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Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor
51–60 of 798 posts
Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
This endorsement of Sam from 2011 is actually pretty damning, though it is so long ago if it were the only thing it wouldn't be a huge red flag: >I just saw Sam Altman speak at YCNYC and I was impressed. I have never actually met him or heard him speak before Monday, but one of his stories really stuck out and went something like this: > "We were trying to get a big client for weeks, and they said no and went with a…
Every good CEO is also a Confidence Man/Woman.
No, not really. Not even remotely. Business is ruthless, that's fine. It has to stay clear of fraud and deception. And funny enough, most old school companies do, mowt of the time.
Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor
#53I've had the 'chance' to work with some deeply manipulative persons in the past, the kind who goes to your desk and say 'Hey, I noticed you started to speak to X again, and your performance seems to suffer as a result", where X is a friendly colleague that opposed some plan of that person. It is incredibly difficult to keep those people in check as all that behaviour is off the record and impossible to prove. When pe…
I find it hard to believe this was the kind of environment he was cultivating at OpenAI if 95% of the staff were ready to follow him out the door. I've worked for the type of people you mention and no one followed them when they leave. 95% threatening to leave in this case is hard to ignore.
OpenAI is more religion than company. Sam could be a deeply flawed leader and still have extreme loyalty due to what OpenAI has achieved under his leadership. The people at OpenAI are believers in a mission and that means they’re far more likely to allow personal failings to slide. He’s more a Musk figure than a whoever-the-ceo-of-McDonald’s-is figure.
Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor
#54Sensationalist clickbait title. There's nothing in the article that supports the claim that Altman has been "fired".
It's almost invariably the case that to most of us, people who are powerful and effective appear "manipulative". In fact, they are manipulative, which is how they achieve so much. It's only a problem if they are manipulative in the service of goals that are unethical or harmful.
See also: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-... - successful, powerful people ("sociopaths" in vgr's comical treatise on office politics) are people who create and shape reality. Those who are not able to create and shape reality themselves (the "clueless", according to vgr) benefit from having someone create a reality for them, while at the same time, take offence at the manipulation.
Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor
#55I really liked the New Yorker portrait 'Sam Altman's Manifest Destiny': https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/10/sam-altmans-ma... It seemed to really get to the depths of his personality, both the impressive parts, and with some very subtle jabs.
I objected to his choice of Rickover as a role model in a FB comment thread and apparently he had a mutual friend with me so he jumped in complaining that the reporter hadn’t captured everything accurately (not quite to the point of “did me dirty”)
Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor
#56Based on the article and the loyalty shown by openai employees, he appears to be the "difficult to manage" type, rather than the "difficult to work for" type. That's not necessarily a bad thing in employees. I was once told that it is easier to round off the corners of a cube than to develop corners on a sphere.
IME one almost always implies the other.
Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor
#57I've had the 'chance' to work with some deeply manipulative persons in the past, the kind who goes to your desk and say 'Hey, I noticed you started to speak to X again, and your performance seems to suffer as a result", where X is a friendly colleague that opposed some plan of that person. It is incredibly difficult to keep those people in check as all that behaviour is off the record and impossible to prove. When pe…
I find it hard to believe this was the kind of environment he was cultivating at OpenAI if 95% of the staff were ready to follow him out the door. I've worked for the type of people you mention and no one followed them when they leave. 95% threatening to leave in this case is hard to ignore.
You don't need to manipulate all employees. Just key ones ;)
Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
This endorsement of Sam from 2011 is actually pretty damning, though it is so long ago if it were the only thing it wouldn't be a huge red flag: >I just saw Sam Altman speak at YCNYC and I was impressed. I have never actually met him or heard him speak before Monday, but one of his stories really stuck out and went something like this: > "We were trying to get a big client for weeks, and they said no and went with a…
This is sort of par for the course in the world of early stage startups. No one wants to be your first customer as it is risky, but you need that first customer. So you "fake it until you make it." It is similar to dressing the part you want - at least when that mattered. You buy more expensive clothes than you should be able to afford so that people think you are more successful than you are, and then they are more…
> There is nothing that is a red flag for me in the above story.
Elizabeth? Is that you?
Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor
#59People love a good cult of personality, don't they
Billionaire-jesus and his followers, reborn every 10 years.
When did this start, actually? the first I can really think of is Jobs (at least in the billionaire category); treatment of Hubbard had a lot of the same vibes, but not the money.
Re: Before OpenAI, Sam Altman was fired from Y Combinator by his mentor
#60Yeah, the craziest thing for me to come out of this was how everyone in HN just assumed he was "innocent". Poor poor sam altman, he's a victim. He comes across as a sleazebag to me.
Isn't he also the one wanting to scan everyone's eyeballs?