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A new team at Reddit

blog.samaltman.com

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Re: A new team at Reddit

#101

Post by BinaryIdiot »

paulhauggis wrote: post #46
minimaxir wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Relevant context: https://np.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2iea97/i_am_a_former_r... From the NYT: "That incident, according to people close to the company, made some of Reddit’s current employees uncomfortable."

He was being honest and I actually respect him more for putting a former employee that obviously was trying to get sympathy from the Reddit community, in his place.

No this is not something to respect someone for. This is unprofessional and a liability; if anything Yishan said wasn't documented and documented really well the OP has a libel case. It doesn't even matter how true it was.

He also publicly spoke out about someone's work ethic and performance of which we're only getting one side of the story anyway. If his real name is associated with his reddit profile then future employers will see the CEO of a public internet company lambasting him. Whether it's deserved or not at the time is irrelevant; there are plenty of people who, for one reason or another, do terrible at a job and later are highly valued. This could ruin any attempt at redemption.

Re: A new team at Reddit

#102

Post by minimaxir »

sama wrote: post #85

I realize that this sounds non-credible (and it's certainly one of the craziest professional things I've ever been a part of), but it's actually what happened. Yishan wanted to move the office from SF to Daly City. The board pushed back but said we'd agree to it with certain data (we wanted Yishan to figure out how many employees would stay with the company through the move, get a comparison to other market rents, et…

October 1: Yishan wants all employees to move to San Francisco.

Early November: "jk, we're moving to Daly City."

Even though Daly City is a BART away, the fact that this decision happened in 1 month is absurd.

Re: A new team at Reddit

#103

Post by jdmichal »

gojomo wrote: post #61
chipotle_coyote wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm missing the context here, but Reddit is in San Francisco. They're in the same SoMa office building Wired is in.

Maybe Wong wanted to move HQ to the Valley proper, rather than SF itself? Almost all corporate HQ relocations move closer to the CEO's home. But also, there's a (plausibly-fair) knock on SF-city-based companies as being more superficial, frothier, and more prone to distraction and high-burn rates than those in the more-authentically-nerdy Valley. Maybe someone can leak where Wong wanted the new HQ to be.

> Maybe someone can leak where Wong wanted the new HQ to be.

Sam himself obliges: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8604199

Re: A new team at Reddit

#105

Post by tootie »

x0x0 wrote: post #93
tootie wrote: post #60

Ellen Pao is former VC and has a bizarre sordid past: http://www.vanityfair.com/society/2013/03/buddy-fletcher-ell... This is a serious red flag for the future of the site. If anyone wants to catch the great Reddit exodus of 2016, start building your competitor right now.

saying someone has a sordid past because they've been sexually harassed makes you, well, a victim-blaming prick

I'm saying her claims of harassment are dubious and are compounded by the equally dubious discrimination lawsuit her husband is filing against the Dakota. I'll eat my words if she wins her case.

Re: A new team at Reddit

#106

Post by MysticFear »

sama wrote: post #85

I realize that this sounds non-credible (and it's certainly one of the craziest professional things I've ever been a part of), but it's actually what happened. Yishan wanted to move the office from SF to Daly City. The board pushed back but said we'd agree to it with certain data (we wanted Yishan to figure out how many employees would stay with the company through the move, get a comparison to other market rents, et…

Were there other decisions by Yishan that you pushed back on? How many? Possible he felt that he did not have enough influence as CEO, not enough confidence from the board and couldn't run the company as he desired.

Re: A new team at Reddit

#107

Post by rdl »

tootie wrote: post #105
x0x0 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

saying someone has a sordid past because they've been sexually harassed makes you, well, a victim-blaming prick

I'm saying her claims of harassment are dubious and are compounded by the equally dubious discrimination lawsuit her husband is filing against the Dakota. I'll eat my words if she wins her case.

If you've seen how shitty HR is inside almost every VC firm, harassment claims would seem a lot more plausible.

Re: A new team at Reddit

#108

Post by BinaryIdiot »

sama wrote: post #85

I realize that this sounds non-credible (and it's certainly one of the craziest professional things I've ever been a part of), but it's actually what happened. Yishan wanted to move the office from SF to Daly City. The board pushed back but said we'd agree to it with certain data (we wanted Yishan to figure out how many employees would stay with the company through the move, get a comparison to other market rents, et…

Thanks for the clarification as, at least for me, it did not sound true but the additional details help. That's pretty interesting. Yishan seems like a pretty reactive person especially considering the drama of him ousting a former employee on their performance publicly.

Re: A new team at Reddit

#109

Post by gojomo »

eco wrote: post #55
masklinn wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Odd, onewaystreet claims Yishan didn't want the company moved to SF: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8603996

kickme444 refutes onewaystreet. kickme444 is a reddit employee.

I read those comments as: board+Wong agreed on centralizing to Bay Area, disagreed on exact new HQ location/lease, board seems to have insisted on SF city proper, Wong wanted elsewhere. (Turns out per ~sama: Wong wanted Daly City.)

Re: A new team at Reddit

#110

Post by BinaryIdiot »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #90
eco wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can believe it. Yishan always seemed very dramatic and reactionary. I could see him resigning in anger after not getting his way.

> Although my 8 days as the CEO of reddit have been sort of fun Sounds like he didn't give any notice at all, and they had to scramble for a new CEO? Is resigning (or being fired?) with no notice typical for CEO positions?

I hope not. Then again I recently learned many resign via email instead of in person. I feel like an old person now.
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