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State of Startups 2017 Survey Results

stateofstartups.firstround.com

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Re: State of Startups 2017 Survey Results

#71

Post by dang »

jesperlang wrote: post #16
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #6

Since 3 out of 9 are about sexual harassment and one is about politics, I was hoping to get your thoughts. These days, people feel increasingly under fire. We have to watch what we say, what we do, who we offend, what our political affiliations are, and whether we are crossing any lines. A little anecdote: I was hacking away on a couch in a mall, and a couple of techies came up to me doing a user study. They asked me…

Your felt your idea wasn't taken seriously in a discussion? You felt you unintentionally became defensive and awkward in some social situations? Congratulations, you just experienced some of the most universal feelings being a woman in our current society. This talk about "can't I flirt anymore?" and similar is just sad. Boohoo, of course you can flirt, but being socially awkward/stupid while doing it is what you can…

This comment crosses into personal attack. That breaks the site guidelines even when you're defending a good cause and/or partially critiquing yourself. Those things don't magically remove the requirement for mutual respect in discussion here.

People sometimes assume that that requirement is waived for them because what they're saying is so legitimate, but these two things are orthogonal, because taking personal shots at others is destructive to the container which is in all our interests to maintain. And it's fragile. Therefore, please don't post like this to Hacker News.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: State of Startups 2017 Survey Results

#72

Post by Veelox »

pavlov wrote: post #64
Veelox wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this mindset is part of what the poster is asking about. It seems like you are celebrating the pulling down of white men instead of being sad we cannot elevate everyone else to phycological safety.

I'm a white man too, and I don't understand what it means to "elevate" the rest of the population without white men having to change their ways. There's a strange Marie Antoinette quality to this discussion. The young queen just wanted everyone to be happy -- why couldn't the poor eat cake too? It's the same with men who sit on top of the present power structure and can't seem to understand why everyone else couldn't…

My current understanding of the idea of white privilege is that white men have structural advantages so that it is easy for them to succeed. Part of this is being unaware of the privilege and having the luxury of not having to notice things.

I like you cake example. I agree with your implied point that not everyone has cake. I think there is a spectrum of solutions to some people having cake and others not. On one side it is to make sure no one has cake (pull down), on the other, it is to make sure everyone has cake (elevate).

A lot of cis white men feel that various equality movements are okay if cis white men end up with no cake. Some even feel like movements are actively trying to take their cake while telling them it is a good thing.

While you might dispute if cake is being taken, that is how some men feel. With my previous comment, I was trying to highlight that the above statement reenforces that worldview.

Cake is a gross oversimplification of a complicated problem but I think it works to get the point across.

Re: State of Startups 2017 Survey Results

#73

Post by Veelox »

#36 asked "A person's political affiliation would influence how you think about:"

If it is possible I really want to see this broken down by political views of the respondent. I feel like that would be a really good data point about if the left wants diversity in thought or not.

My hunch is if you broke it down on left/center/right you would see more poltical bias on the left. That said, since SV is so left leaning it might simply be because those on the left can do it and still find good people while those on the right cannot.

Re: State of Startups 2017 Survey Results

#74

Post by nwenzel »

k__ wrote: post #58
cyberpunk0 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most start ups want you to have a lot of experience so they don't have to train you. That level of experience isn't found in most people in their 20s. The older age bracket I'd wager are finance and venture capital types. Startups are mostly toys for rich people

Sure, but this doesn't explain why most people working in startups are in their twenties.

Is that true? Or is that just what people want to see?

Avg age at my company (Series A funded, 50-ish people) is >30. Founders started at 35 & 36. Now they’re not-quite-40 and 40. Your sample size may vary.

Re: State of Startups 2017 Survey Results

#75

Post by jesperlang »

dang wrote: post #71
jesperlang wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your felt your idea wasn't taken seriously in a discussion? You felt you unintentionally became defensive and awkward in some social situations? Congratulations, you just experienced some of the most universal feelings being a woman in our current society. This talk about "can't I flirt anymore?" and similar is just sad. Boohoo, of course you can flirt, but being socially awkward/stupid while doing it is what you can…

This comment crosses into personal attack. That breaks the site guidelines even when you're defending a good cause and/or partially critiquing yourself. Those things don't magically remove the requirement for mutual respect in discussion here. People sometimes assume that that requirement is waived for them because what they're saying is so legitimate, but these two things are orthogonal, because taking personal shot…

yeah, it was not the best way to put forward my thoughts. Thanks for the reminder!

Re: State of Startups 2017 Survey Results

#76

Post by TheAdamAndChe »

SeoxyS wrote: post #63
codingdave wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We have to watch what we say, what we do, who we offend, what our political affiliations are, and whether we are crossing any lines. People felt the same way in the 90s when the "Political Correctness" movement really took off. It did feel like a bit much at the time, and if tumblr existed in 1991, surely it would have gone overboard... but at the end of it all, we did move to a culture that was more conscious of d…

I don't agree that we ended up in a culture that is more conscious of diversity. I think we moved to a a culture of adversity between social justice warriors and those who outright rebel against their ridiculous campaign. If it wasn't for that dynamic, we'd have a different President right now.

For what it's worth, I agree with you. It feels like we're entering into a new age of McCarthyism[1], where anyone perceived to have the wrong politics are considered guilty until proven innocent. Nonliberal politics are completely disallowed from corporate environments, while liberal politics are accepted in earnest. It's just going to make extremism worse IMO.

People should be able to have and express their own opinions on multiculturalism, affirmative action, gender norms, family structures, and immigration in their private lives(Facebook, Instagram, etc) without risking their careers.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism

Re: State of Startups 2017 Survey Results

#77

Post by watwut »

kjpy wrote: post #65
watwut wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We can't flirt in a professional setting anymore. Not without risking our jobs. Flirting and harassment are not the same. The meetoo stories I read were nowhere near grey zone. They were not consensual. I am sure there might be some, but I did not encountered them and they were not prominent. Funny how revelations of assault and stories about how female careers were stopped due to it got redefined as "flirting" on…

SNL got the difference between flirting and harassment exactly right: https://youtu.be/PxuUkYiaUc8

Funny thing is that men in mostly males companies who don't interact with women unless it is weekend seem most afraid to loose ability to flirt at work.

Re: State of Startups 2017 Survey Results

#78

Post by mlevental »

anon11082016 wrote: post #62
mlevental wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

those two things go hand in hand.

Clearly not, because after all the effort, at least the valley has been making, it's still a cesspool of the same ideology. Even with VPs of dieversity and correct think

You're begging the question (petitio prinicipii) of whether initiatives have been successful. As far as I can tell tech is still mostly white and male. When it's not and ideologies are still the same then you'll have a case.

Re: State of Startups 2017 Survey Results

#79

Post by tedmiston »

Veelox wrote: post #73

#36 asked "A person's political affiliation would influence how you think about:" If it is possible I really want to see this broken down by political views of the respondent. I feel like that would be a really good data point about if the left wants diversity in thought or not. My hunch is if you broke it down on left/center/right you would see more poltical bias on the left. That said, since SV is so left leaning i…

^ This, but from #51 the Bay Area only represents 38% of respondents (headquarters). Overall, still a huge bicoastal bias, but there's definitely representation outside SV too where the political climate is not as left leaning.

Re: State of Startups 2017 Survey Results

#80

Post by tedmiston »

k__ wrote: post #58
cyberpunk0 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most start ups want you to have a lot of experience so they don't have to train you. That level of experience isn't found in most people in their 20s. The older age bracket I'd wager are finance and venture capital types. Startups are mostly toys for rich people

Sure, but this doesn't explain why most people working in startups are in their twenties.

> Sure, but this doesn't explain why most people working in startups are in their twenties.

The data isn't for people working at startups — they only survey founders, and I think CEOs if the CEO is a non-founder.

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