Author Topic: interview with Kelly Thomson (Read 4361 times)

stockpuppet · « **on:** February 15, 2012, 11:52 »

Posted today but clearly from before his leaving was public. Interesting.

http://magazine.wpcrown.com/kelly-thompson/

Quote

We always got buy-in from our community on where we were headed. They felt part of something great, so they really helped us grow quickly. Word of mouth is a very powerful thing.
We also got exceptional developers to help with that side of the business. It gave us the ability to come up with features long before the large, classic competitors did. It also meant we could execute quickly. We could go from great idea to live feature in a few short weeks.

I wonder if there has been a recent change of plan at IS/Getty. In August and September last year the word from Kelly and JJRD was of exciting new developments just around the corner.

click_click · « **Reply #1 on:** February 15, 2012, 12:22 »

Quote

Q. What is the best decision you’ve made when it came to build iStock?

... We also got exceptional developers to help with that side of the business. It gave us the ability to come up with features long before the large, classic competitors did. It also meant we could execute quickly. We could go from great idea to live feature in a few short weeks.

This guy must be living under a rock? Was he really involved at all in this or did someone just put a clone on that coach for the interview?

helix7 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 15, 2012, 12:51 »

I'm not reading that interview. I really don't care anymore. That company isn't worth the time.

StanRohrer · « **Reply #3 on:** February 15, 2012, 12:53 »

I wonder if we could get a real "insider" review from him today. That is, if he is outside of any nondisclosure agreements. $:-\$

luissantos84 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 15, 2012, 13:03 »

there wasn´t a single question about royalties

stockpuppet · « **Reply #5 on:** February 15, 2012, 13:16 »

Quote from: StanRohrer on February 15, 2012, 12:53

I wonder if we could get a real "insider" review from him today. That is, if he is outside of any nondisclosure agreements. $:-\$

The bit I quoted reads to us like a subtle expression of dissent - if not directly then certainly in terms of the language he is using. As if he is subtly acknowledging what has gone wrong. The large classic competitor is Getty. He also seems to be saying that things were better when the development was in house. And he uses the past tense when he talks about people having felt "part of something great".

We always got buy-in from our community on where we were headed. They felt part of something great, so they really helped us grow quickly. Word of mouth is a very powerful thing.
We also got exceptional developers to help with that side of the business. It gave us the ability to come up with features long before the large, classic competitors did. It also meant we could execute quickly. We could go from great idea to live feature in a few short weeks.

alextintea · « **Reply #6 on:** February 15, 2012, 13:51 »

Hi guys,
I'm Alex, the guy who interviewed Kelly. I think I own you an explanation. I am not a huge fan of iStock neither, it took me ages to talk to someone in there and was not supposed to be with Kelly, anyway, it is how it is. Obviously the interview was made on December, I published it today because I thought it would be kind of disrespectful if I didn't publish it at all, he took the time to answer the questions, so I owned him this. Is it late? Hell yeah, but I had better things to publish before that. Moreover there are some questions that have not been answered. I apologize from you guys, I know I could have done it better.
Regards,
Alex

jamirae · « **Reply #7 on:** February 15, 2012, 14:07 »

Quote from: alextintea on February 15, 2012, 13:51

Hi guys,
I'm Alex, the guy who interviewed Kelly. I think I own you an explanation. I am not a huge fan of iStock neither, it took me ages to talk to someone in there and was not supposed to be with Kelly, anyway, it is how it is. Obviously the interview was made on December, I published it today because I thought it would be kind of disrespectful if I didn't publish it at all, he took the time to answer the questions, so I owned him this. Is it late? Hell yeah, but I had better things to publish before that. Moreover there are some questions that have not been answered. I apologize from you guys, I know I could have done it better.
Regards,
Alex

I don't think you need to apologize for anything, Alex. For your part, it's a nice write-up and I appreciate that you published it. Although you probably should correct the part of Kelly being SVP and perhaps indicate that "at the time of this Interview Kelly WAS the SVP of Getty..." a lot has happened since you got this interview and it would be helfpul if you added a little author's note to put it in context.

I think most of the issue is with Kelly's responses. You're reporting it as it was presented to you.

dcdp · « **Reply #8 on:** February 15, 2012, 19:12 »

I have no problem you publishing now other than noting what has changed since then.

What would be really interesting is to see if you could get a follow up interview with Kelly, see if his views have changed at all since leaving/being kicked out and see if he can say anything now that he couldn't say then. I know it's not a good idea to burn your bridges, but I suspect he'd be a bit loser in his comments now that he isn't employed by them and if he isn't, well, perhaps he is still a corporate clone.

Allsa · « **Reply #9 on:** February 15, 2012, 22:32 »

Quote from: dcdp on February 15, 2012, 19:12

I have no problem you publishing now other than noting what has changed since then.

What would be really interesting is to see if you could get a follow up interview with Kelly, see if his views have changed at all since leaving/being kicked out and see if he can say anything now that he couldn't say then. I know it's not a good idea to burn your bridges, but I suspect he'd be a bit loser in his comments now that he isn't employed by them and if he isn't, well, perhaps he is still a corporate clone.

It's very possible that he signed a confidentiality agreement as a condition of employment, which would mean that he isn't free to say anything critical about IS or Getty.

dcdp · « **Reply #10 on:** February 15, 2012, 23:10 »

Quote from: Allsa on February 15, 2012, 22:32

Quote from: dcdp on February 15, 2012, 19:12
I have no problem you publishing now other than noting what has changed since then.

What would be really interesting is to see if you could get a follow up interview with Kelly, see if his views have changed at all since leaving/being kicked out and see if he can say anything now that he couldn't say then. I know it's not a good idea to burn your bridges, but I suspect he'd be a bit loser in his comments now that he isn't employed by them and if he isn't, well, perhaps he is still a corporate clone.

It's very possible that he signed a confidentiality agreement as a condition of employment, which would mean that he isn't free to say anything critical about IS or Getty.

This is true, but confidentiality agreements generally cover confidential parts of the business, rather than personal opinions. He can say "I disagreed with the direction the company was taking" or "I didn't like the way I was treated by the company" without revealing anything confidential about the business. Having said that what he would say in a one on one conversation would obviously differ from what he'd say in a published article or even something like a FB comment or Forum post. I'd like to sit down one day with him and/or Rob Sylvan and have a chat one day over a beverage off the record.

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Author Topic: interview with Kelly Thomson (Read 4361 times)

stockpuppet

click_click

helix7

StanRohrer

luissantos84

stockpuppet

alextintea

jamirae

dcdp

Allsa

dcdp

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