Max Levchin

There was a post about shamir secret sharing recently by levchin (and chaos that it caused at paypal): https://max.levch.in/post/724289457144070144/shamir-secret-sharing-its… This is 100% one of my favorite algorithms, but I have to say I've started to wonder if I just have an academic fascination with it and the practical use cases are more limited (limiting?) than I think

I've been working on startups more or less for most of my 20s (both as a founder and an employee at a venture-backed startup), I've learned a great deal from it, lost a lot from it and endured a lot of hardship, but I think the journey also transformed me and cut me out of wood (http://max.levch.in/post/36289276742/strengthen-your-startup-skeleton)… So no regrets, I'm really excited about the future and I'm thinking long-term. I disagree with this post though, if I had to start all over again out of college... my recommendation would be to start a profitable, bootstrapped business. Build that up to 7-figures and be financially independent. You'll earn your first stripes way earlier than most, at much lower risk, and once you attain that black belt, then you'll be ready to consider swinging for the fences with a startup. And people around you will want to bet on you too with your track record. I'm 28yrs old now and that's my gameplan for the next few years. I'm tired of being poor. Worth reading: http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2010/06/paths-to-5m-for-a-startup-…

See also a story about an implementation from Max Levchin: https://max.levch.in/post/724289457144070144/shamir-secret-sharing-its…

which is in fact by Max Levchin: https://max.levch.in/post/724289457144070144/shamir-secret-sharing-its…

Thanks! If you'd like to read another encryption related horror story, this one served as a bit of stylistic inspiration: https://max.levch.in/post/724289457144070144/shamir-secret-sharing-its…