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Billionaires Build

paulgraham.com

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Re: Billionaires Build

#171

Post by johndevor »

rhizome wrote: post #155
johndevor wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Define "excess" I'm glad people like Elon Musk and Bill Gates have billions of dollars - they're solving some of the world's hardest challenges right now with their wealth.

With pittances. What is an example of even a $20 billion project by a private party? Elon Musk's current wealth could fund SpaceX for over 350 years. I have a favorite illustration of what just one billion dollars is: a million dollars per week for almost 20 years.

> With pittances.

Bill Gates is giving away the vast majority of his wealth

You don't know what Elon Musk will do with his wealth, but given his track record -- probably something good for humanity

Re: Billionaires Build

#172

Post by BoiledCabbage »

kgog wrote: post #153

love to see pg get more out of touch with every single passing day.

It's been pretty incredible to watch the transformation honestly. I can't recall what post it was earlier that made it pretty bare. I think it was his reinterpretation of "things that can't be said" to be the exact opposite of speaking truth to power, but instead was along the lines of "people in power are having to deal with consequences of their actions that their money can't save them from. And that's bad." Yeah and people without money/power also have to deal with the consequences of our actions. That's a normal facet of life.

All the above is very loose of what he said and I honestly stopped paying attention to his posts and barely remember the details now. Someone else likely can make many corrections to what I wrote above. But honestly the plight of the billionaire gets even less empathy from me right now given what people are living through in 2020.

Re: Billionaires Build

#173

Post by NathanWilliams »

stopachka wrote: post #35
ojnabieoot wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A big problem here is that the children of a musical prodigy aren’t necessarily musically talented, and the children of amazing athletes aren’t necessarily amazing athletes. But the children of billionaires are (almost) all obscenely wealthy.

I think these are all more similar than you think: Consider - the children of musical prodigies are likely to be more musical then average. The children of billionaires are likely to be more entrepreneurial than average - both are likely to be wealthy - neither are likely to be as prolific — I.e a child making an even more successful business, or being a better musician - over a few generations, both are likely to re…

> Consider - the children of musical prodigies are likely to be more musical then average

Is that true though? You made a big claim, without backing, to support your other claim.

Re: Billionaires Build

#174

Post by daralthus »

Not sure what to make of this. Billionaire companies != seed funded startups. The exploitation really kicks into gear after you have 5000 employees and there are many inflection points of power differentials until then. Each not as a big deal, but slowly eroding some rights the farther and lower you go.

Re: Billionaires Build

#175

Post by marcinzm »

mbgerring wrote: post #165

Ctrl-F “employees” 0 results It’s crazy that so many of these companies with billionaire founders have thousands of employees who are not billionaires, nor have a meaningful stake in the decisions the company makes. Wonder what that’s about.

Nothing is stopping those employees from taking all the risks and starting their own businesses. Of course they'll give up their stable consistent paychecks and benefits for possibly years with only a small chance of high returns. Lower risk, lower reward.

Re: Billionaires Build

#176

Post by dang »

kgog wrote: post #153

love to see pg get more out of touch with every single passing day.

pg hasn't changed a bit, as far as I can tell. Surrounding conditions (e.g. the political and media climate) have changed a lot, plus there are the expectations people have from anyone they perceive as rich and famous. He ignores that kind of expectation, which pisses a lot of people off—but this is nothing new.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25233038

Re: Billionaires Build

#177

Post by birken »

mbgerring wrote: post #165

Ctrl-F “employees” 0 results It’s crazy that so many of these companies with billionaire founders have thousands of employees who are not billionaires, nor have a meaningful stake in the decisions the company makes. Wonder what that’s about.

And also, I love Google, and I love Apple, but once upon a time, unbeknownst to me, my salary at Google was being artificially restricted due to illegal collusion with Apple, among other companies.

Just because these companies have built amazing products that people want doesn't mean they still don't actively take advantage of their own employees. It isn't black and white.

Re: Billionaires Build

#178

Post by eloisant »

marcinzm wrote: post #175
mbgerring wrote: post #165

Ctrl-F “employees” 0 results It’s crazy that so many of these companies with billionaire founders have thousands of employees who are not billionaires, nor have a meaningful stake in the decisions the company makes. Wonder what that’s about.

Nothing is stopping those employees from taking all the risks and starting their own businesses. Of course they'll give up their stable consistent paychecks and benefits for possibly years with only a small chance of high returns. Lower risk, lower reward.

Yes they can, but they won't get anywhere unless... They get employees of their own. That's the whole point.

Re: Billionaires Build

#180

Post by phaemon »

tk75x wrote: post #127
season2episode3 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Small businesses are important for a whole host of intangible reasons. They provide dignified employment (as opposed to invisible work in a warehouse), they encourage entrepreneurship, they increase the tax base of a locality (by ensuring money stays within a local economy), and they contribute to local culture, community and character. Amazon killing small businesses has sucked even more of the life force out of sma…

For every small business that treats their employees well, there is another hiring and abusing people with limited options such as undocumented immigrants and felons. I would also claim that keeping taxes in the local economy, while a very worthy goal, does not require the presence of small business. Big business can be made to support local community and culture. Just because the Walmart headquarters are outside of…

"shellacked" means "physically beaten", though it's usually used metaphorically.
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