Can get get negative confirmations? Will Quora guy be speaking? That presentation was painful to sit through last year. His advice boiled down to "have rich friends and tag along for the ride."
Reid is another tricky one. He has so much useful information, but his presentation last year was almost incoherent. It looked like he was running late for class and tried to prepare his presentation on-the-fly with no organization.
I was lamenting the lack of preparedness of a minority of speakers. Most people gave world class presentations, but a minority had a perceived lack of preparation.
With people traveling half way around the world, it seems disrespectful to have speakers fumbling on stage.
I liked Adam D'Angelo's talk. Adam was nervous, but that's okay- I would be too. Not everyone is Dhh. And he didn't say "have rich friends". His message was that if you want to start a startup, thing about going to work at an early stage startup for a year or two first. You will learn what it takes, meet potential co-founders, meet vc's, learn the business side of things.
I don't remember what Reid's talk was on, but I do remember it being one of my favorites.
The quality of the speakers last year was mixed, but none of the speakers were a waste of time. Some of the talks I found least interesting (i.e. GitHub) others said were the best of StartupSchool.
Reid is another tricky one. He has so much useful information, but his presentation last year was almost incoherent. It looked like he was running late for class and tried to prepare his presentation on-the-fly with no organization.