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Contact Ben Horowitz for $20

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Re: Contact Ben Horowitz for $20

#51

Post by wfzimmerman »

bnjms wrote: post #37
tonydiv wrote: post #11

Are any popular Bitcoin apps using their APIs? I don't really see how an API marketplace paid via Bitcoin is better than a credit card bill at the end of the month based on API usage.

I don't see how it is not better. Credit Cards require use of credit providers and all the overhead that entails; minimum payments included. Most of the time this does not bite us and it Just Works except for when we try to step outside of the expected transaction model as we do with say Paypal which has known and necessary pros and cons. A proper bitcoin API has the potential to allow for the transactional web every…

try Blendle.

Re: Contact Ben Horowitz for $20

#53

Post by tptacek »

metaphorm wrote: post #50
tptacek wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely a fantastic way to abate nuisance outreach is to allow people to entitle themselves to your time for the price of a 12 pack of beer. This will have the opposite effect of the one you propose. Virtually everybody can afford $20; what he's doing is giving people new permission to contact him , and not only that but by attaching a price tag to it he's giving them expectations about his attention.

yes, actually. compared to $0 cash gate, anyway. he wants some level of email interaction, but only if you're above some threshold of seriousness. its not a very high threshold, but is enough to prevent trolling and spamming in any case.

You really think that now that he's posted this offer, nobody's going to troll or spam him without spending $20 first?

I'm not suggesting that this is the most impactful charity thing anyone's ever done --- this is marginal stuff, to be sure --- but the trope where we try to unwind any charitable impulse anyone has to some insidious subtextual personal interest is always tiresome and virtually never very insightful.

It's particularly dumb in this case.

Re: Contact Ben Horowitz for $20

#54

Post by j2kun »

dnautics wrote: post #43
j2kun wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody said or implied that, just as an organization hoping to cure polio doesn't think that's the only illness worth curing.

that's a bad example, because the organization that cured polio moved on to 'other things' and is now one of the 'go to' examples of charity drift and nonprofit mismanagement.

That's interesting, and I didn't know it before (reference?), so thank you! But my point was to use an apolitical example to illustrate the flaw in logic. Whether or not the same organization was mismanaged is irrelevant to that point. In fact, that they "moved on" to other things is evidence to my point that you cannot infer a polio-cure organization actively excludes other illnesses in a general "what are important problems to solve" sense.

Re: Contact Ben Horowitz for $20

#56

Post by lkbm »

bhouston wrote: post #8

It may could encourage people to contact him more by giving them a form of permission: > To come to our surprising conclusion, Uri ran an experiment: Out of 10 daycare centers across Haifa, they randomly chose six and introduced a small fine for parents who showed up more than 10 minutes late in each of them. In day cares where the fine was introduced, parents immediately started showing up late, with tardiness level…

While I've always loved this anecdote, and it may be true, I seem to recall some flaws being found in this particular study. That said, I can't back up my memory with sources--there are some 1600 citations of "A Fine is a Price", and no stand-out "this has been refuted" reference showing up at a glance. :-/

Re: Contact Ben Horowitz for $20

#58

Post by josh_carterPDX »

metaphorm wrote: post #36
josh_carterPDX wrote: post #19

This is such an incredible way to raise money for a great cause. If you have people trying to access you, why not put something like this together? I love that this is benefiting someone other than Ben. Kudos to him for doing this. Hopefully more follow his example.

are you serious? if Horowitz was really committed to the cause he would just personally donate a large amount of money (he has plenty) and not bother engaging in any of the public virtue signaling behaviors. it seems pretty obvious that he put the "donated to charity" sticker on the form to deflect accusations that he was profiteering from his fame. seems to me more like he was getting too much shit mail and wanted t…

Snide comments aside, this entire response is jaded, accusatory, and presumptuous.

I don't know how much money Ben has nor do I care. I responded, paid the $20, and my message was a simple "Thank you!"

You either choose to see the good or try to tie in your own negative narrative. I choose to assume his intentions were noble and supported the cause.

Re: Contact Ben Horowitz for $20

#59

Post by the_watcher »

metaphorm wrote: post #36
josh_carterPDX wrote: post #19

This is such an incredible way to raise money for a great cause. If you have people trying to access you, why not put something like this together? I love that this is benefiting someone other than Ben. Kudos to him for doing this. Hopefully more follow his example.

are you serious? if Horowitz was really committed to the cause he would just personally donate a large amount of money (he has plenty) and not bother engaging in any of the public virtue signaling behaviors. it seems pretty obvious that he put the "donated to charity" sticker on the form to deflect accusations that he was profiteering from his fame. seems to me more like he was getting too much shit mail and wanted t…

You seem to be presuming that he has not donated a large sum of money to this cause.

Re: Contact Ben Horowitz for $20

#60

Post by metaphorm »

tptacek wrote: post #53
metaphorm wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yes, actually. compared to $0 cash gate, anyway. he wants some level of email interaction, but only if you're above some threshold of seriousness. its not a very high threshold, but is enough to prevent trolling and spamming in any case.

You really think that now that he's posted this offer, nobody's going to troll or spam him without spending $20 first? I'm not suggesting that this is the most impactful charity thing anyone's ever done --- this is marginal stuff, to be sure --- but the trope where we try to unwind any charitable impulse anyone has to some insidious subtextual personal interest is always tiresome and virtually never very insightful.…

you ever been to a bar/stage where there's a cover charge at the door? you know why the cover charge is such a tiny amount of money?

this is a cover charge. yes, I do expect it to keep out 99% of trolls and spammers.

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