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Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

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Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#11

Post by thinkpad20 »

MBCook wrote: post #3
benjohnson wrote: post #2

My opinion: The people that bailed on Peter Thiel would have been potential flighty partners for other reasons later on. If someone can't abide by a business partner having a different political view then that could indicate a rather rigid mindset - and given the fluid nature of business, that could become a liability at some point in future.

There is a big difference between a different political view and the words and actions of Donald Trump. If it was Romney or Cruz or Rubio or almost anyone else I don't think you'd see any of this happen.

Yes, agreed.

That said, Peter Thiel has said and done offensive things in the past on many occasions. Support of a Trump candidacy should not be surprising for someone who has said that women's right to vote is a threat to democracy, or who would bankrupt a company to retaliate for an employee outing him. I'm happy to see Thiel start to have repercussions for his actions, but the same tech community that forced Brendan Eich out of a job for a $1000 political donation has taken years to start forcibly taking a stand against Peter Thiel. Clearly, Thiel has tons of money and business acumen, which a lot of people want more than to "do the right thing". I imagine all of this -- if it is significant at all -- dies down after the election anyway.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#12

Post by ashark »

MBCook wrote: post #3
benjohnson wrote: post #2

My opinion: The people that bailed on Peter Thiel would have been potential flighty partners for other reasons later on. If someone can't abide by a business partner having a different political view then that could indicate a rather rigid mindset - and given the fluid nature of business, that could become a liability at some point in future.

There is a big difference between a different political view and the words and actions of Donald Trump. If it was Romney or Cruz or Rubio or almost anyone else I don't think you'd see any of this happen.

There's also a big difference between supporting a candidate the way a normal person does—donate a little money, stuff some envelopes at their local campaign office, that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. Said reputation and the fortune backing those donations become fair game in the field of politics when you do something like that. Acting the part of the big-money political oligarch-influencer draws heat and has consequences, and it ought to.

The notion that you can throw in with a campaign in this manner and expect people to act like this is somehow disconnected from every other part of your life, and especially your business life, is absurd. They're obviously tightly linked. It reminds me of the outrage a kid expresses when they think they've found a way to be a jerk and not get in trouble for it, then get called out on it by an adult.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#13

Post by mikeyouse »

MorePowerToYou wrote: post #6

I understand the separation between business/investment realtionships and political affiliation. Most politicians actions are relatively benign. Hence, overlooking the political affiliation of investors with said politicians is easy. However, there's a point when a politician is advocating for something so egregious that supporting said politician can no longer be ignored. Currently, Trump is "just" advocating for ra…

If Trump hasn't said something one considers egregious I posit they probably haven't been paying attention

Advocating waterboarding and 'think that are unthinkable';

> We’re going to have to be a lot sharper and we’re going to have to do things that are unthinkable almost. Unthinkable, when you look at what’s happening to us, when you look at what’s going on in this country and around the world, and we don’t want, you know they’re allowed to cut off heads and they’re allowed to chop off heads and we can’t water board.

Killing the families of terrorists;

> The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don't kid yourself. When they say they don't care about their lives, you have to take out their families

Executing Snowden;

> “We have to get him back and we have to get him back fast. It could take months or it could take years, and that would be pathetic.” [..] “This guy’s a bad guy and, you know, there’s still a thing called execution,” he said.

Suing the press;

> “Well, in England they have a system where you can actually sue if someone says something wrong. Our press is allowed to say whatever they want and get away with it,”

Along with the religion bans, mosque surveillance, Mexico is sending their rapists, Hispanic judges can't be impartial, suspending 2nd amendment rights for people not convicted of crimes (though Hillary agrees here), and on and on and on..

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#14

Post by latch »

arkitaip wrote: post #5
benjohnson wrote: post #2

My opinion: The people that bailed on Peter Thiel would have been potential flighty partners for other reasons later on. If someone can't abide by a business partner having a different political view then that could indicate a rather rigid mindset - and given the fluid nature of business, that could become a liability at some point in future.

This isn't about politics. Trump is a con man, sexual predator and racist and by donating millions to him, Thiel's judgement and ethics should be questioned.

Yup.

I don't know if Trump's a con man. I don't know if he's a sexual predator (doesn't look good though). But he is a racist. Even if you agree with some of what Trump says (audit the fed!), the racism is such an big part of his platform, that supporting him is actively and knowingly supporting [extreme] racism.

Whenever something bad happens, people here get on their high horse. "The VW engineers should have quit", "How do NSA employees sleep at night?". The VW engineers are looking relatively ethical all of a sudden.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#15

Post by drewrv »

MorePowerToYou wrote: post #6

I understand the separation between business/investment realtionships and political affiliation. Most politicians actions are relatively benign. Hence, overlooking the political affiliation of investors with said politicians is easy. However, there's a point when a politician is advocating for something so egregious that supporting said politician can no longer be ignored. Currently, Trump is "just" advocating for ra…

Trump has advocated for the death penalty to be used against innocent teenagers. I'd say that's worse than torture.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/08/do...

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#16

Post by grzm »

MorePowerToYou wrote: post #6

I understand the separation between business/investment realtionships and political affiliation. Most politicians actions are relatively benign. Hence, overlooking the political affiliation of investors with said politicians is easy. However, there's a point when a politician is advocating for something so egregious that supporting said politician can no longer be ignored. Currently, Trump is "just" advocating for ra…

> For some, Trump's actions have crossed that line. For others, it hasn't happened yet.

I think that's a good description. And this is making a lot of people think about where that line is.

There's another dimension here as well. Putting aside the particular actions and stances of these candidates, the US has effectively a binary choice for the presidential election. We all have a large number of beliefs, and we rank those beliefs as well.

Given a binary choice, it's highly unlikely that your personal beliefs are going to perfectly align with either candidate. Which beliefs are you going to compromise on in choosing your candidate?

Given the record-high strong unfavorable ratings of both candidates[0], it's pretty clear most of the voters are going to be compromising on some values they likely hold to be pretty important. That's a tough place to be, both personally, and when you see others making choices that you don't agree with.

It's heartening to see people vocally take (civil) action on their beliefs -- on both sides. As long as we can remember that in addition to the things we disagree on -- a particular issue, who we end up voting for -- there are things we agree on as well.*

[0]: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-distaste-for-b...

* Please don't take this as advocating false-equivalency. We need to at least start from a position of being charitable towards each other if we're going to work together.

In the hopes of better communication, if you'd like to down vote this comment, will you also take the time to add a brief reply? I appreciate it.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#17

Post by grzm »

ashark wrote: post #12
MBCook wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a big difference between a different political view and the words and actions of Donald Trump. If it was Romney or Cruz or Rubio or almost anyone else I don't think you'd see any of this happen.

There's also a big difference between supporting a candidate the way a normal person does—donate a little money, stuff some envelopes at their local campaign office, that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. Said reputation and the fortune backing those donations become fair game in the field of politics when you do s…

"The notion that you can throw in with a campaign in this manner and expect people to act like this is somehow disconnected from every other part of your life, and especially your business life, is absurd."

Agreed. Throw in with a campaign or do anything else for that matter. Has there been anything from Peter Thiel on the response to his donation? I think it's highly likely he anticipated some kind of response to his donation. He may well have weighed this very response when making his decision to donate.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#18

Post by ashark »

grzm wrote: post #17
ashark wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also a big difference between supporting a candidate the way a normal person does—donate a little money, stuff some envelopes at their local campaign office, that kind of thing—and lending them your substantial business reputation very publicly, and donating large amounts of money to their campaign. Said reputation and the fortune backing those donations become fair game in the field of politics when you do s…

"The notion that you can throw in with a campaign in this manner and expect people to act like this is somehow disconnected from every other part of your life, and especially your business life, is absurd." Agreed. Throw in with a campaign or do anything else for that matter. Has there been anything from Peter Thiel on the response to his donation? I think it's highly likely he anticipated some kind of response to hi…

> Has there been anything from Peter Thiel on the response to his donation?

Right, to be clear I wasn't likening Thiel in particular to the kid in my analogy, since, like you, I'm not aware of how or even whether he's weighed in on this.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#19

Post by AKrumbach »

MorePowerToYou wrote: post #6

I understand the separation between business/investment realtionships and political affiliation. Most politicians actions are relatively benign. Hence, overlooking the political affiliation of investors with said politicians is easy. However, there's a point when a politician is advocating for something so egregious that supporting said politician can no longer be ignored. Currently, Trump is "just" advocating for ra…

> [T]here's a point when a politician is advocating for something so egregious that supporting said politician can no longer be ignored.

There are no words by which I can be sufficiently emphatic in my disagreement.

Politics [whether at the national level, or "mere" office politics] is the process of making group decisions. Democratic politics are built upon a shared group consensus. The only way this process can be valid -- that is, to have an outcome which accurately reflects the communal beliefs of the group -- is if the members can express themselves unhindered by fear of repercussion.

The only response in a democratic system to ideas with which you disagree is to argue against and persuade their audience to no longer support them. To do otherwise is to repudiate the very premises and processes upon which modern representative government is built.

Re: Peter Thiel’s Politics Become a Deal-Killer in Silicon Valley

#20

Post by grzm »

ashark wrote: post #18
grzm wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"The notion that you can throw in with a campaign in this manner and expect people to act like this is somehow disconnected from every other part of your life, and especially your business life, is absurd." Agreed. Throw in with a campaign or do anything else for that matter. Has there been anything from Peter Thiel on the response to his donation? I think it's highly likely he anticipated some kind of response to hi…

> Has there been anything from Peter Thiel on the response to his donation? Right, to be clear I wasn't likening Thiel in particular to the kid in my analogy, since, like you, I'm not aware of how or even whether he's weighed in on this.

That was clear to me. Likewise I hope you didn't take my comment as assuming you were! Your analogy got me thinking about the situation from Thiel's perspective. This whole election has had me thinking about a lot of things.

Frankly, part of why I responded to you was because it looks like you're trying to look at the behavior in general rather than the politics in particular, and I appreciate that. I'm trying to do the same.

Thanks for being part of that!

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