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If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

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Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#461

Post by daveFNbuck »

xiphias2 wrote: post #445
daveFNbuck wrote: post #418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That and the idea that he would wear skates to a meeting where he intends to show a group of comedy writers the seriousness of his work make this anecdote very unbelievable.

Just search for Astro Teller rollerblades :)

Those search results are heavily polluted by stories of this interview now. It's weird that they would give him trouble if he always wears them. If only Google had figured out a way for people to have human-powered wheeled transportation between buildings without having to be hobbled indoors...

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#462

Post by lukewrites »

coleifer wrote: post #81
skunkworker wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This Venn diagram always gets me. https://i.chzbgr.com/full/8291744000/h3159FC59/

I use this simple litmus test: if it has a laugh-track, then it's for dumb people.

Counterpoint: Blackadder.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#463

Post by baud147258 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #460
_pvxk wrote: post #458

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember reading a story about someone who got fired from some Silicon Valley tech job, and they almost immediately revoked their key card, so they got stuck in the staircase and had to wait for someone to hold the door open so they could get out of the building. (As if getting fired wasn't bad enough, you have to beg favours from random passers-by.)

Fire codes demand stairwells always open to the outdoors without obstruction. So this seems fishy?

In that story he was trying to go to the second floor from the third to collect his bag before leaving.

https://zachholman.com/talk/firing-people

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#464

Post by smt88 »

choot wrote: post #442
smt88 wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the Indian guy is the whitest one I've seen What do you mean by that? Can you explain?

> What do you mean by that? Can you explain? Maybe he means culturally

So a guy who was born and raised in Pakistan and has a Pakistani accent is culturally white? What exactly does that mean? Does it mean that he’s educated and wealthy?

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#465

Post by JoeAltmaier »

baud147258 wrote: post #463
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fire codes demand stairwells always open to the outdoors without obstruction. So this seems fishy?

In that story he was trying to go to the second floor from the third to collect his bag before leaving. https://zachholman.com/talk/firing-people

Common after layoff to have to return at an arranged later date (exit interview?) to collect belongings. But can be a bummer if your car keys are in your desk!

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#466

Post by choot »

smt88 wrote: post #464
choot wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What do you mean by that? Can you explain? Maybe he means culturally

So a guy who was born and raised in Pakistan and has a Pakistani accent is culturally white? What exactly does that mean? Does it mean that he’s educated and wealthy?

I think he means, that guy is more culturally white than the Indians who he finds in the SV.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#467

Post by TheKarateKid »

ibudiallo wrote: post #300

A few months ago I wrote a certain story here and to my surprise I received a call from Dan Lyons, one of the writers of the show. We had long discussions about silicon valley and his new book coming out (I'm featured in it). A few weeks ago he was in LA and we had another long discussion about the show. Silicon Valley is the show most startup founders will refuse to watch. My startup was featured on TechCrunch Disru…

> Silicon Valley is the show most startup founders will refuse to watch.

So, so true. I tried to start watching it when I was running my startup but it literally felt like I was watching the same place and people I was spending 9-14 hours/day at the startup accelerator I was in.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#468

Post by ethbro »

coldtea wrote: post #431
ethbro wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The quip that made me "Hmm" on BBT was "How often are you laughing with the characters? And how often are you laughing at them?"

You could laugh at the characters and the show still be good (if the characters deserve to be laughed at). The important thing is the quality of the joke.

You could, but to me it's the difference between "laughing at funny nerds" and "laughing at nerds."

The latter just feels cheap.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#469

Post by goto11 »

holywoly wrote: post #355
snowwrestler wrote: post #63

Amazing anecdote from a 2016 New Yorker article on the show: > During one visit to Google’s headquarters, in Mountain View, about six writers sat in a conference room with Astro Teller, the head of GoogleX, who wore a midi ring and kept his long hair in a ponytail. “Most of our research meetings are fun, but this one was uncomfortable,” Kemper told me.... > “He claimed he hadn’t seen the show, and then he referred ma…

Any shows of the same style on Hollywood? Do the show producers feel something similar to some in their own industry or their surreality is just reality for them? Are they brave enough to mock powerful people they may wish to work with later? Would be fun to watch one on Hollywood and they should have very intimate details to bare.

Hollywood have a grand tradition for satirizing themselves mercilessly - from Sunset Boulevard to Tropic Thunder. They don't shy away from presenting powerful Hollywood producers as drug users, as in True Romance, and in The Player you have cameos of Hollywood personalities playing themselves in a movie which present the business as deeply corrupt and opportunistic. I dont' think anybody is as openly cynical about Hollywood as Hollywood itself.

Re: If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley

#470

Post by ocdtrekkie »

Balero wrote: post #447
rhino369 wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>BBT laughs AT nerds, reinforcing stereotypes in non-nerds and reassuring the mainstream about its superiority. BBT definitely laughs at nerds. But I don't think reassures the mainstream about its superiority. The characters on BBT are depicted as god-tier geniuses that are successful at doing important work. The nerds are the protagonists. SV on the other really sticks it to developers and VC. I don't get a sense th…

I haven't watched a great deal of BBT, i'm not a fan, just what I've caught watching with other people. I've never seen an episode where they were depicted in actually doing work, just in talking about their social group and the character interaction. They could have all been sitting in a coffee shop or bar for all of the links to their job it had. Whereas SV does have content about their life outside of work, a lot…

BBT has quite a few episodes portraying work at the university, but it's definitely a minor amount, and it's not really intended to be scientifically accurate bleeding edge science. Big Bang Theory is far more worried about getting right details of various super heroes than presenting an education on theoretical physics.
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