Rokali speaks out

Oh, don't sell it short, we learned tons. Like that you're a psycho knife weidling narcissist megalomaniac braggart idiot who rides on the abilities of truly talented people to carry you through life with no regard for anyone but yourself.

Oh wait, I think we already knew that. Never mind. You are right. Point to you sir!

Friday Funnies

Seven Page Article about Etsy and our beloved red headed swindlerkind. Get the tequila out, you are gonna be needing it and the darts. Couple pics of Rokali to aim your pointy tipped loathing at.

I wish I could say this was april fools...

Scans Courtesy of Freaky Old Woman's Flickr:
View Page: Cover 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

EDIT: NOW ONLINE - CLICK HERE

Rokali: Cover Model? :::gag:::

Imagine my utter dismay (okay, rage) upon seeing the latest issue of INC on the newsstand. Featured on the cover were four young hipsters. One of them former Etsy CEO, Rokali. I scared the girl checking me out with my ranting.

The story is about the most enterprising 30 entrepreneurs under 30 on the scene today, you can read it here.

Each of the 30 has a little blurb next to their name. Of course Rob's little blurb contains old yarn he loves to tell about how he obtained his education with stolen/faked Student Ids:

Rob Kalin

Current Venture: Etsy, a vast website that helps artisans sell handmade clothing and crafts. The Brooklyn, New York, business processes 20,000 orders a day, at an average sale of $15. The site charges a listing fee and takes a small commission on each transaction.

Why He's One to Watch: In just three years, Etsy has attracted 200,000 sellers, a million registered users, and more than $27 million in funding.

The Backstory: The son of a Boston furniture maker, Kalin flunked out of high school, briefly enrolled in an art school, and then faked an MIT student ID so he could take classes on the sly. He so impressed the professors there that they helped him get into NYU, where he learned how to build a website. In 2005, he launched Etsy with two classmates.

Employees: 65

After Hours: Kalin is learning to sew.

What's Next: Kalin, 28, stepped down as CEO in July, though he remains actively involved as Etsy's chairman and chief creative officer. "A lot of companies are started and prepped for an acquisition," he says. "But I hope this will be an independent company for hundreds of years."

Hundreds of Years Rob? Really? REALLY? Google won't be around in 100 years, ad you think Etsy will be? Are you that naive? I don't give you till 2010.

And stop flaunting your faulty figures, you're the only one who thinks they are accurate. And a teacher helped you get into NYU... Right. Plenty of great universities in Boston, and he helps you get into a school in NYC? Let's talk more about his educational goals, this is from earlier in the article:

Co-founder Rob Kalin, an aspiring classics professor, came up with the idea in 2005 and partnered with two techies whom he met in college to launch it.

So being in Boston, and wanting to teach Classic Literature... of course MIT is the natural college for that... in BOSTON. A town with some of the best universities of classical and liberal arts educations in the world... Harvard, BU, U Mass, Northeastern, Tufts, Suffolk, Emerson just to name a few - and he went to MIT... to study literature at the top tech school?

I also imagine MIT has a top of the line kick ass security system in place - and he sneaks in on a faked id? Riiiiight. I am willing to bet you need significantly more than a faked ID to even get into buildings as almost all colleges are locking down these days requiring codes and swipe cards to even get the door open. That's why I call bullshit on the whole story and always have. I know he thinks it looks daring and bootstrappy, but it just looks like he's lying - about everything.

I do love the start of the article though... The first paragraph is Etsy defined.