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What I Didn't Say

paulgraham.com

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Re: What I Didn't Say

#581

Post by jlees »

abalone wrote: post #573
nycticorax wrote: post #570

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All this having been said, I think that the level of vitriol PG has been subjected to is completely unfounded. I think it's unclear whether YC is morally obligated to lower its standards for female applicants, or to make special efforts to encourage them to apply. The first is fraught, since it implicitly means you're selecting less-qualified people over more-qualified ones (the Ivy League universities do this for di…

There are other ways of being proactive. I bet if you asked teachers and parents, they'd say 13 year old girls lack female hacker role models to look up to. They'd note how bro-y the hacker culture appears to be. So perhaps our industry could make a greater effort to spotlight and support our very best examples of female hackers, and put them in closer touch with 13 year old girls. And to dial down the bro-iness of e…

There are initiatives doing both of those things, luckily. Little Miss Geek, Technovation, et al for the first; and various changes including anti-harassment policies for the second (though some companies/events remain quite "bro"-y). Not to say there shouldn't be more of them, or that more hacker role models aimed at all genders and demographics in the early teens aren't needed. There are also more visible female tech role models than there used to be, from Marissa Mayer to Sheryl Sandberg -- but that doesn't stop 15 year old girls drawing a spotty, overweight, badly-groomed man as their idea of a "technologist" when asked. (source; Little Miss Geek TEDx talk)

I also want to point out on the lowering standards front, I'm a female hacker who's been coding since age 6, and I was rejected from YC. I'm actually proud of that fact in the light of this discussion. I'd hate the whole foundation of my startup to be the source of such rabid debate, and for folks to think I just got in because I'm a unicorn and we need more unicorns in tech.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#582

Post by Gigablah »

ryguytilidie wrote: post #555
Gigablah wrote: post #483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't mean to be harsh but this could be the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. If that's the case, then you're a very sheltered person. Lay off the hyperbole next time.

A day later I see no hyperbole here. If the logic one uses is: -Should I listen to anything this person has to say or take value from their life experiences? -Well I dunno, have they turned 40 yet. Is very certainly in the top 5 dumbest things I've ever heard if not the dumbest. A human being going well out of their way to avoid learning things and gaining more experience. But thanks for contributing with the random…

> Hope it helped rebuild your self esteem?

Why would you think that?

Re: What I Didn't Say

#583

Post by jacobtracey »

ryguytilidie wrote: post #555
Gigablah wrote: post #483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't mean to be harsh but this could be the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. If that's the case, then you're a very sheltered person. Lay off the hyperbole next time.

A day later I see no hyperbole here. If the logic one uses is: -Should I listen to anything this person has to say or take value from their life experiences? -Well I dunno, have they turned 40 yet. Is very certainly in the top 5 dumbest things I've ever heard if not the dumbest. A human being going well out of their way to avoid learning things and gaining more experience. But thanks for contributing with the random…

The quote was "If you're under 40, I'm largely uninterested in your take on the world."

See the words 'largely', and 'uninterested'?

Do you understand what those words mean? Fucking hell.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#585

Post by mtrimpe »

argumentum wrote: post #306
jusben1369 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey I think your intentions are in a good place but I think you're placing the onus on the wrong party. @ericabiz is very open, transparent and direct about what she has seen and heard. It sounds like she's quite talented and had a choice available to her in the marketplace. Based on her market research she went with what she believed to be the better option for her situation. It's possible that she may have decided…

> had a choice available to her in the marketplace Well, that's not actually true, because she didn't apply to yc to begin with, so we don't know whether or not the choice would have been available. Oddly enough, I think I met ericabiz (hello ;), she briefly stayed at my house through airbnb. I totally agree that she is talented, and that if people like her are not even applying because of such a perception, it is a…

The worst thing that could happen is not being rejected. Just one hypothetical worse case scenario is:

1. Being accepted, signing over equity and giving up on the chance to move to another accelerator.

2. Getting to YCombinator and realising that all of the group bonding indeed happens over heavy late-night boozing sessions.

3. Trying to find a way to remain part of the group experience without participating in the boozing, but failing and becoming disillusioned and demoralised.

4. Abandoning your startup because you can't join another accelerator anymore and are afraid having to explain why YCombinator didn't work for you.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#586

Post by berrypicker »

grinich wrote: post #506
jcc80 wrote: post #505

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YC has 3 female partners. http://ycombinator.com/people.html

Sure, but none of them are "hackers" in the current context. Carolynn is a lawyer, with a bachelors is in political science. Jessica previously worked at an investment bank, and has a BA in English. Kirsty is an accountant, and although she holds an MEng in electrical and information sciences, it's not clear that she ever worked as an engineer. This discussion is about young girls hacking with computers, which (I'm a…

What's with all the Academic credentialism? I've just read the entire thread and there are an incredible number of people who seem to think whether a person should be taken seriously or not is largely determined by if, what and where they studied in college.

http://paulgraham.com/colleges.html

Re: What I Didn't Say

#587

Post by lazyant »

My concern is that one of these days there will be a silly misunderstanding of greater proportions and PG will say "fuck it" and stop writing publicly and giving interviews.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#588

Post by philwelch »

crassus wrote: post #575
freyrs3 wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find the twitter comment you linked to very insightful, it's just a thinly veiled statement of "even if the facts don't support the claims I made about your actions, you're still to blame for your inaction ". This kind of "You're either with us, or against us" mentality is rather alarming...

The concept of a struggle session might help understand what's going on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struggle_session Also, Moldbug: http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2013/09/technol...

The struggle session notion is a little too on the nose, given the Marxist influence in SJW circles.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#589

Post by reallyseriously »

ericabiz wrote: post #560
argumentum wrote: post #527

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does YC being a "frat house" have to do with applying though? I can understand why that perception may discourage someone from participating in YC, but the acceptance rate is so low that it seems like premature optimization to think beyond the application.

There's not much more I can say that I haven't already said, as some of the conversations I've had were explicitly off the record. But I can say this, in a generic sense: All of the top accelerators will seek out people they want to attend and encourage them to apply. When this happens to you, as a founder, you're well aware that if you apply, you're very likely to get an interview and also very likely to get in. I c…

"and they've made an effort to change"

This is weird. What should YC change? Tech Stars doesn't do blind apps or publish all the stats you request so that's not it.

"I didn't really want to deal with keggers full of falling-over-drunk guys, jokes about "chicks", guys hitting on me, etc." "I have no inclination to fight over casual sexism"

Very difficult to work with if you're concerned about imaginary things or looking to read into things that aren't there. This sounds much more about you than YC. Good luck.

Re: What I Didn't Say

#590

Post by [deleted] »

ericabiz wrote: post #560
argumentum wrote: post #527

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does YC being a "frat house" have to do with applying though? I can understand why that perception may discourage someone from participating in YC, but the acceptance rate is so low that it seems like premature optimization to think beyond the application.

There's not much more I can say that I haven't already said, as some of the conversations I've had were explicitly off the record. But I can say this, in a generic sense: All of the top accelerators will seek out people they want to attend and encourage them to apply. When this happens to you, as a founder, you're well aware that if you apply, you're very likely to get an interview and also very likely to get in. I c…

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