11-Year-Olds Learn Life Lesson During Startup Weekend • Hacker News Board

Re: 11-Year-Olds Learn Life Lesson During Startup Weekend

#31

Post by radog » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 3:20 PM UTC

This is a ridiculous post and I'm surprised it made it to the front page here. The two kids who pitched these ideas were akin to the traditional adult "business types" who pitch an idea with nothing else to really bring to the table. Honestly, who wants to work with an 11 year old on a startup like this, where the kid likely has very little to offer (they certainly can't work full-time startup hours, even if summer is coming) except perhaps the media buzz of a young entrepreneur.

The vague tinge of racism being alleged here (and yes, the author is crafty enough here to set out the components of the charge without setting it out, because it would sound ridiculous were it directly stated) is distasteful.

Re: 11-Year-Olds Learn Life Lesson During Startup Weekend

#32

Post by aneth » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 6:42 PM UTC

dgabriel wrote: post #30

aneth wrote: post #23

Ugh. If an 11 year old black child pitches me an incredible startup idea, I would not join their team. Calling me racist for that is racist in itself. I don't think an 11 year old is competent to run a company or manage a product. This article is a rarity in being such a clear example of reverse racism. Get over yourselves. The fucking president of the United States is black. Do you think attendees of startup weekend…

We do not live in a post-racial society. It would be nice if that were true. Here are some other things that "hold black culture back." Subprime mortgage rates are nearly double for black and hispanic households: http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/webfeatures_snap... Black males are 10 times more likely to be incarcerated for drug offences than whites: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0309web…

I'm not suggesting there is no racism, although I do think back has been broken and dwelling on cases where racism remains is counterproductive. The problem now is more within these communities than without.

My main point is that presuming racism where there is none is as bad as racism itself - because it IS racism and it perpetuates racism. If you say I'm racist because I'm white and I don't think an 11 year old black child is fit to be my team leader, then you are the racist.

Re: 11-Year-Olds Learn Life Lesson During Startup Weekend

#33

Post by seats » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 6:55 PM UTC

aneth wrote: post #23

Ugh. If an 11 year old black child pitches me an incredible startup idea, I would not join their team. Calling me racist for that is racist in itself. I don't think an 11 year old is competent to run a company or manage a product. This article is a rarity in being such a clear example of reverse racism. Get over yourselves. The fucking president of the United States is black. Do you think attendees of startup weekend…

I didn't hear the author call anyone racist. In fact I think you are only supporting his point. These kids were minorities in at least two ways, race and age (for the girl there is a third). I would say that age was clearly the biggest deterrent for people joining their efforts and the tone of the article to me was more about age than race. Even look at the title, it says '11 year olds learn hard lesson', no mention of race. Two white 11 year old kids would have had the same tough lesson.

These kids are minorities at this event mostly because they are minors. That'll fix itself in time and I commend the author for trying to help keep their spirits up so that this was a positive experience for them instead of a let-down.

There is also something interesting to say here about the psychology of voting without commitment. If the voting at this event was your true ranking of which team you wanted to join (i.e. you rank all ideas and join the top one that makes the cut), then no one would have picked these kids. When there was nothing on the line, no one wanted the kids to feel bad so they got some 'mercy votes' or maybe 'cute kids, nice try' votes, but when it got down to voting with your feet, no one thought their ideas or abilities were attractive enough over the alternatives.

Re: 11-Year-Olds Learn Life Lesson During Startup Weekend

#34

Post by seats » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 7:04 PM UTC

biot wrote: post #28

> What happened next was a hard wake up call for two young entrepreneurs who were > ready to start working on their startup and something I hope any entrepreneur, > parent or kid never experiences in their life. Oh come on. The death of one's children is something to hope nobody experiences. These kids got a little rejection therapy and didn't even have to buy the set. You hope nobody learns the value of persistence…

Hyperbole yes, but I think he was just trying to describe the sensation as a spectator.

I can imagine it was truly cringe worthy to watch their little faces slowly realize what is happening. Of course you hope for all children to learn important (and therefore probably hard) life lessons, but your human instinct as a spectator, and more-so as a parent or teacher) is that you somehow wish that it would have gone down differently, that they wouldn't have dropped the ball, or forgotten their lines, or gotten picked last.

I don't see any reason to chastise someone for expressing that wish. Also, give him credit for doing precisely what you say he should have. He gave encouragement, tried to help pick them back up and get them engaged on their real work instead of moping.

Re: 11-Year-Olds Learn Life Lesson During Startup Weekend

#35

Post by aneth » Sun, Jun 19, 2011, 11:08 PM UTC

seats wrote: post #33

aneth wrote: post #23

Ugh. If an 11 year old black child pitches me an incredible startup idea, I would not join their team. Calling me racist for that is racist in itself. I don't think an 11 year old is competent to run a company or manage a product. This article is a rarity in being such a clear example of reverse racism. Get over yourselves. The fucking president of the United States is black. Do you think attendees of startup weekend…

I didn't hear the author call anyone racist. In fact I think you are only supporting his point. These kids were minorities in at least two ways, race and age (for the girl there is a third). I would say that age was clearly the biggest deterrent for people joining their efforts and the tone of the article to me was more about age than race. Even look at the title, it says '11 year olds learn hard lesson', no mention…

The title is actually "Two 11-year-old entrepreneurs learned the hard way what it’s like to be a minority in tech during Startup Weekend"

I think it's pretty clear "minority" here means black. By indicating the audience made their decision based on race, the author is implicitly calling them racists.