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Y Combinator Cuts Ties with Peter Thiel After Ending Part-Time Partner Program

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Re: Y Combinator Cuts Ties with Peter Thiel After Ending Part-Time Partner Program

#31

Post by fullshark »

tptacek wrote: post #10

Can we save ourselves a really long, pointless political argument? They ended the entire part-time-partner program, and transitioned some of the part-timers to advisor roles. Thiel is one of multiple part-timers not to become an advisor. You are not going to get an answer, or more "context", from YC about the political implications of this change. No matter how many times you ask and how carefully you word the questi…

If Thiel was removed solely for political reasons, that is outrageous imo. I hope this post isn’t just to deflect potential criticism.

Re: Y Combinator Cuts Ties with Peter Thiel After Ending Part-Time Partner Program

#32

Post by fleitz »

meritt wrote: post #25
sp332 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

-

There's a lot I could point to but the most meaningful one that is that people were overwhelmingly complacent based on the assumption that Trump couldn't possibly win. This comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12735404

The delicious irony of seeing the losers not accept the results of the election was icing on a big stats cake. It was so obvious he was going to win if you looked at the raw polling data.

Edit: I love how I still get downvoted a year later for stating the obvious. It’s funny how upset people get at those who tell the truth.

Re: Y Combinator Cuts Ties with Peter Thiel After Ending Part-Time Partner Program

#33

Post by defen »

pault wrote: post #3
LeoJiWoo wrote: post #2

Rumors are swirling that Thiel is gearing up for economic/regulatory war on silicon valley. So I can't say this is surprising but I find it all extremely confusing. EDIT: Mostly rumors I hear from happy hours with some politicos in DC. Sorry, its just meat space rumors.

What would he have to gain from such a war?

Righteous vengeance? He seems like the kind of guy who enjoys that kind of thing. He took a ton of flak for supporting Trump, and I'll bet a lot of people burned bridges, certain of a Clinton victory. But then against all odds Trump won and all of a sudden Thiel has a lot of friends in high places, and it's payback time.

Re: Y Combinator Cuts Ties with Peter Thiel After Ending Part-Time Partner Program

#34

Post by fleitz »

owens99 wrote: post #23

This post does not appear to contain any evidence that YC has cut ties with Peter Thiel. They ended the program that he, and many other individuals, were a part of. Just because he is not in this program anymore, does not mean they no longer have any ties to him. There is also no evidence of any connection here to Trump or Thiel's support of him with the ending of the program or Thiel's lack of involvement in a diffe…

In the future just avoid anything on buzzfeed, it’s all clickbait

Re: Y Combinator Cuts Ties with Peter Thiel After Ending Part-Time Partner Program

#35

Post by fleitz »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #5

Can anyone provide context to this? Sam has been on record saying that he wouldn't cut Thiel solely for political affiliations. Was there another reason?

There is another much more sinister reason:

The program he was involved in got terminated

Re: Y Combinator Cuts Ties with Peter Thiel After Ending Part-Time Partner Program

#37

Post by htormey »

non_sequitur wrote: post #6
LeoJiWoo wrote: post #2

Rumors are swirling that Thiel is gearing up for economic/regulatory war on silicon valley. So I can't say this is surprising but I find it all extremely confusing. EDIT: Mostly rumors I hear from happy hours with some politicos in DC. Sorry, its just meat space rumors.

What kind of rumors? Any links or anything that would give some context?

Apparently an AG that Thiel gave money to is investigating google for antitrust stuff in Missouri:

“But it’s not the first time Thiel has handed cash to an AG who went after Google over monopoly concerns.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley announced Nov. 13 that his office was investigating Google to see if the Mountain View tech giant had violated the state’s antitrust and consumer-protection laws. The Missouri attorney general said he had issued an investigative subpoena to Google. He’s looking at the firm’s handling of users’ personal data, along with claims that it misappropriated content from rivals and pushed down competitors’ websites in search results.”

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/11/15/is-billionaire-vc-pete...

Re: Y Combinator Cuts Ties with Peter Thiel After Ending Part-Time Partner Program

#38

Post by aaronbrethorst »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #28
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, let's not argue. But it's fine to be curious. Sam has said that he won't cut Thiel for political ties. Thiel is cut. Does this represent an internal shift in momentum, or an external shift in appearances? Combine that with some recent news regarding Thiel. I wish I'd paid more attention to it. It was something like, Thiel was making a move against a certain company. So maybe it has nothing to do with politics,…

Let me try to pull some intellectual gratification out of this: A source close to Y Combinator said that the company ended its part-time partners program, which Thiel was a part of, some time last year. While some other part-time partners moved over to a program called "experts," which provides advice to Y Combinator entrepreneurs, Thiel did not join. It's legit fascinating to me to watch this in action. Let's say hy…

"Just form another group, then don't invite Thiel to the new group" didn't even occur to me. That's smart.

It is also a plot point from The Simpsons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7R3hzpfnmw

Re: Y Combinator Cuts Ties with Peter Thiel After Ending Part-Time Partner Program

#39

Post by sp332 »

meritt wrote: post #25
sp332 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

-

There's a lot I could point to but the most meaningful one that is that people were overwhelmingly complacent based on the assumption that Trump couldn't possibly win. This comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12735404

Ok yeah, that makes sense.

Re: Y Combinator Cuts Ties with Peter Thiel After Ending Part-Time Partner Program

#40

Post by derefr »

kenneth wrote: post #26
tptacek wrote: post #10

Can we save ourselves a really long, pointless political argument? They ended the entire part-time-partner program, and transitioned some of the part-timers to advisor roles. Thiel is one of multiple part-timers not to become an advisor. You are not going to get an answer, or more "context", from YC about the political implications of this change. No matter how many times you ask and how carefully you word the questi…

How can you say "can we save ourselves a really long, pointless political argument" and end your post with a divisive political opinion (that you think people with opposing viewpoints should be silenced)? You're literally inviting the debate that you're calling long and pointless. Or perhaps you just want to only share your opinion without others having the same opportunity, so you can have the last word? Personally,…

I think tptacek was trying to discourage the thread from devolving into analysis of YCombinator’s politics (which we don’t really have any useful information on either way), rather than from devolving into political discourse in general. Of course it’s going to revolve into political discourse generally; you may as well lock the thread if you don’t want that.
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