People have been signaling this for quite some time.
Throughout this thread you attempt to dispel this perception, but I can't help but wonder why this isn't being addressed on a higher level at YC. Whether misperception or not, this view is certainly not contained to just HN, and is even shared by those who have no idea that this forum exists.
Really think we are due for the black swan event of user data — payment info, explicit personal photos, private conversations, etc. The average person just has way too much implicit trust in these large corporations who for the most part do not take their privacy obligations seriously.
I’m neither an engineer nor an architect, so this may come off as incredibly naive, but why wouldn’t layers of reinforcement — eg a retaining wall or guardrail — some distance out and around the main pillars help mitigate this kind of risk?
Would be of great service if YC were more upfront about its biases to applicants. The narrative that YC is an accessible path for anyone seems to contradict the actions taken.
Where is the outreach to those outside of elite academic and professional circles?
> Why are we socially trained to accept “people say Musk is rich so it must be true?”
We're not socially trained for this. People don't think it's true because people say it. They think it's true because he owns a large stake in a lot of extremely valuable companies.
Okay, but "rich" isn't, if you've accepted people can own things.
Not killing people is a socialised concept. I don't think this banale-fact-dressed-up-as-criticism of "is a social construct" is worth much. And if it is, it's also a social construct, as are the words used to communicate it. So should we then ignore it?
People can own things != minority of people should own all the things. Gradients, ranges, distributions, not binary.
If it’s so banal it would have no influence but you seem to accept the underlying; “banal” facts have power and social concepts are mutable. So you push back with empty rhetoric, over generalizing others to avoid the powerful fact socialized society is hallucination.
I never criticized “social concepts” either. I criticized our current social concept. Others can be propagated. Your banal attempt to generalize specifics is a lame rhetorical approach where you both accept socialized society as a concept but refuse to debate its specifics (that would require actual effort not just miming money/assets changed hands via paperwork).
May as well browse r/conservative as all HN is ever shipping is fealty to who we say is smart and rich but never requires them to prove it, but requires us to kneel and kiss the rings regardless, as if spoken tradition and written records are real evidence of skill and accomplishment when billions are spent reminding us these things are true.
The stations are filthy, have poor accessibility, the signage is tattered, the PA systems almost never work, the ETAs are often wrong if they’re even offered. That’s aside from the not uncommon sights and smells of piss in the cars themselves. The bus system is a different crapshoot altogether.
I find it interesting how often when people complain about how poor the experience is, there are those like you who seem to be quite content with maintaining a fairly low standard.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I agree on all counts and it really is decades behind other (non-US) cities – but again, I'd take it over driving a car myself and having to worry about traffic and parking any day, congestion charge or not.
I don't have a great idea for addressing all of these problems, but I strongly suspect that people who can afford it opting out of public transit in favor of cars would be even worse.
> I find it interesting how often when people complain about how poor the experience is, there are those like you who seem to be quite content with maintaining a fairly low standard.
Those of us from outside Manhattan envy what you have because it's better than what we have.
I was just in Manhattan last week and commenting to my friend how I didn't even need to look it up ahead of time -- I knew that I could get where I needed to go using the MTA. Can't say the same for pretty much any other city.
It’s so deflating to see both YC & PG focus their content almost solely on the younger generations. As someone who came to tech later in their mid-30s, it’s not hard to feel like expired goods when the “thought leaders” of tech are unabashedly gunning for younger minds with little to no acknowledgement of those who may want to start ventures during later stages of life.
The more I try to plug myself in, the more it seems like starting a company at this age is borderline schizophrenic delusion.
That makes them sound a bit more predatory than the reality of it but I get what you mean. When you're younger, by definition, you've got more shots on goal, you don't have other responsibilities (mortgage, kids, partners etc.) so you can take more riskier decisions, and you more have to rely on first principle thinking instead of experience (because you don't have any).
Saying that, I would like to see the advice for higher age ranges as I have a feeling more successful startups tend to be around there.
As someone of a higher age, I would suggest that we don’t really need any advice.
I read all his essays long ago, when I was young, and it sounded persuading to me. I think it even influenced me here and there. Now, somewhat a decade or two later, I take it with a grain of salt, and don’t get it as it is. Some things are just quite manipulative. I can read them as someone’s point of view, but not as someone I would even listen to, not to say follow the advice. I know much better for myself and what’s around me.
E.g. a man like me would never go to a VC, it’s a waste of my time and energy, and I can easily earn all the money I need to run my idea till the production. Why would I want anyone like him, to give me money and help grow my idea infinitely? People like him are interested in Unicorns, that’s how he multiplies his money, that’s how the system works. People like me are interested in steady, reliable businesses that actually deliver.
Personally, I’m very disappointed with most of the unicorns I used before. They’re non-existent to me. Hence, I wouldn’t listen to people who follow the Unicorns. I think that’s why we don’t have any advice for a higher age.
I think it’s partially because of the nature of VCs (which is partially why I’d never use a vc but rather bootstrap and fail). If your parent organisation’s goal is a 100x return you don’t mind 9/10 startups burning up in an attempt.
YC in that sense is a full “all guns blazing” thing. It’s generally younger folks who don’t mind eating ramen and don’t have to take care of a large family, and hence are more likely to go into a startup full time. Combine these two and I think you see what I mean.
Btw this isn’t a new criticism of YC/VCs, it’s something that’s been around for a while.
I had the same sort of reaction, even though I felt like the article was not intending to invoke that.
Looking back, when I was the age in the article I was way too insecure and nervous to be able to take this advice. Looking at it now I think it is great and want to set my children up with that way of thinking.
Don't be deflated - it is not a negative statement on you. For most people, going the startup route is bad advice. Older people know that and take much more care to set up safety nets for themselves before going into the VC world. I don't want to go so far to say that YC & PC are exploiting the naivety of youth... but they certainly know which demographics will embrace the risk vs. which will not, and they speak accordingly.
Something tells me you are wholly unaware of the damage that addiction and obesity can inflict not just on the person afflicted, but on their family, community, and society as a whole. The benefits/costs equation is so massively lopsided here that you'd be cruel to advocate that people endure years of avoidable torment to satisfy your faulty notion of free will / agency. I can't think of anything more agency-promoting than ridding someone of their addictions.
What line would you draw between the technology existing and being useful to society and people's fundamental and inalienable right to refuse ever having it used on them?
Following their original thread, how would you feel if the government decided that this could be used for criminal correction, or if a company made going through a quick brain cleanse a part of the hiring process, or a college part of it's onboarding, or the military a part of boot camp?
Do we clean every spot to flawless similarity or just clean the bad thoughts?
If the latter, who gets to decide what the bad thoughts are?
Your argument is akin to being against needles because the government might use them to perform lethal injections.
I don't know if you've ever known any addicts, but they aren't exactly happy about being addicted. Give them a treatment that works and is affordable and most of them will be just happy to get some targeted head buzzing to treat their symptoms.
I think it's only the "Share availability" functionality. You can drag times you are available, then it copies text to your clipboard like this, plus a booking link:
Would 30 min during any of these times (all in PST) work for you?
- Tomorrow Thu Jan 18, 3-5:45 PM
- Fri Jan 19, 12:15-5:45 PM
- Sat Jan 20, 8 AM - 5:45 PM
You can just let me know or confirm here: [link]
What's nice is that you can also change the time zone so the other person sees the suggestions in their time zone.
I don't think you can just do a generic scheduling link like Calendly, you have to pick the times first.
I naively dropped out of grad school to cofound a startup where I was pushed out at the 11th hour before it was acquired. Took some personal time off to process the fallout and have been doing some consulting the past couple years.
No network. No achievements. No notable educational or professional institutions on the CV. Just what feels like an ever-narrowing path to any sort of career success.
In what industry were you operating? What was your role? What hats did you wear as a consultant?
You sound a little negative and self-defeatist about everything, whereas a lot of people would be able to spin even a startup failure as an amazing learning and growing experience.
Fintech, “led” product. And by led, I mean shoot from the hip with no strategy, no experience, and no structure, with a CEO cofounder who from day 1 tried to push me out.
I was sadly incapable of acquiring
the mentorship, knowledge, and resources I needed on my own. I was naive and wholly ignorant. I ran around like a headless chicken for 5 years constantly putting out fires and looking over my shoulder.
Lasting for 5 years in any company means you were doing some things right.
Right now you sound very defeatist and negative and it would be tough for somebody to hire you if this is the mindset you convey to the world.
Treat this as a creative writing exercise. Sit down and list the things you did, and spin them as positively as possible. Even if you didn't do something perfect, so what? You think every company out there is doing everything perfect?
You have learning experiences that lots of people will never have. Cofounding and running a startup is no small feat. And you will never make some of the mistakes again, either, particularly when it comes to the demands of cofounders or investors.
Could never understand people who order a stack of pancakes / waffles first thing in the morning. You couldn’t find a more malnourishing meal. Hell, have a burger and fries instead.
Same. And it wouldn't be sleep. It would be some restless, bizarre sugar coma where I can't get out of bed and must continue sleeping, even though my glucometer assures me that everything is fine.
People have been signaling this for quite some time.
Throughout this thread you attempt to dispel this perception, but I can't help but wonder why this isn't being addressed on a higher level at YC. Whether misperception or not, this view is certainly not contained to just HN, and is even shared by those who have no idea that this forum exists.