Tl;dr >We agree that people shouldn’t be fired for their political views, but
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Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
41–50 of 414 posts
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#42There is clear precedent for YC taking a political stand by uninviting investors. Only five years ago, Paul Graham was willing to uninvite investors from Demo Day based on their support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). https://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/paul-graham-sopa-supportin... Paul asked, "If these companies are so clueless about technology that they think SOPA is a good idea, how could they be good invest…
There is very much a difference between "uninviting companies" based on their support of a bill and firing a partner for his personal political viewpoints.
These aren't apples to apples comparisons; this issue isn't that simple.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#43There is clear precedent for YC taking a political stand by uninviting investors. Only five years ago, Paul Graham was willing to uninvite investors from Demo Day based on their support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). https://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/paul-graham-sopa-supportin... Paul asked, "If these companies are so clueless about technology that they think SOPA is a good idea, how could they be good invest…
I disagree that opposing SOPA is just political, supporting SOPA threatens innovation which threatens the startup community which in turns threatens YC's bottom line. Therefore opposing SOPA and denying investors access based on their support is a business decision.
We don't disagree. The SOPA decision was both a business decision and a political decision. Any decision a business makes is a business decision, regardless of whether it is also a political decision.
The decision YC is making about Thiel is also both a political decision and a business decision.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#44There is clear precedent for YC taking a political stand by uninviting investors. Only five years ago, Paul Graham was willing to uninvite investors from Demo Day based on their support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). https://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/paul-graham-sopa-supportin... Paul asked, "If these companies are so clueless about technology that they think SOPA is a good idea, how could they be good invest…
There is very much a difference between "uninviting companies " based on their support of a bill and firing a partner for his personal political viewpoints. These aren't apples to apples comparisons; this issue isn't that simple.
YC companies aren't exactly multi-thousand-employee affairs. When you disinvite a YC company, you're really making a value judgment about its founders.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#45There is clear precedent for YC taking a political stand by uninviting investors. Only five years ago, Paul Graham was willing to uninvite investors from Demo Day based on their support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). https://techcrunch.com/2011/12/22/paul-graham-sopa-supportin... Paul asked, "If these companies are so clueless about technology that they think SOPA is a good idea, how could they be good invest…
There is very much a difference between "uninviting companies " based on their support of a bill and firing a partner for his personal political viewpoints. These aren't apples to apples comparisons; this issue isn't that simple.
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Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#46It may be worth noting that Goldman Sachs recently banned all of its partners from donating to the Trump ticket, as of September 1, 2016. They can still donate to Clinton. [1]
NOTE: Technically, they banned contributions "to state and local candidates running for office, as well as state or local officials running for federal office." as of September 1, 2016. Since Mike Pence is a sitting state official, it means that Goldman partners can't contribute to the Trump-Pence ticket.
[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/09/07/goldman-sachs-donati...
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#47Wow, the world is getting way too fractured between left and right. Reading that, the YC folks make out that Trump is a monster and any affiliation with him is evil. Come on, try to understand why people are supporting him. I don't think it's racism and sexism that's driving this, it's the wedge between left and right. Combine that with the two party system and people find themselves with little choice. When you vilify everyone on the other side there is little chance they'll come over to yours.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#48Based on the awful things Trump has said and (apparently) done, it should be blatantly clear to anyone remotely following the election that isn't your usual political rivalry. Pao is right: "this isn’t a disagreement on tax policy, this is advocating hatred and violence." Quite literally at times! (I might give a pass to the people following the party line or acting on incomplete information, but Thiel knows exactly…
> To them, supporting Trump and Clinton are equally bad
No, to us destroying a person for their political views is disgusting, even if we disagree with them.
A person should not lose their job, their status on a board, their inclusion in an event, etc. based on who they decide to support politically.
That's disgusting and people who support that sort of witch hunt should be ashamed of themselves.
I vehemently disagree with his choice of who to support during this election, but I find the calls for his head even more repugnant. That sort of intolerance should have no place in a civil society.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#49Based on the awful things Trump has said and (apparently) done, it should be blatantly clear to anyone remotely following the election that isn't your usual political rivalry. Pao is right: "this isn’t a disagreement on tax policy, this is advocating hatred and violence." Quite literally at times! (I might give a pass to the people following the party line or acting on incomplete information, but Thiel knows exactly…
Not to mention "single issue voting" has become a huge trend in this country. Do you know any friends who are LGBT who will vote democrat just because of gay rights, but on any other day of the week are fiscally conservative?
I'm sure there are more than one of those people voting for Trump because of some issue they disagree with Hillary on, or some single issue they disagree with Trump on.
Re: Peter Thiel, YC, and hard decisions
#50I don't get how you can be so cognizant of the problem of misaligned values while at the same time having an unquestionable faith in the value of diversity. How can you avoid cognitive dissonance here, except through a very shallow understanding of diversity that assumes all people or groups of people hold roughly the same values and beliefs and that where they differ, the difference never results in unresolvable incompatibility?