I'm sure Quora views took a hit after ChatGPT. Not like Quora was any good before ChatGPT, they just managed to get to the top of Google results for a lot of common questions.
Now, Poe by Quora was trying to go big on custom agents. The GPT Agents announcement on DevDay was a fundamental threat to Poe in many ways.
I'm convinced that Adam D'Angelo probably had some influence on the other two board members too. He should've left the board of OpenAI the moment OpenAI and his own company were competing in the same space.
The smartest white hot startup on the planet has the smallest board and most inexperienced
How did that even happen on Sam’s watch?
My take: he always thought Ilya would have his back with Greg and the 3 overrule ruled anybody , so they kept it small
Bad idea
If you look at Poe as a value add for existing Quora users, instead of a feature that is going to grow their userbase, it's still a net win for Quora even if GPT agents exist simultaneously.
Poe is not really meant as a value addition for Quora users. Poe was a general AI chat company, like ChatGPT.
Poe's unique selling point was their 'chat agents with customizable instructions/personality' and they were charging people money for this while pretty much building on OpenAI GPT API. They also had an agents store.
During DevDay when Sam announced GPTAgents and store, that was a fundamental threat to Poes existance.
Also keep in mind that a year earlier in Spring 2017 Sam Altman led Quora's Series D, after YC previously joined in on Quora's Series C in 2014. So the two of them clearly had some pre-existing relationship.
I don't think OpenAI and Quora (the product) are a serious conflict of interest. You claim "I'm sure Quora views took a hit after ChatGPT" but I really doubt that's true in any meaningful way. Quora's struggles are a separate issue and predate the GPT craze of the last year.
Nor were Poe and OpenAI competitors until recently; Poe was simply building on top of OpenAI models, the same as hundreds of other ventures in the space right now.
However...I do agree that the GPTs announcement two weeks ago now creates a very clear conflict of interest--OpenAI is now competing directly against Poe. And because of that, I agree that Adam probably should leave the board.
The timing also raises the question of whether booting Sam is in any way related to the GPTs launch and to Poe. Perhaps Sam wasn't candid about the fact that they were about to be competing with Adam's company. The whole thing is messy and not a good look and exactly why you try to avoid these conflicts of interest to begin with.
What do you imagine he could have done about the board of a non-profit as CEO and fellow board-member?
As board members, both Altman and Brockman would have presumably had to vote on any changes to the board - including reduction in number of members and appointment of new members.
Do you think the composition of the board before Friday could've been reached without some level of support from Altman and Brockman?
There is nuance to this point.