5 ms·

Are there any stats on how many prior YC founders were from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, or Yemen?

exabrial 10y ago
That's the intent of my comment, I can't believe I'm being downvoted for a rational question presented in a neutral manner.
- minikites 10y ago
  > trying to separate fact from hysteria Painting the people who oppose the policy as "hysterical" isn't neutral and I bet that's what people are reacting to.
  - smsm42 10y ago
    Opposing the policy and having trouble getting visa is quite a different thing.
  - exabrial 10y ago
    Personaly I oppose the policy. I think blocking an entire nation for the crimes of an acute minority is stupid. However the reaction from the media and the excitement over hypotheticals I have no other description for other than Hysteria. It's not useful to overreact, and it makes having rational discussion about the topic difficult.
    - krisdol 10y ago
      The whole ban is a hysterical overreaction, not the reporting on it. Look, I'm all for better vetting of travelers to the US. But first, tell me what problems there are in the first place, and then tell me how you plan on fixing them. What's wrong with our current vetting process? Banning travelers from countries carte-blanche "until we figure things out", with no identification of the original problem and no proposal for a fix, how is that something anyone can support? It is xenophobic, unreasonable, rooted in fiction, and in this case, it is a ban on muslims.
  - ruleabidinguser 10y ago
    Well he didn't do that...
  - mehaveaccount 10y ago
    What if the opposition is literally hysterical though?
- randyfreed 10y ago
  You're not following the narrative that these zombies want you to follow. That's why you get downvoted.
mikeash 10y ago
A brief search turned up one from Sudan. I don't know where to find a comprehensive list. Don't forget to include non-Americans with dual citizenship. Someone "from" a totally unrelated country might still have citizenship in one of the banned countries and would not be allowed in. See Mo Farah as a prominent example. I imagine the main concern here is uncertainty, though. The original travel ban was introduced with no warning and affected people who already had plans, who already had visas, and even who were already in flight. There's no telling if and when they might do something like that again. That kind of uncertainty tends to discourage people from trying to make plans in the first place.
- ruleabidinguser 10y ago
  Which countries do people suspect might be banned? I don't really expect any more than already have been.
  - mikeash 10y ago
    Given that this was the administration's attempt to implement a ban on Muslims entering the country, I'd expect it to be expanded to more predominantly Muslim countries if the courts don't completely smack it down and the administration survives long enough. And beyond that, who knows? When insane people are in power, anything is possible. Maybe some big attack is carried out by a radicalized Muslim from France or Sweden, and the response is to ban entries from there. I'd have called this idea absurd not too long ago, but now I consider this kind of thing a serious, if small, possibility.
    - ruleabidinguser 10y ago
      >Given that this was the administration's attempt to implement a ban on Muslims entering the country This is an inflammatory comment, and not a given. > When insane people are in power, anything is possible Also inflammatory. >Maybe some big attack is carried out by a radicalized Muslim from France or Sweden, and the response is to ban entries from there. I'd have called this idea absurd not too long ago, but now I consider this kind of thing a serious, if small, possibility. This is plausible, and a good point. Sorry to spend most of my comment criticizing your comment but I really cant stand this kind of rhetoric.
l8again 10y ago
I am curious to know why you think that's a relevant question?
- crazy1van 10y ago
  Based on their statement YC believes the travel ban will affect their ability to conduct interviews. I was trying to get a rough feel for the magnitude of the effect by looking at previous YC startups.
  - xienze 10y ago
    I think you probably already know this, but this is simply a way for YC to virtue signal. There's basically no one from the affected countries interviewing in the first place.
throwaway2048 10y ago
Steve jobs was syrian

That's the intent of my comment, I can't believe I'm being downvoted for a rational question presented in a neutral manner.

minikites 10y ago
> trying to separate fact from hysteria Painting the people who oppose the policy as "hysterical" isn't neutral and I bet that's what people are reacting to.
- smsm42 10y ago
  Opposing the policy and having trouble getting visa is quite a different thing.
- exabrial 10y ago
  Personaly I oppose the policy. I think blocking an entire nation for the crimes of an acute minority is stupid. However the reaction from the media and the excitement over hypotheticals I have no other description for other than Hysteria. It's not useful to overreact, and it makes having rational discussion about the topic difficult.
  - krisdol 10y ago
    The whole ban is a hysterical overreaction, not the reporting on it. Look, I'm all for better vetting of travelers to the US. But first, tell me what problems there are in the first place, and then tell me how you plan on fixing them. What's wrong with our current vetting process? Banning travelers from countries carte-blanche "until we figure things out", with no identification of the original problem and no proposal for a fix, how is that something anyone can support? It is xenophobic, unreasonable, rooted in fiction, and in this case, it is a ban on muslims.
- ruleabidinguser 10y ago
  Well he didn't do that...
- mehaveaccount 10y ago
  What if the opposition is literally hysterical though?
randyfreed 10y ago
You're not following the narrative that these zombies want you to follow. That's why you get downvoted.

mikeash 10y ago

A brief search turned up one from Sudan. I don't know where to find a comprehensive list. Don't forget to include non-Americans with dual citizenship. Someone "from" a totally unrelated country might still have citizenship in one of the banned countries and would not be allowed in. See Mo Farah as a prominent example. I imagine the main concern here is uncertainty, though. The original travel ban was introduced with no warning and affected people who already had plans, who already had visas, and even who were already in flight. There's no telling if and when they might do something like that again. That kind of uncertainty tends to discourage people from trying to make plans in the first place.

ruleabidinguser 10y ago
Which countries do people suspect might be banned? I don't really expect any more than already have been.
- mikeash 10y ago
  Given that this was the administration's attempt to implement a ban on Muslims entering the country, I'd expect it to be expanded to more predominantly Muslim countries if the courts don't completely smack it down and the administration survives long enough. And beyond that, who knows? When insane people are in power, anything is possible. Maybe some big attack is carried out by a radicalized Muslim from France or Sweden, and the response is to ban entries from there. I'd have called this idea absurd not too long ago, but now I consider this kind of thing a serious, if small, possibility.
  - ruleabidinguser 10y ago
    >Given that this was the administration's attempt to implement a ban on Muslims entering the country This is an inflammatory comment, and not a given. > When insane people are in power, anything is possible Also inflammatory. >Maybe some big attack is carried out by a radicalized Muslim from France or Sweden, and the response is to ban entries from there. I'd have called this idea absurd not too long ago, but now I consider this kind of thing a serious, if small, possibility. This is plausible, and a good point. Sorry to spend most of my comment criticizing your comment but I really cant stand this kind of rhetoric.

l8again 10y ago

I am curious to know why you think that's a relevant question?

crazy1van 10y ago
Based on their statement YC believes the travel ban will affect their ability to conduct interviews. I was trying to get a rough feel for the magnitude of the effect by looking at previous YC startups.
- xienze 10y ago
  I think you probably already know this, but this is simply a way for YC to virtue signal. There's basically no one from the affected countries interviewing in the first place.

throwaway2048 10y ago

Steve jobs was syrian