6 ms·

So, "Startup" to them = private, bloated company? I'm guessing they're talking about the "startups" who hemorrhage money on a trendy office location and uncomf

by gonyea 11y ago

So, "Startup" to them = private, bloated company? I'm guessing they're talking about the "startups" who hemorrhage money on a trendy office location and uncomfortable chairs. It'd be cool if we had a different name for being several rounds deep, private, and profitless.

philippnagel 11y ago
Maybe, Unicorn?
- VeilEm 11y ago
  I like "black swan"
  - cmurf 11y ago
    Black swans are very particular and mate for life. I think another metaphor is needed here.
    - mc32 11y ago
      Icaruses? High flying, great pedigree, abundant hubris till they go over the edge unprepared.
      - LoSboccacc 11y ago
        Icarhorses
        deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
      - dclowd9901 11y ago
        Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. My vote is for "wisps". So fragile, the slightest disturbance in its reality distortion field and it ceases to exist.
  - gaius 11y ago
    That term already has a well known meaning tho'
- swalsh 11y ago
  Unicorn has always been the perfect name. In the beginning it conjures pictures of a majestic, beautiful, and rare animal. And then later you realize it's just a pretend fantasy.
  - TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
    Or a dead horse with unusually twinkly PR.
Trundle 11y ago
At least "startup" is more specific than "tech industry" which a lot of other articles (and this one in the actual body) are using. As if the frightful 5 aren't powering along.
Toenex 11y ago
Failures?
- cylinder 11y ago
  Scams.
mjolk 11y ago
Even if "we" (meaning HackerNews users or engineers) come up with a better term (e.g. "a company"), it won't get picked up by the media. Old media has schadenfreude for technology companies failing and they use "startup" as a code-word for their tone that tech companies are irresponsible, lazy, out of touch, and not doing "real" work. They have no idea what we do, how we do it, and they want to sell to their audience and themselves the idea that we'll get some comeuppance. It's telling the horse breeder that the "whole auto-mobile thing" is just a fad by people trying to ruin "honest work." It's gross. For examples, I didn't even have to leave the linked article: - The link off the article: "Silicon Valley's reality: The party is over" Yes, the whole 16 hour work-day for potentially valueless-shares "party." Excuse me if I'm not wearing my party hat. You'd never see "Coal miner's reality: The underground rave is over", nor would you see them taking a shot at executive compensation in the banking industry. - From the article: "Margaret Quigley, 27, a techie with some coding experience, is on the hunt for a job in San Francisco...there is literally Airbnb — for cats!...'Do I see value in the platform?'.. she has also rejected multiple sales job offers" Ah yes, the non-programmer vague "sales techie" living in the modern day political and corporate Gomorrah and a trivialization of the tech industry. Yes, quip about some startup no one has heard of and avoid talking about a company like SpaceX that is inarguably changing the world by doing things at the scale of NASA. - "The candidate wanted more money, the opportunity to work from home three days a week and to set the hours. Six months ago the company scrapped free in-office yoga and massages." Again, trying to paint tech workers (with these demands, he/she was likely an engineer) as spoiled, pampered children. The rare/uncommon perks exist because it's hard to find people capable of doing the engineering work, and once you find those people, it's very easy for them to be ground down to a nub. Funny that CNBC isn't brave enough to talk about the perks that politicians receive from lobbying groups.
- seivan 11y ago
  You're bringing up a good point, I'm not sure if it's paranoia but it does seem like deliberate diversion. I mean if we can paint nerdy engineers as true evil then focus won't be on the real "evil". I'm wondering if that's the reason why they were harassing Google engineers at their homes. It's not like engineers were selling junk bonds as AAA rated. The media's skadeglädje for tech could be because tech made media worthless. Easier than ever for anyone to publish stuff and block ads.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

by gonyea 11y ago

philippnagel 11y ago

Maybe, Unicorn?

VeilEm 11y ago
I like "black swan"
- cmurf 11y ago
  Black swans are very particular and mate for life. I think another metaphor is needed here.
  - mc32 11y ago
    Icaruses? High flying, great pedigree, abundant hubris till they go over the edge unprepared.
    - LoSboccacc 11y ago
      Icarhorses
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
    - dclowd9901 11y ago
      Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. My vote is for "wisps". So fragile, the slightest disturbance in its reality distortion field and it ceases to exist.
- gaius 11y ago
  That term already has a well known meaning tho'
swalsh 11y ago
Unicorn has always been the perfect name. In the beginning it conjures pictures of a majestic, beautiful, and rare animal. And then later you realize it's just a pretend fantasy.
- TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
  Or a dead horse with unusually twinkly PR.

Trundle 11y ago

At least "startup" is more specific than "tech industry" which a lot of other articles (and this one in the actual body) are using. As if the frightful 5 aren't powering along.

Toenex 11y ago

Failures?

cylinder 11y ago
Scams.

mjolk 11y ago

Even if "we" (meaning HackerNews users or engineers) come up with a better term (e.g. "a company"), it won't get picked up by the media. Old media has schadenfreude for technology companies failing and they use "startup" as a code-word for their tone that tech companies are irresponsible, lazy, out of touch, and not doing "real" work. They have no idea what we do, how we do it, and they want to sell to their audience and themselves the idea that we'll get some comeuppance. It's telling the horse breeder that the "whole auto-mobile thing" is just a fad by people trying to ruin "honest work." It's gross. For examples, I didn't even have to leave the linked article: - The link off the article: "Silicon Valley's reality: The party is over" Yes, the whole 16 hour work-day for potentially valueless-shares "party." Excuse me if I'm not wearing my party hat. You'd never see "Coal miner's reality: The underground rave is over", nor would you see them taking a shot at executive compensation in the banking industry. - From the article: "Margaret Quigley, 27, a techie with some coding experience, is on the hunt for a job in San Francisco...there is literally Airbnb — for cats!...'Do I see value in the platform?'.. she has also rejected multiple sales job offers" Ah yes, the non-programmer vague "sales techie" living in the modern day political and corporate Gomorrah and a trivialization of the tech industry. Yes, quip about some startup no one has heard of and avoid talking about a company like SpaceX that is inarguably changing the world by doing things at the scale of NASA. - "The candidate wanted more money, the opportunity to work from home three days a week and to set the hours. Six months ago the company scrapped free in-office yoga and massages." Again, trying to paint tech workers (with these demands, he/she was likely an engineer) as spoiled, pampered children. The rare/uncommon perks exist because it's hard to find people capable of doing the engineering work, and once you find those people, it's very easy for them to be ground down to a nub. Funny that CNBC isn't brave enough to talk about the perks that politicians receive from lobbying groups.

seivan 11y ago
You're bringing up a good point, I'm not sure if it's paranoia but it does seem like deliberate diversion. I mean if we can paint nerdy engineers as true evil then focus won't be on the real "evil". I'm wondering if that's the reason why they were harassing Google engineers at their homes. It's not like engineers were selling junk bonds as AAA rated. The media's skadeglädje for tech could be because tech made media worthless. Easier than ever for anyone to publish stuff and block ads.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]