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I think that YC, in its official capacity, should disavow Thiel. I think it's morally incoherent for YC partners to declare Trump a national emergency and a th

I think that YC, in its official capacity, should disavow Thiel. I think it's morally incoherent for YC partners to declare Trump a national emergency and a threat to the republic while continuing to do business with one of his greatest backers, and not acknowledging the conflict. For whatever reason, YC has chosen to stay silent while one of its partners pours resources into a candidacy outside the bounds of normal political discourse in the US. This silence is very weird, especially considering the individual partners' alarmist comments about Trump. I don't think YC became poisoned with Thiel's views the moment he expressed them. They were poisoned by his views when they chose not to react in any way, and maintain their silence. I wonder what women, Muslims, veterans, etc. in this thread feel about the matter. To the point that Thiel doesn't completely endorse his candidate, I believe that argument is substantially weakened by his 1.25M donation coming after multiple accusations of sexual assault. Clearly Thiel is comfy enough in his support to disregard this, and the parade of horrors that preceded it. I accept that I may be starting to sound a bit nasty. I consider what is happening a display of spinelessness, and the arguments being marshaled in its defense disingenuous. It makes me angry.

brhsiao 10y ago
I understand where you're coming from, but you didn't address this point: > For that matter, it's disingenuous of you to point to an individual's tweets denouncing Trump, then to the fact that his organization hasn't done the same, and call it a lack of moral courage. YC has multiple partners, and for them to disavow Thiel as a whole would require them to conspire, behind Thiel's back, to reach an agreement on this. That seems iffy. Is it really not enough that Sam has individually come out against Trump? Is it really moral incoherence that he hasn't rallied his entire organization behind him on this? I do wonder whether female and Muslim YC founders ever receive advice from Thiel, and how they feel about it. But I suspect most accept that he's a smart guy, and that at the end of the day, they can part ways in disagreement but a few pieces of good advice richer. Or maybe not. I'd be interested in hearing about someone's experience here.
- idlewords 10y ago
  I take your point that YC has some kind of governance structure, a bunch of partners, and it may not be feasible to publish a statement on company letterhead, figuratively speaking. What I'm after is some kind of statement from Altman or Graham about Thiel, his involvement in supporting Trump, and their (presumable) discomfort at having such person be a partner in YC. An acknowledgement of the situation, rather than the tacit silence we've had so far. What we have right now is Altman and Graham saying a Trump presidency would be disastrous, and not commenting at all about continuing to do business with one of Trump's key backers. That's weird.

brhsiao 10y ago

I understand where you're coming from, but you didn't address this point: > For that matter, it's disingenuous of you to point to an individual's tweets denouncing Trump, then to the fact that his organization hasn't done the same, and call it a lack of moral courage. YC has multiple partners, and for them to disavow Thiel as a whole would require them to conspire, behind Thiel's back, to reach an agreement on this. That seems iffy. Is it really not enough that Sam has individually come out against Trump? Is it really moral incoherence that he hasn't rallied his entire organization behind him on this? I do wonder whether female and Muslim YC founders ever receive advice from Thiel, and how they feel about it. But I suspect most accept that he's a smart guy, and that at the end of the day, they can part ways in disagreement but a few pieces of good advice richer. Or maybe not. I'd be interested in hearing about someone's experience here.

idlewords 10y ago
I take your point that YC has some kind of governance structure, a bunch of partners, and it may not be feasible to publish a statement on company letterhead, figuratively speaking. What I'm after is some kind of statement from Altman or Graham about Thiel, his involvement in supporting Trump, and their (presumable) discomfort at having such person be a partner in YC. An acknowledgement of the situation, rather than the tacit silence we've had so far. What we have right now is Altman and Graham saying a Trump presidency would be disastrous, and not commenting at all about continuing to do business with one of Trump's key backers. That's weird.