Welcome Peter • Hacker News Board

Re: Welcome Peter

#31

Post by hkailahi » Tue, Mar 10, 2015, 10:48 PM UTC

While I found Thiel's recent work (Zero to One) to be extremely interesting, I am skeptical about a fair portion of it. I am much more inclined to agree with the claims in PG's startup essays, which seem to have been the cornerstone principles of YC.

Am I to that assume all of YC is adopting Thiel's beliefs as well? To be clear, I'm not saying both views are mutually exclusive.

Re: Welcome Peter

#32

Post by lorenzop » Tue, Mar 10, 2015, 10:48 PM UTC

THEY HAVE 10! EMPLOYEES???? THAT'S THE POPULATION OF IRELAND

Re: Welcome Peter

#33

Post by TomGullen » Tue, Mar 10, 2015, 10:51 PM UTC

Peter Thiel is a political extremist, and I don't like a lot of his views at all. My point of view is that this is bad for YCombinator, and that this is a bit of a shame.

Re: Welcome Peter

#34

Post by MatthewMcDonald » Tue, Mar 10, 2015, 10:53 PM UTC

api wrote: post #24

vasco_ wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. I have 4 kids, I have been married for 15 and my co-founder had a 3 months old when we did YC. And we are from Portugal, so we were away from our families when we went through YC. It was hard and it required sacrifice, but it was certainly worth it and YC was super supportive. Our lives, and the lives of our kids are much better for it.

I didn't mean to imply that nobody with a family could do this, but that it's structured in such a way as to be strongly biased against people with families/kids. How many others did you see in YC with children?

We're in the current batch, and two of our founders have children. Children aren't the normal topic of conversation when we're meeting other founders, so it's not always obvious.

Re: Welcome Peter

#35

Post by courtf » Tue, Mar 10, 2015, 10:54 PM UTC

"the founders of those companies will generally tell you he has been their best source"

Honest question: if a company receives investment from Peter Thiel, do the founders have any choice but to express the opinion above?

Re: Welcome Peter

#36

Post by agorabinary » Tue, Mar 10, 2015, 10:55 PM UTC

TomGullen wrote: post #33

Peter Thiel is a political extremist, and I don't like a lot of his views at all. My point of view is that this is bad for YCombinator, and that this is a bit of a shame.

"Political extremist" is an empty ad-hominem --- please point out specifically what views of his are so distasteful.

Re: Welcome Peter

#37

Post by tikhonj » Tue, Mar 10, 2015, 10:55 PM UTC

TomGullen wrote: post #33

Peter Thiel is a political extremist, and I don't like a lot of his views at all. My point of view is that this is bad for YCombinator, and that this is a bit of a shame.

Without additional qualification, "political extremist" just means he holds unpopular views. (What else defines "extreme" in any absolute sense except for what's currently popular?)

Turning away potentially strong partners with well-understood and compatible investment philosophies and significant relevant achievements because they hold unpopular views in unrelated arenas is not good policy.

Re: Welcome Peter

#38

Post by waterlesscloud » Tue, Mar 10, 2015, 10:56 PM UTC

TomGullen wrote: post #33

Peter Thiel is a political extremist, and I don't like a lot of his views at all. My point of view is that this is bad for YCombinator, and that this is a bit of a shame.

Perhaps we should just declare him an unperson.

Re: Welcome Peter

#39

Post by chatmasta » Tue, Mar 10, 2015, 10:56 PM UTC

TomGullen wrote: post #33

Peter Thiel is a political extremist, and I don't like a lot of his views at all. My point of view is that this is bad for YCombinator, and that this is a bit of a shame.

Why would YC want an ideologically homogenous board of directors? Surely there exists great value in diversity of opinion?

Re: Welcome Peter

#40

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Mar 10, 2015, 10:58 PM UTC

api wrote: post #24

vasco_ wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. I have 4 kids, I have been married for 15 and my co-founder had a 3 months old when we did YC. And we are from Portugal, so we were away from our families when we went through YC. It was hard and it required sacrifice, but it was certainly worth it and YC was super supportive. Our lives, and the lives of our kids are much better for it.

I didn't mean to imply that nobody with a family could do this, but that it's structured in such a way as to be strongly biased against people with families/kids. How many others did you see in YC with children?

[deleted]