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Changes at YC

ycombinator.com

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Re: Changes at YC

#251

Post by Zetice »

dvt wrote: post #158
Zetice wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Their capital" is vastly different from "them", as it has been given out for others to use, so again no, they were not bailed out.

> it has been given out for others to use, so again no, they were not bailed out Uh, that's what wealthy people do -- they give money to other people to make them even more money. This was so transparently a billionaire bailout (Gary Tan & David Sacks were literally on a press tour), I fail to understand how people are so mesmerized by the shell game here.

...that's not what "bailout" means, a "bailout" can only happen before a bank collapses; SVB already collapsed, it cannot be bailed out, definitionally.

It's not a shell game, it's a fundamentally different situation where real people who are not billionaires are directly and immediately effected.

Further, there is not financial assistance in the form of "free money"; at best what will happen are loans to cover the difference between the available liquidity and the withdraws. The assets SVB once had will, upon maturity, pay for those loans with interest, and only then will investors be given a chance to recoup some of their investment.

I'm frankly fascinated by the abject cynicism by way of ignorance people think they can get away with on the Internet. Unreal...

Re: Changes at YC

#252

Post by marktani »

ak_111 wrote: post #237
voz_ wrote: post #46

> Seventeen of our teammates are impacted today. Never allow corporations to speak in passive, weak, blameless terms. Use direct, honest, language, and force them to do the same. "Seventeen of our teammates are impacted today." - > "We laid off 17 employees today" "I was impacted by layoffs" -> "Google laid me off" etc

This comment comes across as a silly nitpick given the sober content of the post, but I think it is completely fair given Paul Graham's many writings and tweets on the virtues of writing clearly and his hatred of what I call corporatese.

Not sure how involved pg was with this post as its stated author Garry Tan

Re: Changes at YC

#254

Post by slt2021 »

whitemary wrote: post #249
slt2021 wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It shows that you have never lived in soviet union and happily eat communist fairy tales. Soviet Workers were exploited and underpaid by state, there was no private property and almost no private sector. Soviet Union employed highly educated PhD rocket scientists and paid everyone minimum wage, because there was no alternative. Literally every scientist family had to grow their own potatoes and veggies at home/dachas…

My parents both grew up in the Soviet Union. Of course there was private property haha. Individuals, mostly farmers, could even own land! Your comment is a laundry list of fun talking points, but I couldn't care less. This debate concerns families having reliable material sustenance.

you should move back to soviet union if you like it so much. Get a real taste of communism.

"Capitalist West is bad, communism good" (C)

Re: Changes at YC

#255

Post by nemo44x »

bink wrote: post #69
bradleyjg wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Laid off is itself a less harsh version of fired.

Fired -> Let go -> Laid off -> Impacted I'll be curious to see what comes next.

Can’t we all just agree on “shit canned”?

“Today we are announcing that 10% of our company is being shit canned”.

Re: Changes at YC

#256

Post by adamckay »

balls187 wrote: post #174
2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. You're fired when you sexually harass or suck eggs. Being laid off doesn't have the stigma for the employee.

Yes it absolutely does carry a stigma. What companies layoff their best people? (I say as someone who has been laidoff)

> What companies layoff their best people?

Any company where the execs and decision makers are so far removed from the people they're judging, where they won't even truly understand or care what the person does, let alone who they are.

Google and Twitter and two very recent large companies that have done just that.

Re: Changes at YC

#257

Post by gingerrr »

O__________O wrote: post #230
gingerrr wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oof, I don't lurk here during work nearly as much as I used to - missed the memo about it being a banned source, do you have a link for that? In the past that source has unpaywalled articles specifically for HN readers so I'm saddened (but not really surprised) they decided to go for the full cashgrab. Not really sure what you want here - the evidence of those programs being affiliated with YC has been scrubbed from…

HN rarely comments on bans, though almost 60 submissions have been posted in past 30-days and every single one is dead. Here’s a comment from dang, the only official HN mod, related to “hardwalled” submissions: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35074950

Oh, got it! Thank you for scrounging that up I was specifically looking for mention of that site, no wonder I didn't find it. Makes a ton of sense in general and it's lame we no longer get a special exception to their wall.

Re: Changes at YC

#258

Post by ak_111 »

marktani wrote: post #252
ak_111 wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment comes across as a silly nitpick given the sober content of the post, but I think it is completely fair given Paul Graham's many writings and tweets on the virtues of writing clearly and his hatred of what I call corporatese.

Not sure how involved pg was with this post as its stated author Garry Tan

You would imagine he read it at some point. You would also imagine his CEO would have internalised Paul Graham's most important piece of advice about communication (writing clearly).

Re: Changes at YC

#259

Post by kerblang »

erickhill wrote: post #224

187 comments almost entirely focused on language usage, and at best two to three words. Fascinating.

Sticks and bones may break my bones, but words can divert me into hours and hours of endless hairsplitting and bickering until I die of being bored with myself and doctors gather and marvel at the inexplicable fact that I am still complaining in the absence of a discernible pulse

Re: Changes at YC

#260

Post by jll29 »

devmor wrote: post #179
epicureanideal wrote: post #156

I’m surprised that even an innovative, creative organization like YC wasn’t able to create other positions for these folks. I guess that just shows how hard business is even for people who are good at it.

Creating a position for employees that aren't needed is generally not a business priority. Besides, it's likely that this is primarily a cost-cutting measure given similar industry trends at the moment.

> Creating a position for employees that aren't needed is generally not a business priority.

You are describing the status quo quite correctly.

That is probably consistent with the textbook form of capitalism.

However, it does not HAVE to be this way. If you have smart, well-educated, experienced staff in roles that are no longer needed, how about thinking hard about how you might deploy them in new beneficial ways? The result could be increased loyalty and a new line of business, a social (yet still profitable) venture. Does anyone have examples?

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