reSee.it - Tweets Saved By @itsalexvacca

Posted - August 4, 2025 at 3:01 PM

Saved - August 5, 2025 at 2:59 AM

reSee.it AI Summary

Before AWS, Joyent powered major platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, boasting innovative technology like container virtualization and Node.js. Founded by Jason Hoffman in 2004, Joyent thrived in the early cloud landscape, but faced challenges due to its reliance on Solaris instead of Linux. Despite its groundbreaking technology, Joyent struggled against AWS's aggressive pricing and broad appeal. Acquired by Samsung in 2016, Joyent eventually shut down its public cloud, highlighting that in tech, being first or best isn't enough—scale and ecosystem are crucial.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Before AWS existed, one company ran the servers for Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook's entire app ecosystem. They owned Node.js, invented containers 8 years before Docker, and Peter Thiel even backed them. Then something happened...

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

In 2004, a cancer researcher turned entrepreneur named Jason Hoffman started a cloud company called Joyent. While Amazon was still figuring out AWS, Joyent was already hosting the internet's hottest startups. Their client list would make your jaw drop. https://t.co/DutUlnkz17

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Twitter's early infrastructure ran on Joyent servers. LinkedIn scaled on Joyent. When Facebook opened to third-party apps in 2007, Joyent partnered with Dell to host them all. But that's not even the craziest part. https://t.co/olMo1MpiYk

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Thousands of Facebook apps (and their millions of users) ran on Joyent's cloud. Some accounts suggest Joyent even helped power Facebook's chat feature. They were literally everywhere. Just invisible. And they had technology that wouldn't exist anywhere else for 8 years. https://t.co/8O58F9CGd1

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Joyent built their own operating system called SmartOS. It used "container virtualization" via Solaris Zones. This was in 2005. Docker didn't exist until 2013. But here's why being 8 years early was actually their biggest curse.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Their containers were so efficient that one Joyent server could handle what took multiple Amazon EC2 instances. Industry experts called it "way better than AWS." But they made one technical choice that would haunt them forever. https://t.co/8ATNtsMY3d

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

They built it on Solaris. Developers wanted Linux. While Joyent was fighting this compatibility battle, they made a hire in 2010 that should have changed everything. They brought in the creator of something you probably use every day. https://t.co/terRGCkI9u

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Ryan Dahl. Creator of Node.js. Joyent became the steward of what would become one of the world's most important developer platforms. Today NASA uses Node.js. Netflix uses it. LinkedIn, Uber, PayPal all use it. Yet somehow, owning Node.js wasn't enough. Because Jeff Bezos had a philosophy.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

"Your margin is my opportunity." AWS slashed prices constantly. They opened data centers globally. They spent billions. Joyent tried to match Amazon's pricing. But they were fighting a company with infinite money. And Amazon understood something about developers that Joyent completely missed.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Amazon built an empire on developer evangelism. Free tiers for startups. Massive documentation. Global conferences like re:Invent. One-stop shop for everything. Joyent stayed niche. Elite, but niche. Then they made the decision that sealed their fate.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Joyent chased big enterprise and telecom customers like Telefonica. Amazon chased everyone. Every startup. Every developer. Every student learning to code. By 2010, "cloud" meant AWS. Joyent was already forgotten. The acquisition offer that came next was insulting. https://t.co/qBCd9JEhNH

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

2016: Samsung acquires Joyent for ~$125 million. For context, AWS was worth $100+ billion by then. The company that invented containers and owned Node.js sold for pocket change. But Samsung's ownership made things even worse. https://t.co/NXYT2Kxe57

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Under Samsung, Joyent limped along for three more years. 2019: They shut down their public cloud entirely. The company that once powered Twitter started helping customers migrate to AWS. The irony gets worse when you see what their technology spawned. https://t.co/UQYytyMkxD

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Joyent's DNA is everywhere. Every Node.js application. Every Docker container. Every Kubernetes cluster. They invented the future of cloud computing. They just couldn't sell it. Want to know the real gut punch? https://t.co/xdXxI2bON5

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Samsung paid $125 million for technology that influenced over $1 trillion in market value. AWS is worth $100B today. Docker hit $2 billion. The Node.js ecosystem generates billions annually. Joyent captured none of it.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

The lesson? In tech, being first doesn't matter. Being best doesn't matter. Scale matters. Distribution matters. Pricing matters. Ecosystem matters. Joyent had the technology to change the world. Amazon had everything else.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Thanks for making it to the end! I'm Alex, co-founder at ColdIQ. Built a $6M ARR business in under 2 years. We're a remote team across 10 countries, helping 400+ businesses scale through outbound systems. https://t.co/QeUrqXle0e

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

RT the first tweet if you found this thread valuable. Follow me @itsalexvacca for more threads on outbound and GTM strategy, AI-powered sales systems, and how to build profitable businesses that don't depend on you. I share what worked (and what didn't) in real time.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

@commanderdgr8 I was equally surprised when I got to know about them. A David vs Goliath story in a sense..

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

@crashoutMerch That is one solid perspective to look at the whole situation. It's many factors, but the loss leader strategy by Amazon is possibly the most devastating stroke to Joyent.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

@patalmypal Interesting, thanks for sharing.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

@R1_Invest 💯

@itsalexvacca — Alex Vacca

Posted - July 31, 2025 at 2:32 PM

Saved - August 1, 2025 at 3:30 PM

reSee.it AI Summary

Facebook acquired a VPN app called Onavo for $120M, initially promoting it as a tool for data security. However, it functioned as a surveillance tool, allowing Facebook to monitor users' app usage and web activity. This data revealed competitors' growth, particularly Snapchat, leading to efforts to bypass its encryption through "Project Ghostbusters." Facebook later rebranded Onavo as "Facebook Research" to continue its surveillance after Apple removed it from the App Store. I shared these insights and my journey building a $6M ARR business.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Facebook once bought a VPN app for $120M and turned it into a surveillance tool that spied on 33M+ users' entire phones for years. This app helped Zuck buy WhatsApp for a whopping $19B and break Snapchat's encryption. Thread

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

The name of this Israeli app was Onavo. It promised to “secure your data” and reduce mobile data usage. When Facebook bought it in 2013, Zuck said the app would help them connect more people to the internet. Facebook even promised to keep Onavo running as a standalone brand. https://t.co/ESnBmkkjuI

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

But Onavo operated as a VPN that routed all your phone's internet traffic through Facebook's servers before sending it anywhere else. Facebook could see: • Every app you opened • How long you used it • Which websites you visited • And at what time you used each app

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

What did this mean for Facebook? It meant that Zuck could see exactly which one of Facebook's competitor was growing popular among people. Look how Facebook was tracking these apps (revealed in the court later): https://t.co/L780CFL0KJ

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

By 2016, this data revealed Snapchat was exploding in popularity. But there was one problem: Snapchat's traffic was encrypted, so Facebook couldn't see how people were using it. In an email, Zuck says: It seems important to figure out a way to get reliable analytics about them https://t.co/y4PJhsvZBG

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Facebook's started "Project Ghostbusters" - named after Snapchat's ghost logo. They would use "man-in-the-middle" attacks to break Snapchat's encryption. Within a month, Facebook's engineers built "kits" that could intercept Snapchat's data before it got encrypted. https://t.co/MVgl1qNFU5

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Facebook created custom client & server side code based on Onavo’s VPN proxy app. This code included a client-side “kit” that installed a root certificate on Snapchat users’ mobile devices. Then Facebook’s servers created fake digital certificates to impersonate Snapchat analytics servers to redirect & decrypt secure traffic from those apps to Facebook.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Seeing Snapchat's success, Zuckerberg offered to buy it for $3 billion. But when Snap's CEO refused the offer, Facebook launched Snap's most famous feature on Instagram - Stories. https://t.co/ZFDmcdsn8G

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

But this wasn't just about Snapchat. Facebook used Onavo to systematically monitor Houseparty, YouTube, Amazon, and dozens of other apps. Any rising competitor was identified, analyzed, and neutralized. https://t.co/4DSa3k13PK

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Apple forced Onavo off the App Store for violating privacy rules. So Facebook rebranded it as "Facebook Research" and started paying teens $20/month to install it on their phones. When Apple found out, they revoked Facebook's certificates, breaking ALL of Facebook's iOS apps. https://t.co/yZnVKDgtr1

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Onavo shows how Big Tech weaponizes our trust. 33 million people installed privacy protection that was actually the most sophisticated corporate surveillance tool ever built.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Thanks for making it to the end! I'm Alex, COO at ColdIQ. Built a $6M ARR business in under 2 years. Started with two founders doing everything. Now we're a remote team across 10 countries, helping 400+ businesses scale through outbound systems. https://t.co/O19Cfh6X0J

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

@itsalexvacca — Alex Vacca

Posted - June 4, 2025 at 2:28 PM

Saved - June 10, 2025 at 11:38 PM

reSee.it AI Summary

Palantir is a powerful software used by various sectors, including government agencies for counterterrorism, banks for credit assessments, and airlines for safety. Founded by Peter Thiel post-9/11, it gained traction with CIA funding. Palantir tracks extensive data, predicting actions and revealing secrets. Its products, Gotham and Foundry, serve military and corporate needs, respectively. Despite its controversial use in surveillance and privacy violations, Palantir's value soared to $300 billion by 2025, especially after an executive order mandated data sharing across federal agencies.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

CIA can't operate without it. Pentagon can't function without it. And Wall Street can't trade without it. Yet most people have no idea about what Palantir does. How the Government let a $300 Billion surveillance company track you everywhere 🧵 https://t.co/0DCeId4brz

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Palantir is the software that's used: • By agencies to hunt terrorists • By Ferrari to optimize F1 strategies • By banks to check if you'll become a loan defaulter • By airlines to fix issues before any crash occurs By the end of this thread, you'll know what Palantir is 👇 https://t.co/BwjFP5CWs7

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Peter Thiel founded Palantir after 9/11. He wanted to build a company that could help catch terrorists before they could attack somewhere. But no one was ready to invest in Palantir. Enters CIA's venture In-Q-Tel which invested $2M and became the first client. https://t.co/YfdL7XUN2v

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Palantir basically tracks everything. From fingerprints, bank records, license plates, phone logs, social media, sensor feeds, documents, you name it. It can find all your secrets and then predict every action that you'll do. That's why it's not just helping governments... https://t.co/HuabCLIBWT

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Palantir offers 2 main products: 1. Gotham: Made for spy agencies, militaries, and police. It was designed as “the ultimate tool of surveillance,” and provides various functionalities: • Finds hidden relationships • Maps terrorist organizations • Geospatial analysis https://t.co/BTSsOlEtbH

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

2. Foundry: Made for the corporate world Foundry allows businesses to fuse all their databases (financial records, supply chain logs etc.) into a single platform. Then they can build apps on top of it. Airbus uses Foundry to predict mechanical failures before they occur. https://t.co/Uw565SS3UF

Video Transcript AI Summary

Foundry provides an open architecture to close the loop between operations and analytics. It allows users to bring existing data and model tooling together inside of an ontology to build workflows, applications, and capture decisions to inform better operations and continuous learning. Data teams can bring data lakes and warehouses, connecting them into Foundry as the nouns of the enterprise. Analytics teams can bring models, linear programming models, ML models, and stored procedures, connecting them as the verbs that go along with the nouns to create business processes. Assembling this operating layer iteratively builds a foundation to drive operational workflows, conduct sophisticated analytics like scenario planning, and capture decisions to pipe to enterprise systems. Foundry includes data integration, model integration, an ontology layer, a workflow layer, and a decision orchestration layer to capture learnings from end users and feed them back to analytics and data teams. Foundry can get users operational in days.

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Full Transcript

Speaker 0: So we think about Foundry as providing an open architecture for closing the loop between operations and analytics. It provides the ability to bring your existing data and model tooling together inside of an ontology, which you can then use to build workflows, applications, and actually capture decisions with to inform better operations over time and continuous learning. With Foundry, we kind of say to kind of everybody in the enterprise, to data teams, bring your data lakes, bring your data warehouses, bring kind of all the data that exists across different systems, and connect that into Foundry as sort of what we think of as the nouns of the enterprise, right, the semantics. And to the analytics teams, we say the same thing. Bring the models, bring the linear programming models, the ML models, the stored procedures, and allow those to be connected into the same foundation as sort of the verbs that go along with the nouns that give you kind of all the business processes. And we think if you can then kind of assemble this operating layer iteratively over time through use cases, you then build out a very powerful foundation to do many things. You can drive more and more kind of operational workflows that are read, write, where business users are contributing their knowledge back into the foundation. You can do kind of more sophisticated analytics, like running scenarios and what if analysis. And critically, you can capture decisions and pipe those to all sorts of different enterprise systems, both new and old. So again, we think by closing the loop, it's a very different architecture than kind of the one way assembly line of data. In terms of how it works, Foundry comes with everything you need from top to bottom to implement complex workflows. This includes data integration, model integration, an ontology layer that encompasses objects and relationships and actions and business processes, an entire workflow layer that includes application building, self serve analytics, and more, and a decision orchestration layer that's designed to capture learnings from end users and actually then feed those back to analytics and data teams and other business systems. And so for fresh architectures, we think Foundry can get folks operational in days.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Palantir helped the Army track bomb-makers in Iraq and Afghanistan. It even helped them avoid roadside IEDs (explosive devices). Yes! A software helped the army do that. Then in 2011, US used Palantir to catch Osama bin Laden. https://t.co/rXdSIbARnh

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Palantir came for help. Its Gotham software took live feeds from satellites, drones, and sensors to pinpoint Russian tanks and artillery in real time. Ukraine could see the Russian units, then decide where to aim their rockets. https://t.co/nVpHnQDcPr

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Palantir is now even used in F1. During races, engineers use Palantir to analyze Grand Prix data, test bench results, and even minute tolerances. The goal is to decide when to push the engine, when to pit, and how to get out extra speed. https://t.co/s6KjVGX7Zu

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

But all is not well. In 2012, Palantir partnered with New Orleans police to predict crimes before they happened. It went through NOPD arrest files, gang affiliations, and then flagged a list of "high risk" individuals. All this was done behind the curtains. https://t.co/g5YbkkWfG7

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

JPMorgan used Palantir to spy on its own employees. The system tracked emails, browsing histories, badge swipes at doors, phone calls - basically every digital trace. At one point, JPMorgan security even spied on their own executives without authorization. https://t.co/rJJkM8lhSG

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Palantir provides ICE with a system to track undocumented immigrants. In 2025, ICE is paying Palantir $30 million to create "ImmigrationOS". A software that prioritizes deportation targets and tracks people who self-deport. Palantir touches everything without you knowing it. https://t.co/wgvMAHzFZf

Video Transcript AI Summary

The speaker was asked if they ever wished they hadn't worked for ICE, and responded no. The speaker stated that everyone in their family thinks voting for Biden is right of center. Some employees left over the ICE work, and some protesters raised legitimate questions. The speaker has asked themself if they would protest their own work if they were younger. The most valid criticism is whether involvement in anything that has one instance of injustice taints all instances of justice. This question applies not just to ICE, but also to work with Clandestine Services. Their product is used on occasion to kill people. If someone is looking for a terrorist, they are probably using the speaker's government product and another product to take out the person.

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Full Transcript

Speaker 0: And one of the biggest places you've been criticized is for your work at the border with immigration and customs enforcement. Was there ever a time that you wished you had not done work for ICE? Absolutely. Completely. You wish you'd never done it. Speaker 1: No. No. No. You asked is there ever a time did ICE suffer? Look. I everyone in my family thinks voting for Biden is right of center. I've had some of my favorite employees leave. Over over ICE? Over ICE. I had people protesting me, some of whom I think asked really legitimate questions. I have asked myself, if I were younger at college, would I be protesting me? Speaker 0: It sounds like yes. What what is their most what is their most valid criticism? Speaker 1: That if you are involved in anything that one instance of injustice, does it tarnish all instances of justice? And I see this question in every single thing we do. And by the way, not just in ICE. I see that this with our work with Clandestine Services. I mean, our product is used on occasion to kill people. Speaker 0: This is drone targeting, or Speaker 1: what is this? Targeting of all kinds. If you if you if you're looking for a terrorist in this in the world now, you're probably using our government product, and you're probably doing the operation that actually takes out the person in our another product we built.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

It took the company 17 YEARS to turn a profit (first profitable quarter in 2022). But by 2025, Palantir is valued at $300 BILLION - on par with Bank of America. https://t.co/0odq1eKLOH

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

The German Court ruled police couldn't use Palantir because it violated privacy rights. But in America? It's everywhere - from nuclear facilities to hospitals to battlefield targeting. And now Trump just made it bigger.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

March 2025: Trump issued an executive order requiring ALL federal agencies to share their data. Tax records, health info, everything. Palantir's Foundry is now integrating into DHS and HHS to make this happen. https://t.co/XUcwSZq8GX

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Palantir's CEO Alex Karp said their technology helped "curb far-right movements in Europe." Now picture that same system scaled across the entire US government. A private company deciding what's a threat. https://t.co/p7DjVGbZ4Z

Video Transcript AI Summary

Palantir built products that changed their respective markets. PG single-handedly stopped the rise of the far right in Europe. Foundry was used to distribute the COVID vaccine and saved millions of lives globally. Palantir also built multi constellation, often called the digital kill chain. These are category-defining products. Initially, people doubted their value, but these products redefined their markets, creating the "Palantir market." While not everyone will buy Palantir's products, most sensible people will buy from the category Palantir defined.

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Speaker 0: Look. We we built PG, which single handedly stopped, the rise of the far right in in in in Europe. We built Foundry, which, was just was used to distribute the COVID vaccine and saved millions of lives globally. We built what we call multi multi constellation and what's often called the digital kill chain, and they're category defining products. So when you deliver these products to the market, just honestly, people say this isn't gonna exist. This isn't valuable, but then it changes the market. And then the market is the Palantir market. Now that doesn't mean everyone in the world's gonna buy our product, but it means most of the sensible people in the world are gonna define buy from the category we defined.

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

And investors love this power. Palantir stock just hit record highs, outpacing the S&P 500. Trump's order accelerated Palantir from controversial startup to America's surveillance backbone. Now you tell me: What do you think about Palantir? https://t.co/7KQQc4Xxxd

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca

Thanks for reading! I'm Alex, COO at ColdIQ. Built a $4.5M ARR business in under 2 years. Started with two founders doing everything. Now we're a remote team across 10 countries, helping 200+ businesses scale through outbound systems. https://t.co/c3hXPwDjuW

@itsalexvacca - Alex Vacca