cabel.com

A Blog by Cabel Sasser

XOXO

tout-xoxo

I gave a talk at XOXO 2013. I’m not very fond of public speaking. I also try to avoid being too personal or too heavy which leaves mostly jokes and new snack foods. But I knew I had a lot on my mind — I jog right past the YU (where XOXO is held) each day and that got me thinking about all of this stuff and talking and it all kind of swirled together. Andy very graciously gave me a speaking slot, and even though I destroyed a dress shirt I made it through and everyone was so kind.

Here’s my story.

(Once you’re done, you might appreciate Jason Alderman’s Sketch Notes.)

Leave a Reply

  1. Stefan Ernst

    Amazing and inspiring talk! Thanks! 🙂

    (also: Tim Schäfer in the audience!)

    Reply
  2. Arthur Langereis

    I was typing all these words and things but whatever, here’s a virtual *hug*. That was great.

    Reply
  3. Colin Devroe

    Excellent talk Cabel. I can tell that it wasn’t easy to share but I’m glad you did because many of us that make things have felt exactly the same as you. Thank you.

    Reply
  4. Simon Zirkunow

    Thanks for sharing this insightful and heartfelt talk.
    I remember being very lucky to visit your first office on Burnside when I studied graphic design in Portland. It was many years ago, but I’m still using your apps every day. I hope, you guys stay around for many years to come!

    Reply
  5. Grant Hutchinson

    Wish I could have made it to XOXO this year and appreciated this in person. At any rate, thanks for the Transmit screenshot shout out in your deck. Always happy to help document those old software bits and bobs.

    Reply
  6. David Manning

    This was fantastic – and the takeaways weren’t bad, either.

    Reply
  7. Ben

    Lovely, thank you for being so open and engaging with it. My first thought about the sadness of things ending / fading out was that they are deaths, and that there will be no lasting monument. Businesses and people die, me and you included – sad, inevitable, potentially depressing. But once you accept that you can get on with living, creating, being in the here and now. And then you said as much at the end. So here’s to living life!

    Reply
  8. Will Fitzgerald

    I’m pretty sure I bought Transmit and Coda just because you made the Atari game boxes, by the way.

    Reply
  9. Bart Nowak (@siedemender)

    I’ve just opened Transmit and your head popped out saying: ‘it’s a pretty cliché meltdown scene, one star meh’.

    I love when I can see real human behind the product. Very honest and inspiring. Thank you.

    Reply
  10. Patrick Gibson

    Thanks for posting! Very interesting and inspiring.

    Reply
  11. Daniel Nordh (@danielnordh)

    Way to go for not enjoying public speaking! Super.

    Reply
  12. Charles Reilly (@beatsheetLA)

    Enormously impressed that you made yourself vulnerable in front of a packed room (& now on the web).

    Also, for a guy who doesn’t like public speaking, you’re damned great at it.

    Reply
  13. Ben Carroll

    Great talk. I remember buying Transmit when it came out. I remember feeling like that was one of the first programs that I felt really bridged the gap between the great majority of shareware (which typically felt rough and unfinished) and big-company software (which often had a zillion features, but was impossible to use). I had no idea that y’all were just two guys, but I remember thinking there was something really different: you *got it*. You looked at FTP and saw the same problems that I did, and solved them beautifully.

    I’ve mostly moved away from any task that requires FTP on a regular basis, so I haven’t used the program for a while, but watching your talk invoked a very strong feeling of fondness and nostalgia, and so I wanted to share as a way of saying thank you for what you’ve done so far, and I look forward to the crazy stuff to come.

    Reply
  14. Jessie

    Amazing, could be a framework for what talks are about. What are these retro gaming magazines you referred to?

    Reply
  15. ric5antos

    Friggin awesome. Dilweed.

    Reply
  16. Sunil

    Superb and thank you .

    Reply

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