4 ms·

Hey now, not everyone lives in a world where $20k is "measly". For most of the US, it's damn near half a year of salary, not to mention the rest of the world.

adrienne 10y ago
I could literally solve every problem I have in my life right now with an infusion of $20k, so yeah, calling it "measly" is just one more drop in the bucket of evidence that i'm not welcome at HN because it's for wealthy techbros.
- dang 10y ago
  I blanched at that comment too, and don't think of $20k as measly either. You are welcome here, and HN is emphatically not just for "wealthy techbros". The most offensive comments one runs across are the ones that make the strongest impression, but they don't give a representative picture. And much of the time an obnoxious comment turns out to have been carelessly expressed rather than obnoxious outright.
smoyer 10y ago
Point taken ... It's not measly individually. But it is measly corporately. With over thirty years in the tech business, I've become sensitive to false economies. YC was essentially crowd-sourcing application review as an experiment in how well we'd pick winners. As a thought experiment, let's say there are 250 of us involved and that we each spent an average of four hour reviewing applications (posts), discussing candidate awardees and voting. YC effectively paid a "measly" $2 per (wo)man hour. My opinion is that this time was well invested and I have no problem donating expertise here or elsewhere. As an added bonus, I think the exercise also strengthened the community ... We normally have discussions but this projects turned the natural flow of those discussions into motive force. The wasted time and mental energy started when the post-decision arguments and interpersonal conflict happened. How many more hours were wasted at the "measly" pay rate calculated above? Here's my proposal to make the process better ... Make votes cost something. My original thought was to propose that same $2 per vote, and that you could vote for as many applicants as you wanted but only vote for each applicant once. Now I'm leaning towards each vote costing 100 points of karma. And since I'm calling $2 "measly", I proposal we each donate $8 cash to create a fellowship for another YC applicant ... Or we could simply crowd fund pinboard (though I agree that pinboard doesn't really fit the spirit of the original proposal) ... Tell me where to send the money and I'll post it today, @llamataboot is right ... There's nothing "measly" about $20k when it's applied in a way that changes someone's life. I'd also caution those who think it would solve all their problems ... You have to understand how you ended up with those problems or it will make no long-term difference in your life.

adrienne 10y ago

I could literally solve every problem I have in my life right now with an infusion of $20k, so yeah, calling it "measly" is just one more drop in the bucket of evidence that i'm not welcome at HN because it's for wealthy techbros.

dang 10y ago
I blanched at that comment too, and don't think of $20k as measly either. You are welcome here, and HN is emphatically not just for "wealthy techbros". The most offensive comments one runs across are the ones that make the strongest impression, but they don't give a representative picture. And much of the time an obnoxious comment turns out to have been carelessly expressed rather than obnoxious outright.

smoyer 10y ago

Point taken ... It's not measly individually. But it is measly corporately. With over thirty years in the tech business, I've become sensitive to false economies. YC was essentially crowd-sourcing application review as an experiment in how well we'd pick winners. As a thought experiment, let's say there are 250 of us involved and that we each spent an average of four hour reviewing applications (posts), discussing candidate awardees and voting. YC effectively paid a "measly" $2 per (wo)man hour. My opinion is that this time was well invested and I have no problem donating expertise here or elsewhere. As an added bonus, I think the exercise also strengthened the community ... We normally have discussions but this projects turned the natural flow of those discussions into motive force. The wasted time and mental energy started when the post-decision arguments and interpersonal conflict happened. How many more hours were wasted at the "measly" pay rate calculated above? Here's my proposal to make the process better ... Make votes cost something. My original thought was to propose that same $2 per vote, and that you could vote for as many applicants as you wanted but only vote for each applicant once. Now I'm leaning towards each vote costing 100 points of karma. And since I'm calling $2 "measly", I proposal we each donate $8 cash to create a fellowship for another YC applicant ... Or we could simply crowd fund pinboard (though I agree that pinboard doesn't really fit the spirit of the original proposal) ... Tell me where to send the money and I'll post it today, @llamataboot is right ... There's nothing "measly" about $20k when it's applied in a way that changes someone's life. I'd also caution those who think it would solve all their problems ... You have to understand how you ended up with those problems or it will make no long-term difference in your life.