61–70 of 132 posts
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That is a tired, cheap, superficial point that is beneath this site. If you want to build a case against valley startup culture --- and there sure are cases to be made --- try to do it without creating a caricature of everyone else who has concerns as well.
"Not all VC's."
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the diary is not particularly well-written depends on your standards. He's not a professional author but I think he's probably better than your average college grad. studded with evidence of psychopathy genuinely interested. could you point to some of these. I've been skimming it and haven't really seen that. in fact, this struck me as empathetic James’s mother, Kim Ellis, had just passed away from breast cancer. I c…
Even if we stipulate that every paragraph in the diary should be taken at face value, psychopathy is not defined simply as the absence of empathy.
Sociopathy/Psycopathy is about as real as Drapetomania or hysteria. It's the modern day blasphemy, if you question the state or authority you are 'anti-social'
Context: http://gawker.com/rap-genius-co-founders-creepy-comments-on-... Mahbod compliments several of Rodger's sentences as "artful" and/or "beautifully written". That is okay, if ill-timed. One can make a stylistic statement about Mein Kampf without endorsing its message. He also, however, speculates that Rodger's "sister is smokin' hot." That is violently inappropriate, particularly given the misogynistic nature o…
He also went on a tour and actually read the book on > 1000 occasions and won multiple prices.
Now, imagine Serdar doing that in 1946. He would - for good reasons - be ostracized.
Mahbod, even if he were "only" commenting on stylistic things, shows that he is lacking something very important: tact and empathy. This is not a triviality and as such not "okay". He also didn't frame the comment in any way (e.g. "I am surprised to see such an artfully...").
He should have seen that coming. If he hadn't, he shouldn't be leading any community.
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Andreessen Horowitz, to the tune of $15M. Rap Genius was also a part of YC S11. http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/03/andreessen-horowitz-iinvest... http://www.crunchbase.com/organization/rap-genius
The same people who bankroll(ed) GitHub. This is my shocked face.
GitHub had some serious HR issues and internal mismanagement.
Rap Genius has an entire brand, emphasized through every public appearance, of utter douchebaggery.
I can appreciate RG's leadership having the self-awareness to see the need to make an Adult Decision in this case, but I think it's probably a mistake for them to continue hosting the Rodgers diary. Contrary to Moghadam's comments, the diary is not particularly well-written. It's long, repetitive, weirdly detailed (the author recounts meals eaten years ago), and studded with evidence of psychopathy. RG's style of ann…
Why not? There's what to do lessons and what not to do lessons.
From what I read in the essay he talks continually about how he lives in a beautiful, wealthy suburb, has an apartment and BMW, nice clothes and so forth. I don't watch teenage television shows like the OC, The Hills or whatever, but from this material perspective he had the perfect life. Yet his parents split up, he didn't get along with his movie premiere attending father's new wife, and he was isolated and cut off from human contact. He is miserable. He even says repeatedly he goes crazy watching guys with much less money have so much "social success".
Something can be learned from him. That buying into the idea that money alone buys happiness is something close to insanity. That growing up in a wealthy community where image and status are everything, even among kids, might not be healthy. That close friendships and lovers are more important than the BMW he continually refers to.
I can see shades of this when I walk into a post Series A startup on Saturday at 8 PM and see that 95% of the office is there working, many of the people in their 20's. They all think they are going to be the Mark Zuckerberg. It seems like insanity to me. It reminds me of all the people I know who were having trouble in their marriages, so they would work until 6, 7, 8 doing busy work so they wouldn't have to go home. Usually in a few months time I hear from them they are separating from their spouse. Some people see work as an escape from their other problems. Our society being run as it is, by those who it is run by, this is not much frowned upon as a real problem.
I can easily imagine this kid growing up the son of some guy who was in early on some hot startup, with the kid now living in Palo Alto, Altadena or somewhere...
I can appreciate RG's leadership having the self-awareness to see the need to make an Adult Decision in this case, but I think it's probably a mistake for them to continue hosting the Rodgers diary. Contrary to Moghadam's comments, the diary is not particularly well-written. It's long, repetitive, weirdly detailed (the author recounts meals eaten years ago), and studded with evidence of psychopathy. RG's style of ann…
I can appreciate RG's leadership having the self-awareness to see the need to make an Adult Decision in this case, but I think it's probably a mistake for them to continue hosting the Rodgers diary. Contrary to Moghadam's comments, the diary is not particularly well-written. It's long, repetitive, weirdly detailed (the author recounts meals eaten years ago), and studded with evidence of psychopathy. RG's style of ann…
Rap Genius is in still somewhat in that growth phase of its life where it wants to attain and secure as many users as it can. The Rogers story is something a lot of young people are curious to see, and if RG can be a place where they can see it, that means they're doing well. Purely as a business decision, they should and probably will keep hosting it.
You won't believe the amount of essays I had to read (whenever we would peer-review essays in middle and high school) that had to do with serial killers, massacres, etc. This is simply a subject a lot of people are fascinated by -- most importantly, people in the right age group that Rap Genius is interested in.
I should note that if you disagree, you should be voicing your outrage at the mass media, Scribd (for continuing to host the unabridged Rogers documents), WashPo, etc. etc., not just Rap Genius.
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Even if we stipulate that every paragraph in the diary should be taken at face value, psychopathy is not defined simply as the absence of empathy.
It's actually not really defined at all in terms of an actual medical illness. It's mostly an invention of the criminal justice system. Sociopathy/Psycopathy is about as real as Drapetomania or hysteria. It's the modern day blasphemy, if you question the state or authority you are 'anti-social'