Dave was an excellent CEO and the nicest guy - everyone at SurveyMonkey liked him and liked working for him. This is just devastating news.<p>I saw someone say on Twitter "Dave defined the word 'mensch'" - very true.
Cool video with Dave about startups:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTtnSgQL-Bg" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTtnSgQL-Bg</a>
Dave was one of the best people in the tech space -- genuinely honest, super-smart and just an all-around good guy. He was one of the few people I really looked up to and admired in the valley. This is a huge loss today.
Original source: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/robert.h.goldberg" rel="nofollow">https://www.facebook.com/robert.h.goldberg</a>
"Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.<p>Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.<p>He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.<p>The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good."<p>W. H. Auden
There is some speculation that Goldberg died in Mexican drug violence (courtesy of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel), and that this is being suppressed for reasons unknown - perhaps to limit the damage to Facebook's brand and stock price, perhaps for more sinister reasons.<p><a href="http://www.unz.com/isteve/dave-goldberg-died-same-day-as-cartel-terrorist-outburst/" rel="nofollow">http://www.unz.com/isteve/dave-goldberg-died-same-day-as-car...</a>
It's so sad when people die suddenly. SurveyMonkey itself hasn't even updated their team page [1]. I wonder what happened? Heart attack? I feel for Sheryl Sandberg...she seems like an exceptionally decent and grounded person, which in my experience is rare among obscenely wealthy people.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/aboutus/management/" rel="nofollow">https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/aboutus/management/</a>
I will take this time to write something I wrote on Steve Jobs death: go get a comprehensive health check today. In our community, we are data driven about everything, except our health and body. I will copy what I wrote 1304 days ago, <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3080327" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3080327</a><p>In January 2009 I was Stage 5 chronic kidney disease, in July 2009 I had a kidney transplant.
Looking back there were so many telltale signs that I had over the last six months, which I was ignoring as I was busy building my startup. A regular health check has the potential to catch a problem like this. I now nag each of my friends and family in having an annual health check.<p>Its the best time you can spend.<p>This was not the first time I made a mistake like this. When I was a kid, I had trouble seeing my teacher's blackboard. I just kept moving closer to the blackboard. I saw a doctor when I had trouble understanding what the teacher was writing from the first row.<p>Problems like this creep up on you over years, and they are so gradual you don't realize them.<p>You wont run your site without a Google Analytics/Pingdom. Dont do it with your life. If you haven't had a health check, get it done today.
Of course we dont know why he died but I echo the sentiment that you need to be getting annual physicals and blood work to catch potential issues sooner rather than later.<p>A few years ago a nurse told me my blood pressure was a bit high but I didnt think it was that high to worry about so I never followed up on it. Then a few months ago I went for a dental check up where they checked my blood pressure and after a particularly chaotic morning the nurse told me my blood pressure was 220 over 150, which is crazy high blood pressure The dentist ended the appointment and told me very strongly to go straight to the doctor. When I got there my pressure had gone down to 150 / 90, but the doctor started me on a low dose of blood pressure medicine. It costs $5.00 per month, and who knows what health disaster was awaiting me had I not discovered this.<p>Even if you are relatively normal weight, in your 20s, and healthy, you could still have issues and not realize it until you have a check up.
No one gives a shit about the people that died yestarday <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20150503_U_S__airstrikes_killed_Syrian_villagers__rights_group_claims.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20150503_U_S_...</a> but when this fat idiot dies, its a big deal and makes it to the top of HN. No shit, survey monkey is a billion dollar company. Dont worry I am expecting down votes from angry bigots.