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Ask YC: Notable People On YC

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Re: Ask YC: Notable People On YC

#41

Post by byrneseyeview »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #35

I'd like to point out that I disagree with the purpose of this article -- I want to take submitter's comments on their own merits. I don't care if you are Bill Gates or the janitor. However -- and this is a "feature" of HackerNews -- I have to upvote it to keep it in my list, and I am curious to see the answers. So count this as a forced upvote.Simply because I am curious about something should not make me upvote it.…

I'd like to do that, too. But there are many people with opinions. And many of those opinions are worthless. And many of the most interesting opinions sound worthless at first -- so I'd rather listen to what smart people say, knowing that if they sound crazy, it's probably because I'm dumb.

Fortunately, twitter's front page and the 'next blog' button on the Blogger bar can supply a pretty much infinite amount of random opinions from strangers. I would be interested in how informative that is.

Re: Ask YC: Notable People On YC

#42

Post by DanielBMarkham »

byrneseyeview wrote: post #41
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #35

I'd like to point out that I disagree with the purpose of this article -- I want to take submitter's comments on their own merits. I don't care if you are Bill Gates or the janitor. However -- and this is a "feature" of HackerNews -- I have to upvote it to keep it in my list, and I am curious to see the answers. So count this as a forced upvote.Simply because I am curious about something should not make me upvote it.…

I'd like to do that, too. But there are many people with opinions. And many of those opinions are worthless. And many of the most interesting opinions sound worthless at first -- so I'd rather listen to what smart people say, knowing that if they sound crazy, it's probably because I'm dumb. Fortunately, twitter's front page and the 'next blog' button on the Blogger bar can supply a pretty much infinite amount of rand…

I'm not sure how you ever get around making a personal decision whether some idea is worthwhile or not. Simply because a person had one startup, does that make them a startup expert? Probably not. If I publish a book on model trains, does that mean my opinion on world trade is somehow worthy of five minutes of your attention?

In fact, most of what people say -- even famous people -- is probably off-the-cuff and not exactly geared to your particular situation. Most all communication, in fact, is basically just chit-chat: obscure facts, disagreements based on partisanship instead of philosophy, pot shots at those out of power, praise for those in power, etc.

You can decide to listen to what "smart people" have to say, and that's probably a good idea. I'd just be really careful how I defined "smart people" -- it certainly isn't fame. In fact, I'd turn the equation around backward: I would judge the people to listen to based on their ability to have given me insight in the past, not their fame, fortune, or other crowd-based attribute.

Re: Ask YC: Notable People On YC

#43

Post by iamelgringo »

dfranke wrote: post #29
iamelgringo wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in the room at the same time that PG and Ed were. I think that dcurtis and xichekolas were there chewing the fat with us at the same time.

And me as well.

I knew I was forgeting someone. Sorry.

Re: Ask YC: Notable People On YC

#44

Post by byrneseyeview »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #42
byrneseyeview wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to do that, too. But there are many people with opinions. And many of those opinions are worthless. And many of the most interesting opinions sound worthless at first -- so I'd rather listen to what smart people say, knowing that if they sound crazy, it's probably because I'm dumb. Fortunately, twitter's front page and the 'next blog' button on the Blogger bar can supply a pretty much infinite amount of rand…

I'm not sure how you ever get around making a personal decision whether some idea is worthwhile or not. Simply because a person had one startup, does that make them a startup expert? Probably not. If I publish a book on model trains, does that mean my opinion on world trade is somehow worthy of five minutes of your attention? In fact, most of what people say -- even famous people -- is probably off-the-cuff and not e…

But we're not talking about whether or not Paris Hilton reads HN. The people in question are startup founders, Putnam fellows, essayists, etc.

There are many streams of data. Most are (in my experience) not worth the effort. I mostly listen to people who have said interesting things in the past, and I mostly hear about them through other such people. I inject a little randomness into that process by reading old and obscure stuff, but that's more to view my ideological bubble from the outside than to get a high-quality data source.

Re: Ask YC: Notable People On YC

#45

Post by DanielBMarkham »

byrneseyeview wrote: post #44
DanielBMarkham wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how you ever get around making a personal decision whether some idea is worthwhile or not. Simply because a person had one startup, does that make them a startup expert? Probably not. If I publish a book on model trains, does that mean my opinion on world trade is somehow worthy of five minutes of your attention? In fact, most of what people say -- even famous people -- is probably off-the-cuff and not e…

But we're not talking about whether or not Paris Hilton reads HN. The people in question are startup founders, Putnam fellows, essayists, etc. There are many streams of data. Most are (in my experience) not worth the effort. I mostly listen to people who have said interesting things in the past, and I mostly hear about them through other such people. I inject a little randomness into that process by reading old and o…

So let me make sure I understand you correctly. It's more important to listen to famous people in this area (startups, Putnam, essayists) than it is to listen to more mundane people who have been proven to given you advice that was worthwhile to you personally?

I read all the time. I take college lectures on CD and DVD. I love reading HN. But I don't think any of that consumption was based on the celebrity status of a person inside the community. Rather it was based on the perceived future value to me. Projected future value, as best as I can figure, doesn't relate to "notable people" Bill Gates made billions, but if he posted here on his opinion of functional languages I would give him no more or less consideration than if you did. In fact, if you and I had talked about functional languages in the past and I found your comments useful, I'd be more inclined to hear what you had to say over Bill. "Bill Gates" or "PG" or whatever is just a concept we have of people we've never met. I think you'll find once you meet them that they have to prove themselves like the rest of us. Life is like that: what have you done lately?

I read commentary to kick my belief system around. Lots of great commentators out there. But I don't have heroes, and if one of my favorite commentators were to post here, who cares?

I'm probably missing something. Apologies if I'm off-base.

Re: Ask YC: Notable People On YC

#47

Post by akd »

edw519 wrote: post #32

I really like the idea that "notable" people may be lurking here. If only for the reason that we should all think twice before degrading someone else (or generally acting like an idiot). You never know who you're really talking to or who else may be witnessing it. (Imagine losing a 7 figure deal a year from now because the investor found out you insulted him here.)

You shouldn't degrade other people on the Internet, even if they don't have 7 figure deals to revoke.

Re: Ask YC: Notable People On YC

#48

Post by edw519 »

akd wrote: post #47
edw519 wrote: post #32

I really like the idea that "notable" people may be lurking here. If only for the reason that we should all think twice before degrading someone else (or generally acting like an idiot). You never know who you're really talking to or who else may be witnessing it. (Imagine losing a 7 figure deal a year from now because the investor found out you insulted him here.)

You shouldn't degrade other people on the Internet, even if they don't have 7 figure deals to revoke.

Right. But sometimes I'd settle for people doing the right thing even if it's for the wrong reason.
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