5 ms·

If {YC,CEOs} are like unions, then the corollary to OP is interesting "{YC,CEOs} have potential energy that could be released by startups."

by gobengo 11y ago

api 11y ago
I believe this is true, and there probably are things that could be done to "disrupt" both these markets. YC (and to a lesser extent Silicon Valley itself) have union-like characteristics. Why is it that a bunch of companies working on distributed networks that are designed to permit easy global communication have to be located within 20 miles of each other and consequentially forced to spend sizable percentages of their investment capital propping up an absurd real estate market? This is being disrupted by things like AngelList that make it easier for startups in more reasonable local markets to raise capital on an open flat market. The death of Detroit wasn't caused by the death of cars. The automobile market has grown since the 1970s. It was caused by the global geo-diversification of the automobile industry. I wonder if the same thing could happen to SV (and YC) as a result of similar disruptive market shifts in the IT/Internet/tech markets. Since investors are to a great extent the customers in this market, the shift could come if investors see superior returns from companies outside the SV/YC orbit and decide that paying the Valley Tax is not justified. Also like Detroit, SV's cliquish quasi-unions are perhaps a bit smug and self-satisfied and don't see it coming. I'm not sure how you'd go about disrupting the "CEOs union." Let's make the question more concrete: what value does a union hire like Condi Rice (just using her as one example) bring to Dropbox and how might a startup replace that with something more efficient? I personally don't know enough about the high corporate world to know the answer, but I suspect a few around here do and might have some ideas. Maybe it would be possible to leverage your customer base. If you have something people love -- like AirBnb for example -- and are getting flak over it, which would be cheaper: to mobilize your customers or to hire a $200m/year CEO with government connections?
vacri 11y ago
I think it illustrates that while the tweet sounds insightful, it's actually nonsense and doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Besides, every industry has unions or entities that are similar to unions - even the software/startup industry - so it's basically saying 'startups can work anywhere'. I'm also curious to see how a startup would 'release the potential' held back by bus-drivers' or coal-miners' unions, such that there would cease to be such unions (ie: 'the sclerosis is removed'), without there being the reduction in wages/conditions that the follow-up tweet mentions it's not trying to pursue.

If {YC,CEOs} are like unions, then the corollary to OP is interesting "{YC,CEOs} have potential energy that could be released by startups."

by gobengo 11y ago

If {YC,CEOs} are like unions, then the corollary to OP is interesting "{YC,CEOs} have potential energy that could be released by startups."

api 11y ago

I believe this is true, and there probably are things that could be done to "disrupt" both these markets. YC (and to a lesser extent Silicon Valley itself) have union-like characteristics. Why is it that a bunch of companies working on distributed networks that are designed to permit easy global communication have to be located within 20 miles of each other and consequentially forced to spend sizable percentages of their investment capital propping up an absurd real estate market? This is being disrupted by things like AngelList that make it easier for startups in more reasonable local markets to raise capital on an open flat market. The death of Detroit wasn't caused by the death of cars. The automobile market has grown since the 1970s. It was caused by the global geo-diversification of the automobile industry. I wonder if the same thing could happen to SV (and YC) as a result of similar disruptive market shifts in the IT/Internet/tech markets. Since investors are to a great extent the customers in this market, the shift could come if investors see superior returns from companies outside the SV/YC orbit and decide that paying the Valley Tax is not justified. Also like Detroit, SV's cliquish quasi-unions are perhaps a bit smug and self-satisfied and don't see it coming. I'm not sure how you'd go about disrupting the "CEOs union." Let's make the question more concrete: what value does a union hire like Condi Rice (just using her as one example) bring to Dropbox and how might a startup replace that with something more efficient? I personally don't know enough about the high corporate world to know the answer, but I suspect a few around here do and might have some ideas. Maybe it would be possible to leverage your customer base. If you have something people love -- like AirBnb for example -- and are getting flak over it, which would be cheaper: to mobilize your customers or to hire a $200m/year CEO with government connections?

vacri 11y ago

I think it illustrates that while the tweet sounds insightful, it's actually nonsense and doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Besides, every industry has unions or entities that are similar to unions - even the software/startup industry - so it's basically saying 'startups can work anywhere'. I'm also curious to see how a startup would 'release the potential' held back by bus-drivers' or coal-miners' unions, such that there would cease to be such unions (ie: 'the sclerosis is removed'), without there being the reduction in wages/conditions that the follow-up tweet mentions it's not trying to pursue.