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Unfortunately I had an experience with Naval completely the opposite of what you're describing. I'm a student and had heard of him before several times along wi

Unfortunately I had an experience with Naval completely the opposite of what you're describing. I'm a student and had heard of him before several times along with using AngelList. Earlier this year I saw him walking in downtown San Francisco with somebody else, so I thought I would say hi and introduce myself for a moment since he seemed like a nice person. I think they must have been having some kind of very important, heated conversation because as soon as I went up to him and simply started to say "hi, hope I'm not interrupting...", he stopped me and said "we're having a conversation!!" and kept walking. Most likely it was just the wrong time and place to do that but unfortunately I now have a pretty disappointing first impression of him.

brobinson 11y ago
I don't think most people would take kindly to a stranger trying to butt into their conversation. This alleged event makes me think no less of him.
- spike021 11y ago
  I'm not quite sure how just saying "hi" is butting into a conversation. I didn't shove my hand in his face and ask to have five minutes of his time immediately. That's rather extreme. Why not just say something along the lines of "it's alright, but I'm not able to speak right now"?
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - brobinson 11y ago
    His response was probably a bit more aggressive than necessary, but think about how many times he gets propositioned/pitched to per day. Also, consider the venue: someone who comes up to you on the street and starts a conversation (especially in SF, I lived there for 7 years while working at startups) is likely asking for a handout, donation, trying to get you to sign a petition, trying to scam you, mentally ill, or some combination of the above. Someone who interrupts your conversation with another person on the street immediately comes across as rude regardless of their intentions. There was probably no way you could have successfully engaged him in a conversation, even a very short one, at that chance encounter. It just wasn't a good set of circumstances.
  - hugh4 11y ago
    >Why not just say something along the lines of "it's alright, but I'm not able to speak right now"? Because he probably doesn't have superhuman levels of patience and tolerance.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
morgante 11y ago
Sorry, but in what universe is it considered rude to not talk to random strangers who interrupt you in the street? I certainly don't think you should hold this experience against him. Hopefully he doesn't hold it against you.
- spike021 11y ago
  I didn't say it was rude, though. I would have hoped he could've just said "sorry, but I'm too busy to talk right now." Like I said, it was likely wrong place/wrong time. First impression doesn't mean all subsequent impressions. Anyway, I hope I do get the chance to meet him eventually when it's the right time.
- DodgyEggplant 11y ago
  "We're having a conversation!" is a perfectly legit saying, even to someone who is not a stranger on the street. On the other hand, Naval is a celebrity, and it's more expected for a celebrity to get such requests - maybe not wanted, but probably common. The deeper question is less anecdotal: to what extent, to cite Kevin Spacey (who cites Jack Lemon), the tech community sends the elevator back down. In this respect, AngelList has done a tremendous change to open more opportunities to more people. It actually opened the closed doors to many, and great news they are taking it to the next level. If this fund succeed, even more funds will follow.
  - morgante 11y ago
    > On the other hand, Naval is a celebrity, and it's more expected for a celebrity to get such requests - maybe not wanted, but probably common. I'm not sure I agree. He might be relatively prominent within the SV startup community, but that doesn't make him a celebrity. The vast majority of people (heck, the vast majority of engineers) would have no idea who he is.
- rokhayakebe 11y ago
  In every universe my friend. I have no idea what the context was for Naval, but if someone walks to you and say "excuse me I hope I am not interrupting," REGARDLESS of your conversation (because you are in a public place), you stop and give them 15 seconds. For how do you know they are not telling you your car is being towed, or your kid is being taken away, or you dropped your wallet. If it were Obama who walked to them would they have stopped for 15 seconds? If yes, then what is the difference? At the very least say with a smile that you are sorry, but this is really not a good time, but they can email you if it is not urgent.
visakanv 11y ago
Protip: Always get a referral if you want to meet busy people!
chrischen 11y ago
You have to understand in SF it's somewhat common for scammers, homeless people, or very aggressive Israeli sales people to butt into conversation and try to talk to you on the street. It's very likely he has been conditioned to this or thought you were one of the above.
- smcl 11y ago
  aggressive Israeli sales people?
  - rajacombinator 11y ago
    yea that is begging for elaboration ...
  - spike021 11y ago
    Probably referring to people who are vendors typically in shopping malls and other busy areas since there can be more Israelis doing that kind of work.
  - impossyble 11y ago
    I'm guessing it is in reference to the folks who work at the booths found in the hallways of shopping malls. AFAIK, those who own those stands prefer to hire good looking young people with a lot of hustle. A lot of Israelis taking a gap year after the army coincidentally fall in that bucket
  - chrischen 11y ago
    In the malls selling cosmetics, and in front of all the Adore stores.
  - zeeshanm 11y ago
    I can be completely wrong but I suspect this is a reference to close.io founders?
- inisrael 11y ago
  "Aggressive Israeli sales people"? Chris Chen, why do you think Israeli sales people are on par with scammers? That sounds more than a little bit out of line. Why do Israelis bother you so much? Chris, you need to take a good long look in the mirror and decide if this is who you want to be. I'm also surprised that this forum is not down voting comments which don't seem so on topic.
rokhayakebe 11y ago
Why is everybody down-voting the guy/gal. Can you at least give an explanation? Nowhere in their comment did they write something negative about Naval. They just described their interaction, and frankly if this is exactly what happened, I would go out and call it "not friendly" at best. One unfriendly interaction does not make a person bad, or take away from Naval. We have no idea what his context was, or what he was discussing at the time. As for OP, I think it is great you shared this. If for nothing for the simple reason that you have just given him a chance to reflect on that and rectify it if it were a mistake. Isn't this what we want? Honest feedback?
- gareim 11y ago
  OP would have to be pretty oblivious to life if he needed feedback for that interaction. He saw that someone was in a conversation, tried to interrupt, and then was offended when that someone didn't want to be interrupted. Look, if someone's doing their own personal business, don't try to interrupt. And if you do, at least be understanding that they had no obligation to stop what they were doing just to humor a stranger, so there's no right to be offended.
  - rokhayakebe 11y ago
    Last comment on the subject. There is a difference between "Hey how are you man? Thanks for stopping by, but I am really sorry but we are in the middle of something very important. Could you email me instead" and "Sorry we are having a conversation."
  - hornd 11y ago
    Based on what OP said, it sounds more like he didn't hear/see them having a conversation, that observation came after the fact.
naval 11y ago
Sorry spike, I wasn't trying to be rude. Never my intention. You likely caught me unawares and my animal brain responded before my human one could catch up. Be well.
- spike021 11y ago
  No worries Naval. I really didn't take much offense to it. Just wrong timing on both sides. Sorry as well if my comment came across the wrong way.
dang 11y ago
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10373136 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10373136 and marked it off-topic. (The root wasn't off-topic, exactly, but most of the branches are.)
- spike021 11y ago
  Fine with me and makes sense. thanks dang!

brobinson 11y ago

I don't think most people would take kindly to a stranger trying to butt into their conversation. This alleged event makes me think no less of him.

spike021 11y ago
I'm not quite sure how just saying "hi" is butting into a conversation. I didn't shove my hand in his face and ask to have five minutes of his time immediately. That's rather extreme. Why not just say something along the lines of "it's alright, but I'm not able to speak right now"?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- brobinson 11y ago
  His response was probably a bit more aggressive than necessary, but think about how many times he gets propositioned/pitched to per day. Also, consider the venue: someone who comes up to you on the street and starts a conversation (especially in SF, I lived there for 7 years while working at startups) is likely asking for a handout, donation, trying to get you to sign a petition, trying to scam you, mentally ill, or some combination of the above. Someone who interrupts your conversation with another person on the street immediately comes across as rude regardless of their intentions. There was probably no way you could have successfully engaged him in a conversation, even a very short one, at that chance encounter. It just wasn't a good set of circumstances.
- hugh4 11y ago
  >Why not just say something along the lines of "it's alright, but I'm not able to speak right now"? Because he probably doesn't have superhuman levels of patience and tolerance.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

morgante 11y ago

Sorry, but in what universe is it considered rude to not talk to random strangers who interrupt you in the street? I certainly don't think you should hold this experience against him. Hopefully he doesn't hold it against you.

spike021 11y ago
I didn't say it was rude, though. I would have hoped he could've just said "sorry, but I'm too busy to talk right now." Like I said, it was likely wrong place/wrong time. First impression doesn't mean all subsequent impressions. Anyway, I hope I do get the chance to meet him eventually when it's the right time.
DodgyEggplant 11y ago
"We're having a conversation!" is a perfectly legit saying, even to someone who is not a stranger on the street. On the other hand, Naval is a celebrity, and it's more expected for a celebrity to get such requests - maybe not wanted, but probably common. The deeper question is less anecdotal: to what extent, to cite Kevin Spacey (who cites Jack Lemon), the tech community sends the elevator back down. In this respect, AngelList has done a tremendous change to open more opportunities to more people. It actually opened the closed doors to many, and great news they are taking it to the next level. If this fund succeed, even more funds will follow.
- morgante 11y ago
  > On the other hand, Naval is a celebrity, and it's more expected for a celebrity to get such requests - maybe not wanted, but probably common. I'm not sure I agree. He might be relatively prominent within the SV startup community, but that doesn't make him a celebrity. The vast majority of people (heck, the vast majority of engineers) would have no idea who he is.
rokhayakebe 11y ago
In every universe my friend. I have no idea what the context was for Naval, but if someone walks to you and say "excuse me I hope I am not interrupting," REGARDLESS of your conversation (because you are in a public place), you stop and give them 15 seconds. For how do you know they are not telling you your car is being towed, or your kid is being taken away, or you dropped your wallet. If it were Obama who walked to them would they have stopped for 15 seconds? If yes, then what is the difference? At the very least say with a smile that you are sorry, but this is really not a good time, but they can email you if it is not urgent.

visakanv 11y ago

Protip: Always get a referral if you want to meet busy people!

chrischen 11y ago

You have to understand in SF it's somewhat common for scammers, homeless people, or very aggressive Israeli sales people to butt into conversation and try to talk to you on the street. It's very likely he has been conditioned to this or thought you were one of the above.

smcl 11y ago
aggressive Israeli sales people?
- rajacombinator 11y ago
  yea that is begging for elaboration ...
- spike021 11y ago
  Probably referring to people who are vendors typically in shopping malls and other busy areas since there can be more Israelis doing that kind of work.
- impossyble 11y ago
  I'm guessing it is in reference to the folks who work at the booths found in the hallways of shopping malls. AFAIK, those who own those stands prefer to hire good looking young people with a lot of hustle. A lot of Israelis taking a gap year after the army coincidentally fall in that bucket
- chrischen 11y ago
  In the malls selling cosmetics, and in front of all the Adore stores.
- zeeshanm 11y ago
  I can be completely wrong but I suspect this is a reference to close.io founders?
inisrael 11y ago
"Aggressive Israeli sales people"? Chris Chen, why do you think Israeli sales people are on par with scammers? That sounds more than a little bit out of line. Why do Israelis bother you so much? Chris, you need to take a good long look in the mirror and decide if this is who you want to be. I'm also surprised that this forum is not down voting comments which don't seem so on topic.

rokhayakebe 11y ago

Why is everybody down-voting the guy/gal. Can you at least give an explanation? Nowhere in their comment did they write something negative about Naval. They just described their interaction, and frankly if this is exactly what happened, I would go out and call it "not friendly" at best. One unfriendly interaction does not make a person bad, or take away from Naval. We have no idea what his context was, or what he was discussing at the time. As for OP, I think it is great you shared this. If for nothing for the simple reason that you have just given him a chance to reflect on that and rectify it if it were a mistake. Isn't this what we want? Honest feedback?

gareim 11y ago
OP would have to be pretty oblivious to life if he needed feedback for that interaction. He saw that someone was in a conversation, tried to interrupt, and then was offended when that someone didn't want to be interrupted. Look, if someone's doing their own personal business, don't try to interrupt. And if you do, at least be understanding that they had no obligation to stop what they were doing just to humor a stranger, so there's no right to be offended.
- rokhayakebe 11y ago
  Last comment on the subject. There is a difference between "Hey how are you man? Thanks for stopping by, but I am really sorry but we are in the middle of something very important. Could you email me instead" and "Sorry we are having a conversation."
- hornd 11y ago
  Based on what OP said, it sounds more like he didn't hear/see them having a conversation, that observation came after the fact.

naval 11y ago

Sorry spike, I wasn't trying to be rude. Never my intention. You likely caught me unawares and my animal brain responded before my human one could catch up. Be well.

spike021 11y ago
No worries Naval. I really didn't take much offense to it. Just wrong timing on both sides. Sorry as well if my comment came across the wrong way.

dang 11y ago

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10373136 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10373136 and marked it off-topic. (The root wasn't off-topic, exactly, but most of the branches are.)

spike021 11y ago
Fine with me and makes sense. thanks dang!