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Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

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Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#461

Post by loeg »

nerbert wrote: post #441
ketzo wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

…you think calling someone “the best in the world” is a) purely factual b) not supportive Uh, what on earth would count as explicitly supportive language?

Being the best in the world to deal with a situation is a neutral statement. Putin is the best in the world to deal with the situation he’s in right now, if you need a negative angle on this.

> Putin is the best in the world to deal with the situation he’s in right now, if you need a negative angle on this.

Probably not true? It seems like Russia could use another Yeltsin (or Gorbachev) more than Putin for its current situation.

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#462

Post by charlie0 »

gretch wrote: post #361
charlie0 wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This the main reason I don't trust people who are in the business of "selling". On one hand, it's nice being around those kinds of people. On the other hand, it's hard to take any of the nice things they say seriously. Most of them say nice things to be likeable, not because they actually mean or will do what they say. I've learned to pay close attention to what salesmen do, rather than what is said. The actual truth…

>I've learned to pay close attention to what salesmen do, rather than what is said. Yes this is always a wise thing to do. >Most of them say nice things to be likeable, not because they actually mean or will do what they say. I disagree with this take. I mean I’m sure there’s snakes out there. What I see in life though, is that most people don’t say enough nice things, even things they genuinely feel. They hold back…

No need to disagree, both our statements can be true at the same time. I also need to be less stoic, but I refuse to put on a mask to achieve that.

My statement was directed at those who wear that mask all too well. Example, my landlord, who's in real estate and a very nice guy in person. However, he promised to do a few things and didn't do them. So his niceties where just that, nice words and nothing more. I'd rather deal with a less nice person who actually does what they said they will. With limits of course, no one likes a-holes.

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#463

Post by snickerbockers »

Waterluvian wrote: post #444
ketzo wrote: post #435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

…you think calling someone “the best in the world” is a) purely factual b) not supportive Uh, what on earth would count as explicitly supportive language?

That’s a really good example of not being explicitly supportive. It’s an objective statement. If I said “Roy Sullivan is the best in the world at being struck by lightning” it may implicitly feel like I’m rooting for him. But I’m just stating a fact. What would count? “I think Roy Sullivan is the man to be struck an eighth time. He’s the best at it. I hope he succeeds.”

So the statement is that Sam Altman is the best person in the world at getting fired?

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#464

Post by p_j_w »

mousetree wrote: post #24

> One of those people whose career Altman helped propel was Ilya Sutskever, chief scientist and board member at OpenAI — the person who ultimately fired him. Ilya was plenty successful before OpenAI and would've been just fine without Altman helping to "propel" his career.

It seems obvious that tech media are largely not even close to neutral here. Most everything coming out feels manipulative as hell. I don’t know why anyone thinks they have a clear story of what’s happening here.

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#466

Post by DoreenMichele »

Y_Y wrote: post #434
DoreenMichele wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have hung out on HN for over 14 years and took a personal interest in "How in the heck did a pretty young woman co-found a company with three men, date one of them and not have this turn into a debacle and scandal in the headlines???" It took quite a few years for the details behind the founding of YC to come out: 1. Jessica Livingston did not co-found a company with three random men. 2. She and Paul Graham were da…

While I think it's unlikely that you'll summon pg or dang to comment on something like that it's is an interesting take and I wonder if any of those involved have addressed it elsewhere.

Probably not.

1. Paul Graham and Jessica Livingston tend to keep their private life private.

2. If I'm correct, it seems unlikely Paul told anyone he hired Sam to protect his personal interests as a married man nervous about his pretty younger wife working closely with another men.

3. If I'm correct, he probably didn't even tell Jessica because that would have come off as "I don't trust you" and not "I am worried about his behavior."

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#467

Post by threeseed »

bmitc wrote: post #367
tracerbulletx wrote: post #266

CEOs are professional communicators who have reached the highest level of the craft, they use their communications to achieve an end, expressing their inner selves is not the point. You might know a great kind person who is a car salesman, when they are at work a good one comes off as genuine and friendly, the things they're saying include many truths, but their words and actions are primarily designed to sell cars.…

> CEOs are professional communicators who have reached the highest level of the craft That's kind of silly, isn't it? Altman is a college dropout who has barely ever worked and somehow fell upward into CEO positions very quickly. His level of communication in talks and interviews is terrible, so I am genuinely confused where all this mystique comes from. He sounds like a college student being asked and talking about…

Altman founded Loopt.

Not sure how you can say he fell into the CEO position there.

Also at the time he was at YC it was a significantly smaller and less prestigious incubator.

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#468

Post by mcpackieh »

cooper_ganglia wrote: post #325
demadog wrote: post #274

I predict his character arch will be similar to Adam Neumann and Travis Kalanick - first the media gushes over him and praises him as a genius. Then the media starts to question him. Then they start to fully dig in and dig up a ton of dirt. With no mainstream outlet pushing forth the allegations his sister is claiming on social, I imagine right now they are looking under every rock on that end. I respect his hustle b…

I trust Greg, and Greg trusts Sam.

Transitive trust is a bad idea. The telephone game aka "chinese whispers" demonstrates why.

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#469

Post by ChuckMcM »

QuadrupleA wrote: post #376

From Paul Graham's Twitter, three days ago: "No one in the world is better than Sam at dealing with this kind of situation." Jessica Livingston retweet: "The reason I was a founding donor to OpenAI in 2015 was not because I was interested in AI, but because I believed in Sam. So I hope the board can get its act together and bring Sam and Greg back." Also from a sibling comment: https://twitter.com/search?q=from:paulg…

I sometimes think that at this level of the game everyone hates everyone else and its all politics. You don't "come out" for or against anyone publicly, you leave all of that under cover. It makes knowing who your friends and enemies are more difficult and it restricts your ability to maneuver. Another quote from my grandfather was "Mutual respect does not require that you like someone."

Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor

#470

Post by LeafItAlone »

QuadrupleA wrote: post #376

From Paul Graham's Twitter, three days ago: "No one in the world is better than Sam at dealing with this kind of situation." Jessica Livingston retweet: "The reason I was a founding donor to OpenAI in 2015 was not because I was interested in AI, but because I believed in Sam. So I hope the board can get its act together and bring Sam and Greg back." Also from a sibling comment: https://twitter.com/search?q=from:paulg…

Mature adults can certainly think that someone else is not fit for one job (running YC) and is fit for another (handling OAI). Good business people are even better at it, knowing that makes them more money. PG certainly seems to fit that.
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