Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Sam Altman's knack for dodging bullets with a little help from bigshot friends

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 204 posts

Re: Sam Altman's knack for dodging bullets with a little help from bigshot friends

#101

Post by Apreche »

godzillabrennus wrote: post #29
Apreche wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My question is, what do you count as "doing"? Imagine I win the lottery and hire really smart architects and tell them to make a revolutionary new building. They go on to make some amazing building that gets all sorts of awards and recognition. Is anyone really so naive as to suggest that I am deserving of any credit whatsoever? In the words of Urkel, "Did I do that?" There are some leaders in the tech world who have…

Someone has to be skilled enough in fundraising to be able to raise the money to get the talent to do the thing. That alone is a difficult skill to master. It’s often harder to do than to be able to create great things. Carmack and Woz are legends for a reason.

None of these people were skilled at fundraising. Their opportunities were inherited.

Re: Sam Altman's knack for dodging bullets with a little help from bigshot friends

#103

Post by sebzim4500 »

bmitc wrote: post #100
hutzlibu wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"“I saw in a 19-year-old Sam Altman the same thing that I see now: an intensely focused and brilliant person whom I was willing to bet big on,” said Chung, now managing general partner of Xfund, a venture-capital firm." They believe in his focus to get things done, not in his ethics. And with ChatGPT, he got things done. Which means, he connected the right people and raised money so they can work on the important thi…

> said Chung, now managing general partner of Xfund, a venture-capital firm . Emphasis mine. I mean, that's just backs up my original question. These people will say anything to garner favor, perceived or otherwise. I've seen Altman speak. At what point should I expect to see a representative example of this focus and insight?

> At what point should I expect to see a representative example of this focus and insight?

Probably never. He says nothing of substance in public.

Re: Sam Altman's knack for dodging bullets with a little help from bigshot friends

#104

Post by Geisterde »

MicolashKyoka wrote: post #76

Sam is great, some eggs might've been cracked along the way, but overall, very positive influence on the world. You could shine a light into most people's lives and find in most cases broken egg shells here & there. Fixating on them at the expense of the bigger picture is a mistake. Regarding the openai board, the problem imo is that too much weight was given to a nebulous & subjective mission, allowing those sitting…

Could there be a more dangerous version of reality where we allow the government and a chosen monopoly to collude in controlling AI for the rest of society? Because that is precicely what he was/is attempting to do.

Re: Sam Altman's knack for dodging bullets with a little help from bigshot friends

#105

Post by [deleted] »

wslh wrote: post #59
bmitc wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> business ace What business has he aced?

He helps business ace, not saying that he is a successful entrepreneur. We cannot say that OpenAI is unsuccessful either. We don't know if they will be as successful in the future but he helped in moving the gears.

[deleted]

Re: Sam Altman's knack for dodging bullets with a little help from bigshot friends

#106

Post by wslh »

BeefDinnerPurge wrote: post #95
wslh wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Sam continues to have "luck" it is not survivorship bias. As I said before he is at the center of the stage.

Tell me you don't understand conditional probability without telling me you don't understand conditional probability. CEO of Reddit, how'd that go? Project Covalence, how'd that go? Andrew Yang? Our next president, right? 2018, The year Sam Altman became the governor of California, no? And of course: "I have guns, gold, potassium iodide, antibiotics, batteries, water, gas masks from the Israel Defense Forces, and a b…

Your answer is very rude. You don't differentiate power from business success.

Re: Sam Altman's knack for dodging bullets with a little help from bigshot friends

#107

Post by akira2501 »

wslh wrote: post #18

After reading more articles about Sam it seems he is a genius in the game of power. Am I right? He is at the center of the stage and many powerful people and organizations trust on him beyond the "anecdotes". He will gain more power while he is an amplifier of capital and business opportunities. For an investor point of view he is a business ace and you just need to be careful about partnering with him because he wil…

You can literally just buy articles like this. The question that could be asked is the long term ROI here actually going to be worth it for Sam?

The article talks about his "luck" in "surviving." Which is about all he has, apparently. No consideration for the future of the product, the company, or the industry. The triumphant conclusion of this article is "a bunch of CEOs pulled weight and Altman got his old job back, again."

The more of these I read, the more convinced I am that his company is going nowhere, as they seem more skilled at producing "internal drama" than "new product."

Re: Sam Altman's knack for dodging bullets with a little help from bigshot friends

#108

Post by amazingman »

bmitc wrote: post #100
hutzlibu wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"“I saw in a 19-year-old Sam Altman the same thing that I see now: an intensely focused and brilliant person whom I was willing to bet big on,” said Chung, now managing general partner of Xfund, a venture-capital firm." They believe in his focus to get things done, not in his ethics. And with ChatGPT, he got things done. Which means, he connected the right people and raised money so they can work on the important thi…

> said Chung, now managing general partner of Xfund, a venture-capital firm . Emphasis mine. I mean, that's just backs up my original question. These people will say anything to garner favor, perceived or otherwise. I've seen Altman speak. At what point should I expect to see a representative example of this focus and insight?

His keynote at this year's OpenAI DevDay is an example of his focus. Have you watched it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9mJuUkhUzk

His pacing, clarity, and proficiency with the product are impressive; regardless of how one might feel about him.

Re: Sam Altman's knack for dodging bullets with a little help from bigshot friends

#109

Post by wslh »

akira2501 wrote: post #107
wslh wrote: post #18

After reading more articles about Sam it seems he is a genius in the game of power. Am I right? He is at the center of the stage and many powerful people and organizations trust on him beyond the "anecdotes". He will gain more power while he is an amplifier of capital and business opportunities. For an investor point of view he is a business ace and you just need to be careful about partnering with him because he wil…

You can literally just buy articles like this. The question that could be asked is the long term ROI here actually going to be worth it for Sam? The article talks about his "luck" in "surviving." Which is about all he has, apparently. No consideration for the future of the product, the company, or the industry. The triumphant conclusion of this article is "a bunch of CEOs pulled weight and Altman got his old job back…

> The question that could be asked is the long term ROI here actually going to be worth it for Sam?

Don't you think most entrepreneurs would call Sam if they have a chance?

Re: Sam Altman's knack for dodging bullets with a little help from bigshot friends

#110

Post by akira2501 »

wslh wrote: post #109
akira2501 wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can literally just buy articles like this. The question that could be asked is the long term ROI here actually going to be worth it for Sam? The article talks about his "luck" in "surviving." Which is about all he has, apparently. No consideration for the future of the product, the company, or the industry. The triumphant conclusion of this article is "a bunch of CEOs pulled weight and Altman got his old job back…

> The question that could be asked is the long term ROI here actually going to be worth it for Sam? Don't you think most entrepreneurs would call Sam if they have a chance?

I don't think being overly connected to the "silicon valley social graph" is particularly useful. I actually think it's probably going to be a negative drain on your time, or sacrificing that, a negative drain on your reputation.
Post reply on HN