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I've been wondering more and more lately why tall, rich, white guys in suits have so many "insights". What exactly has Thiel done lately that warrants treating

I've been wondering more and more lately why tall, rich, white guys in suits have so many "insights". What exactly has Thiel done lately that warrants treating his opinions any differently than some other tall, rich, white guy's opinion? Other than just investing in companies is he really building anything? Given that he is so far removed from the actual making of things maybe we should stop paying so much attention to him and folks like him in general. Having money and investing is nice but as far as insight is concerned I'd look elsewhere. In fact many of the points he makes just sound hollow, e.g. Microsoft Windows is the last OS, Facebook is the last social network, Google is the last search engine, Japan is not innovating, being contrarian is a sound business strategy, short term iteration + long term vision is a good thing, etc.

unfunco 11y ago
And the same goes for Hoffman. He's partly responsible for LinkedIn, which is in my opinion one of the most disgusting (in terms of their data collection, creepy analysis, and overall recruiter-heavy membership) companies that has ever been created, I don't understand why anyone (apart from the type of people who join get-rich-quick pyramid schemes in Las Vegas conference rooms) would want his advice.
- dkarapetyan 11y ago
  Yup, linkedin from the perspective of a software developer is a pretty horrendous product both in terms of usability (dark UI patterns) and recruiter spam. I'm sure there is some value in having an account but I was not able to find any value. I think most recruiters rightfully assume that if you have an account then you secretly want to be contacted and I'm sure most programmers feel like rockstars for being wanted so badly and being spammed with "opportunities". I closed my account a while ago for philosophical and practical reasons. I have yet to find a good professional network for programmers but given the state of the programmer job market I'm not feeling left out for not having a linkedin account.

unfunco 11y ago

And the same goes for Hoffman. He's partly responsible for LinkedIn, which is in my opinion one of the most disgusting (in terms of their data collection, creepy analysis, and overall recruiter-heavy membership) companies that has ever been created, I don't understand why anyone (apart from the type of people who join get-rich-quick pyramid schemes in Las Vegas conference rooms) would want his advice.

dkarapetyan 11y ago
Yup, linkedin from the perspective of a software developer is a pretty horrendous product both in terms of usability (dark UI patterns) and recruiter spam. I'm sure there is some value in having an account but I was not able to find any value. I think most recruiters rightfully assume that if you have an account then you secretly want to be contacted and I'm sure most programmers feel like rockstars for being wanted so badly and being spammed with "opportunities". I closed my account a while ago for philosophical and practical reasons. I have yet to find a good professional network for programmers but given the state of the programmer job market I'm not feeling left out for not having a linkedin account.