...anyone on board?
    • gameforge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yes. We need to fly to CA and pitch the idea to Google like this guy did. Who knows, maybe they never thought of it. We could get rich!

      But ultimately, we could just start a blog and make some videos about pitching the idea to Google. Then we can get some web advertising and create a few dozen fake Digg accounts to ensure that tens of thousands of people click on our site.

      Then, when we get rich, we'll start a blog and make some videos about it, and...
  • StandardsDT, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1I remember when the beginning of this journey first ended up on the digg homepage a few months ago. Glad to see that he got some where with it.
  • abdim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Q: But what does he do?
    A: He's a whore!
  • sembetu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13I might get fried for this, but here goes...

    I saw this guy the first time he was on here, and I wasn't that impressed then, nor am I now. There just is no 'there' there. Add to the fact that this guy is supposedly some kind of self-proclaimed wunderkind, and I get really annoyed that he can't even put together a decent Web presence. I don't know, I guess it is kind of like taking a shower before you go out in public. Were I to judge this guy's hygiene choices based upon what I've seen from him, I would have to guess he smells like a rotten carcass. In any case, I see no interest in a guy who drummed up some courage. Personally, I think that is what's wrong with this country anyway: mediocrity is so accepted and normal that any time someone does something slightly courageous, they are virtually celebrated as a national treasure.
  • uptown, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3$10 says his resume lists Duke Nukem Forever as his last project....
  • bemaniac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I just don't see how anything about this is accidental...
  • nevesis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8HOW IS THIS D.B. MANIPULATING HIS LAME ANTICS ON TO THE FRONT PAGE OF DIGG?!

    He is OBVIOUSLY marketing himself. And using Digg to do it!

    Buried as spam and I'm in the process of writing Google a letter.
    • beartrash, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1:vigorous-nod:

      I although wondered if he was Joe Rogan.
  • awcomeon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1There's a subliminal message at around 1:01. It's bright pink on the right and a picture of the guy sitting at a conference table on the other...
  • Jerim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4This seems like more of a documentary project by a film student. Most successful businesses start out with an idea. I think he just counting on the "reality show" aspect of things to garner some attention. I doubt anything productive will come out this.
  • WildBil, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Zero Product is not creative. at 2 employees it can be destructive.
  • randyzaia, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4This smells so badly of Digg spam...
  • protito, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Did someone read what happened @ google? im too lazy to waste tiome reading that.. but im curious
  • DavidDigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5This guy is a *****. I've met ***** before and this guy's ***** isn't bad. It isn't great, but it isn't bad.

    But he is still a *****.
  • MrMongoose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3He needs to rename his "quest" to attentionwhore.com. It took every fiber of my being to watch the video on that page. What a complete *****. Anyone who has an idea that's worth a damn isn't going to waste time making an 'Extreme Makeover: Internet Entrepreneur Edition' style video just to watch themselves emote for the masses of idiots out there. I feel bad for anyone who gives this guy money.
  • stevenmunro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I think his idea was to think of a good idea.
  • nakedjonny3, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I quess time will only tell with this one, but I agree with most of you guys and think its mostly BS. I'm doing the same sort of thing with my company "Nurtur" that I co founded last year, in that I am blogging our journey (Naked Business), but more for me then a marketing campaign. It's not going to be an overnight success that makes me millions that this guy seems to think will happen. It will be built slowly and over time, as I learn from my mistakes. Check out the site nurtur.co.uk or the blog nurtur.co.uk/naked business if your interested. Any advice and help is always needed and appreciated.
  • simianstyle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3as my economics professor used to say: "50% of nothing ...is still nothing!"
  • benlindelof, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Wow 706 worthless digs on an inaccurate article. I think that's a record!

    As per the website, I'll have to 'step forward' and show work that has actually been done: http://bluefugu.biz.tm

    I spent years on development. The googlehearingme website has no content. It looks like a days work and some canned video that was finished maybe last year?
  • rfilsinger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2At least the oneredpaperclip guy followed through and got a house out of the deal.
  •  

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