Untitled topic

Post by thevardanian » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 11:36 PM UTC

sean_patel wrote: post #24

SmallBets wrote: post #6

I had never heard this, potentially SV history changing story before... He recalls a story from his and Mr. Musk’s PayPal days, when Mr. Musk joined the engineering team’s poker game and bet everything on every hand, admitting only afterward that it was his first time playing poker. Then there was the time they were driving in Mr. Musk’s McLaren F1 car, “the fastest car in the world.” It hit an embankment, achieved l…

> “It was a miracle neither of us were hurt,” Crashing “the fastest car in the world.” and coming out of it without a scratch = Made up story. It seems like Thiel makes up exicting heroic stories, just like Trump, to compensate for an otherwise boring excitement-less life.

Post by shaldengeki » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 11:38 PM UTC

argonaut wrote: post #25

shaldengeki wrote: post #5

To me, he comes off here as completely uninformed about virtually every subject in which he is interviewed. I'm not sure why he'd agree to an interview if he wasn't going to do _some_ preparation. Just look at this trainwreck: > When I remark that President Obama had eight years without any ethical shadiness, Mr. Thiel flips it, noting: “But there’s a point where no corruption can be a bad thing. It can mean that thi…

I dislike his views, but one thing Thiel is most certainly not is misinformed. His interpretations may be completely wrong, but he is not misinformed. I recall an interview of Marc Andreessen where Marc said he had to do a ton of preparation just to stand toe to toe in a debate with Thiel. If you believe that, then look for other explanations for his oddball statements. The contrarian angle seems like the right one -…

Post by ralfd » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 11:40 PM UTC

sean_patel wrote: post #24

SmallBets wrote: post #6

I had never heard this, potentially SV history changing story before... He recalls a story from his and Mr. Musk’s PayPal days, when Mr. Musk joined the engineering team’s poker game and bet everything on every hand, admitting only afterward that it was his first time playing poker. Then there was the time they were driving in Mr. Musk’s McLaren F1 car, “the fastest car in the world.” It hit an embankment, achieved l…

> “It was a miracle neither of us were hurt,” Crashing “the fastest car in the world.” and coming out of it without a scratch = Made up story. It seems like Thiel makes up exicting heroic stories, just like Trump, to compensate for an otherwise boring excitement-less life.

Post by aceperry » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 11:40 PM UTC

nerdponx wrote: post #21

sportanova wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No ethical shadiness? Domestic spying, civilian casualties through the drone program, IRS interference in an election against political opponents...

Not to mention staying silent on the Dakota Access pipeline and continuing the drug war unabated.

Post by cderwin » Wed, Jan 11, 2017, 11:44 PM UTC

Thriptic wrote: post #31

argonaut wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dislike his views, but one thing Thiel is most certainly not is misinformed. His interpretations may be completely wrong, but he is not misinformed. I recall an interview of Marc Andreessen where Marc said he had to do a ton of preparation just to stand toe to toe in a debate with Thiel. If you believe that, then look for other explanations for his oddball statements. The contrarian angle seems like the right one -…

Expertise is generally pretty narrow. For instance, I heard him speak about bio and pharma about half a year ago and he made several statements that were categorically incorrect and poorly reasoned through.