If you're not killer at tech, you better be killer at sales and marketing. If you're neither, what exactly are you complaining about?
The Myth of the Non-Technical Startup Employee
171–180 of 258 posts
Re: The Myth of the Non-Technical Startup Employee
#172The situation described at the tradeshow in this article has also happened to me, repeatedly and consistently. The difference? I AM technical. I just also happen to be a woman. I love the tech industry. I've been in it professionally since 1997, and I've run tech startups as a CEO for the past 13 years. And if there's one thing I can count on, it's the consistent, pervasive assumption that I'm not technical. I hate g…
You have a kid, you look for a nanny to look after him. You put it on news-paper, there's a 45 year old dude who comes offering his services to look after your kid.
Now tell me that you're so awesome that you'll not think what you are thinking right now.
Exactly.
People use stereotypes to save time. Many stereotypes are wrong, because you'll get them from CNN or Fox. People don't get on the news for being normal.
When you're in a hurry, you don't want to change. You don't have that luxury because you want the result now. You're not in "experimenting, expanding comfort zone, increasing awareness" mode. You're in "Getting it done" mode with as few new parameters.
Usual is better than confusing.
Besides, some stereotypes are true so one can understand people behaviour.
Black people go to jail more, geeks don't do well with girls, etc.
And I know that some people will be butt-hurt and cry foul and it's 2014 and how it's a stone age thinking, but the stats are there.
http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet
(I don't have stats on the sex life of geeks, though).
Someone might be offended at first, but there's a reason for these stereotypes to have had such a long, established life: If they don't represent the truth, they at least reflect it in some distorted way.
The person coming to a booth has probably had a long life where, comparatively, he's met really fewer females in tech and come on, it's not like us humans are so pure that we'll go: Hmm, this is the first time I meet a female in tech. I'll speak to her in spite of being in a hurry, in spite of my question being complex, in spite of being used to talk with dudes all my life and this one comes out now.
When you're in a hurry, you don't want to change, you don't want surprises: Usual is better than confusing.
A lot of time, people won't deal with you simply because they don't like you. A lot of times, people won't deal with you simply because they don't know you.
People who'll talk to you and give you the benefit of the doubt are giving you the benefit of the doubt. Meaning it's a privilege they're granting you, so having an entiteled attitude about it goes against the meaning of the words.
Re: The Myth of the Non-Technical Startup Employee
#173The situation described at the tradeshow in this article has also happened to me, repeatedly and consistently. The difference? I AM technical. I just also happen to be a woman. I love the tech industry. I've been in it professionally since 1997, and I've run tech startups as a CEO for the past 13 years. And if there's one thing I can count on, it's the consistent, pervasive assumption that I'm not technical. I hate g…
You have a kid, you look for a nanny to look after him. You put it on news-paper, there's a 45 year old dude who comes offering his services to look after your kid. Now tell me that you're so awesome that you'll not think what you are thinking right now. Exactly. People use stereotypes to save time. Many stereotypes are wrong, because you'll get them from CNN or Fox. People don't get on the news for being normal. Whe…
> Black people go to jail more, geeks don't do well with girls, etc.
Neither is accurate. Both are exaggerations. Comparing crime between blacks and non-blacks may seem like it's useful data, the rates are pretty significantly different. But it's not, because the majority of people, white, black, whatever, aren't criminals. So if you use that "data" to treat people differently you'll be making an error far more often than being right. That's the danger of stereotypes, because they are so seductive from a confirmation bias perspective. There are no stereotypes that aren't backed by some kernel of "truth". But stereotypes lead to more bad behavior, more ill-treatment of others than they avoid.
Re: The Myth of the Non-Technical Startup Employee
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just because your best friend is a woman doesn't mean you're incapable of being a sexist. For example, she might be one of those women who enforce some pretty crappy old patriarchial shit. I have no idea. But it's not evidence you can use to say you aren't sexist. Are you trolling? I do not tell racist jokes. ever. period. Why would I ever risk offending someone I really care about for something so stupid? I enjoy Ch…
Enlighten me. And while you're at it: why is okay for Louis CK to make a racist joke, but not okay for you? If the joke is hurtful, then shouldn't you be against Louis CK telling it? Why are you okay with that? Why are you giving him support for doing something hurtful? And I didn't say I wasn't capable of being sexist because my best friend is a woman. I said that if I treated a woman at a conference the same way th…
> And while you're at it: why is okay for Louis CK to make a racist joke, but not okay for you?
Why it is ok for the jester to mock the king, but not for the king to mock the jester?
On a related note, Louis CK is Mexican, as in a Mexican citizen born in Mexico. Spanish is his first language and he came to the US as a little kid.
Re: The Myth of the Non-Technical Startup Employee
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
You have a kid, you look for a nanny to look after him. You put it on news-paper, there's a 45 year old dude who comes offering his services to look after your kid. Now tell me that you're so awesome that you'll not think what you are thinking right now. Exactly. People use stereotypes to save time. Many stereotypes are wrong, because you'll get them from CNN or Fox. People don't get on the news for being normal. Whe…
> Black people go to jail more, geeks don't do well with girls, etc. Neither is accurate. Both are exaggerations. Comparing crime between blacks and non-blacks may seem like it's useful data, the rates are pretty significantly different. But it's not, because the majority of people, white, black, whatever, aren't criminals. So if you use that "data" to treat people differently you'll be making an error far more often…
I'm not using this data to treat people differently: If I'm alone at 3AM and you come out of nowhere, I wouldn't care if you were blue, green, black or white. I wouldn't trust anyone equally.
My point was, that one can understand how people think and stereotype given the data, as long as the data isn't corrupted.
But coming back to the data: Sure, the majority of people aren't criminals, but the few who are, belong to a certain category. I'm not talking absolute, I'm talking relative. I'm not talking "divine truth", I'm talking correlation.
And you can be a sunflower all you want, you can't deny it.
You can deny it if you want, but that doesn't make it any less true, and that doesn't solve the problems in urban areas, poverty, lack of education, etc.
So: One can either say it's not true and be liked by people as an open mind and non racist (that doesn't fix the root problems), or one acknowledges the problem and think about solutions (at the risk of being called names).
I do feature extraction and classification of data, can't go against such stats.
That's why I asked the commenter to put herself in their shoes: She's got a kid, between a 45 year old dude and a more usual nanny, she'll choose the nanny every single time (from the 60%).
To be closer to her experience: She'll do an ad, a couple comes, she'll acknowledge the guy and ask the woman how much experience she's had with kids .. While it's the guy who came for the job.
Re: The Myth of the Non-Technical Startup Employee
#176The situation described at the tradeshow in this article has also happened to me, repeatedly and consistently. The difference? I AM technical. I just also happen to be a woman. I love the tech industry. I've been in it professionally since 1997, and I've run tech startups as a CEO for the past 13 years. And if there's one thing I can count on, it's the consistent, pervasive assumption that I'm not technical. I hate g…
I feel I have to apologize on behalf of all clueless men out there unfortunately we were brainwashed by the media that all women are non technical.
On the other hand i see nothing wrong with you being aggressive and it would be extremely hilarious if you were to go with your boyfriend to an event and just whisper in his ear what he needs to say every time he gets asked something technical he might not know.
I always enjoy playing on peoples assumptions and making them feel awkward for making them.
P.S. There's no gender neutral interactions so make the most of your gender's image and strengths.
If you want to be treated for who you are and not just a member of your gender you will have to show a strong personality and don't be afraid of being assertive or slightly aggressive sometimes. It gets you respect.
Re: The Myth of the Non-Technical Startup Employee
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
Find a field that has been woman-dominated for the last 50 years. Now put a man in that field, who is rather successful (like yourself in technology), and you will get the exact same result in the contexts you describe. I'm sick of this paradox where men and women are equal and yet men (and only men) are capable of making this mistake. It's simple pattern matching, and when the pattern tells you one thing and it's ac…
True. My coworker's kid goes to kindergarten where on of the teachers is male. This guy really had a hard time at the beginning. Parents were very suspicious and worried (why "man" is working in kindergarden???) or took him for a repairman. The article's author is simply a victim of statistics. If at the conference there is 150 "booth babies" and 300 male engineers, but in one booth there is a female engineer, people…
> I think nobody is to blame here
An industry who employs women as booth babes, apparently because staring at a booth babe sells tech better? Stinks.
Re: The Myth of the Non-Technical Startup Employee
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
You have a kid, you look for a nanny to look after him. You put it on news-paper, there's a 45 year old dude who comes offering his services to look after your kid. Now tell me that you're so awesome that you'll not think what you are thinking right now. Exactly. People use stereotypes to save time. Many stereotypes are wrong, because you'll get them from CNN or Fox. People don't get on the news for being normal. Whe…
> Black people go to jail more, geeks don't do well with girls, etc. Neither is accurate. Both are exaggerations. Comparing crime between blacks and non-blacks may seem like it's useful data, the rates are pretty significantly different. But it's not, because the majority of people, white, black, whatever, aren't criminals. So if you use that "data" to treat people differently you'll be making an error far more often…
It doesn't matter for the parent's argument that most people, on the whole, don't live in jail in the US. Chance of incarceration and longer sentencing is higher for racial minorities in the US. That is true, and it is not an exaggeration. [0-5]
The point of the knowledge isn't to just "treat people differently", its to recognize something is broken, identify root causes and change them.
I'd be very curious to better understand the motivation for your perspective.
[0]: http://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/raceinc.html
[1]: http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2012/us-incarcerati...
[2] : http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2012/03/13/...
[3]: http://www.hrw.org/news/2002/02/26/us-incarceration-rates-re...
[4]: http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet
[5]: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/03/20133267193...
Re: The Myth of the Non-Technical Startup Employee
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
From the post you linked to... "So pattern recognition is a useless heuristic made up by a group of rich white men as a way to quantify something" If that statement isn't racist, biased, and, well, just quite mean really, then I'm not sure what is.
cry me a river. you don't get to whine about this stuff, when you're the party in power. Work to better it, stop whining, that's what those people tell everyone else.
Apparently Big Red found HN: https://gs1.wac.edgecastcdn.net/8019B6/data.tumblr.com/42980...
Re: The Myth of the Non-Technical Startup Employee
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
Find a field that has been woman-dominated for the last 50 years. Now put a man in that field, who is rather successful (like yourself in technology), and you will get the exact same result in the contexts you describe. I'm sick of this paradox where men and women are equal and yet men (and only men) are capable of making this mistake. It's simple pattern matching, and when the pattern tells you one thing and it's ac…
True. My coworker's kid goes to kindergarten where on of the teachers is male. This guy really had a hard time at the beginning. Parents were very suspicious and worried (why "man" is working in kindergarden???) or took him for a repairman. The article's author is simply a victim of statistics. If at the conference there is 150 "booth babies" and 300 male engineers, but in one booth there is a female engineer, people…
You make a great point, just wanted to point out that traditionally the name is "booth babe" (as opposed to baby, which largely fell out of favor after the Austin Powers movies). I learned about this term from a female employee who also happened to be an excellent coder and a victim of statistics.
Not that I wouldn't like to see a booth baby - a toddler with a mini Python shirt would be adorable and would certainly drive more traffic to your booth.