General Magic

#generalmagicmov is the story of one of history’s greatest tech teams, who after a great failure, changed the lives of billions. Watch on VOD & @Showtime

[SmartConnect IoT @SmartconnectIot]

I always recommend this movie::

@generalmagicmov

https://t.co/qpqKZ4a1JD

Please check it out. May inspire. Lot of stuff we take for granted ….. by this ‘failed’ company. The Valley #siliconvalley has many untold stories

[Rick Bentley @rbentley]

For almost 20 years, I've been on X/Twitter.

The platform has been an invaluable connector to information & people around the world.

But the value exchange has been largely one-way: I've consumed content but created very little in return.

Starting now, I want to change that.

I’ve spent over 30 years starting, building, and advising, tech companies - always a little ahead of the curve.

After decades of learning from others, it’s time to pay it forward.

So if we haven't met yet, I'm Rick Bentley, and I:

• Earned a Bachelor’s in Physics and a Master’s in Engineering at UC Berkeley, then dove straight into Silicon Valley. I started at Sensory (@SensoryInc, neural network AI), then General Magic (@generalmagicmov), where we invented the smartphone, app store, and voice assistant back in the ’90s.

• Started Televoke to “connect people to things”, before the Internet of Things (IoT) was even a term. We raised money from Softbank and, after a merger, were acquired by Uber. A stolen laptop at our office taught me the importance of secure, cloud-based video, which became Cloudastructure.

• Cloudastructure. Years of early struggle, from literally living in the Silicon Valley office to contracting in Baghdad to pay the bills, eventually gave way to AI-powered computer vision for real-time security.

• Took a gig as an Advisor to Google X along the way (those pesky bills), then in 2015, Google open-sourced TensorFlow – the first ML platform for the masses. So I left and went back to Cloudastructure to leverage Machine Learning AI for Computer Vision.

• Also started Hydro Hash, https://t.co/E4poDFCrOA, crypto mining on hydropower, and, most recently, AI hosting. Kicked it off by raising $5M in under 24hrs.

• Along the way, I’ve built other companies, raised millions in funding, and experienced both huge wins and tough lessons… and Cloudastructure is now public on NASDAQ:CSAI.

Yes, I've been fortunate to experience a unique level of business success. But I’ve also faced serious challenges and setbacks along the way. I like to think of Failure as Wisdom in ragged clothes.

And it's the full range of learnings that I want to share, honestly and humbly.

This will include the unfiltered truth about building Cloudastructure, as well as a lifetime in tech, entrepreneurship, and building the future.

Please follow me @rbentley for more!

[General Magic @generalmagicmov]

@costapiy @marclou thanks costa :)

[Costa @costapiy]

@marclou Check @generalmagicmov you will love it! Not everything in a failure is bad

[General Magic @generalmagicmov]

⬇️Thanks @smooter :)

[Nick Smoot @smooter]

@Scobleizer Best movie still is @generalmagicmov

[Austin Ryder @austnryder]

@garrytan I recommend watching General Magic. Gives perspective on the long technology development that led to iPhone. @generalmagicmov

[Steve Jarrett @stevejarrett]

The true story of the birth of the Apple Macintosh, as told by my heroes / friends / former @GeneralMagicMov bosses / greatest software artists of all time @billatk @andyhertzfeld @SusanKare

From 19:40: https://t.co/pme2hnPT8g

Thanks @Pogue @ComputerHistory

[Steve Jarrett @stevejarrett]

The @generalmagicmov film made by my polymath wife @SarahKerruish is now being used as the first-ever video case study at @HarvardHBS to teach entrepreneurship.
Watch the HBS testimony here:
https://t.co/w978fVodsi

If you want to see yours truly, you have to buy the film on iTunes because my (very nervous) interview made the 'cutting room floor' but is preserved for posterity as an iTunes Extra!

[General Magic @generalmagicmov]

@rishistyping @joshm good advice there Rish 👀!

[General Magic @generalmagicmov]

thanks @whizbangtech - better late than never! 🙌🏼

[J R @whizbangtech]

I saw a Twitter post about the
@generalmagicmov documentary. Not sure how I missed this gem. Excellent movie. Awesome ride back in time for technology/computing history. A great lesson in how you can have all the right pieces but it matters how and when you use them.

[Steve Jarrett @stevejarrett]

Netcom dial-up shell account in 1994

Then, gave the first public demo of web browsing over cellular using that account in the CTIA keynote in March 1996 on a @generalmagicmov device with @marcporat, Jim Barksdale of Netscape, and @TomWheelerFCC

[Nick Harris @NickD2C]

Few movies stir up nostalgia like General Magic. What a crazy ride that must have been @tfadell.

[Tony Fadell @tfadell]

Crazy is an understatement! Wouldn’t have traded that adventure for anything…. @generalmagicmov

[Nash @NashVail]

@akshay_moorthy @generalmagicmov Oh yes have watched it multiple times. Fantastic!

[Akshay @akshay_moorthy]

@NashVail Do checkout @generalmagicmov
Can’t recommend enough 😬

[General Magic @generalmagicmov]

@NashVail @akshay_moorthy thanks team 🙏🏻

[Huxley Dunsany @Huxley_D]

Having a Generally Magical Saturday at my place 😍

#RetroComputing @generalmagicmov

[General Magic @generalmagicmov]

@ES_Entrepreneur @JohannaTC @SuzanneHeywood @saashaN8 @TamaraLohan @mykolska @TamaraBoxRS @Tamara_Rajah we saw that article too. it needs a movie. staggering story ….!

[General Magic @generalmagicmov]

@codyaims @lucy_guo only probably?! 👀😆🤟🏻

[Cody James 🇺🇸 @codyaims]

@lucy_guo @lucy_guo you’ll probably enjoy @generalmagicmov - v important documentary! PayPal mafia couldn’t exist without them