4 ms·

I'm very supportive of these efforts to distance startup founders from investors who are unprofessional and/or abusive -- but: "She also tweeted that Y Combina

I'm very supportive of these efforts to distance startup founders from investors who are unprofessional and/or abusive -- but: "She also tweeted that Y Combinator had disinvited an investor who was trying to replace a female chief executive with a white male" Should it be the best person for the job, male or female alike?

tptacek 9y ago
Here we're inventing a controversy where none necessarily exists; we simply don't know enough to discuss what's happening here, and so we shouldn't.
- stcredzero 9y ago
  Power corrupts, but it isn't instantaneous and it isn't as if there aren't good people who can resist that tendency. Y Combinator represents an aggregation of power, and so it's likely that someone, somewhere will be tempted to abuse such power. The "lowest cost" and most likely form of this would be through a false accusation of someone who only has marginal standing. You can say this for just about any organization which has power. This is why transparency is often a good check for power. In cases where transparency isn't practical, then there is the larger granularity of the market. Where this breaks down is in very acute concentrations of power. The realist view acknowledges that power is contextual, and that contextual abuses will happen. Sometimes the world is imperfect and you're going to have to leave for more peaceful pastures. Throughout all of the above, you can recognize "the good" in their magnanimity and their protection of the dignity and rights of individuals -- even extending this to the accused. I forget who said it, but the true test of character is not in how someone treats those they need, it's how they treat those they don't need.
  - tptacek 9y ago
    I think it's very reasonable to be concerned about the level of influence YC has amassed. I'm not super concerned because I had raised funds in the valley before YC existed and I'm pretty confident that YC is a massive improvement for founders. But either way: sure, YC is very powerful. I would just push back on the idea that it's somehow out of bounds for them to have lists of potential business partners they won't want to work with in the future. Businesses do this all the time. All YC has done here is actually told us about one of those lists.
- CyberDildonics 9y ago
  So you think it is unfair that YC could have consequences simply from being accused of abusing their influence without being able to defend themselves?
thisisdallas 9y ago
> Should it be the best person for the job, male or female alike? Yeah, that's not how it works.
- abiox 9y ago
  what do you mean?
noahmbarr 9y ago
IMHO, this is poor writing on WP's part. I dug up the original tweet: "Last month another investor asked a female founder/CEO to search for a white male to replace her as CEO. Also uninvited."[1] [1] https://twitter.com/nolimits/status/845065946834386946 https://twitter.com/nolimits/status/845065946834386946
- enknamel 9y ago
  Those tweets look like they are taking events massively out of context and adding assumptions. I could see someone asking someone else to watch their kids. That happens often in real life if someone is genuinely warm person and is usually a joke/compliment. The second one I 100% doubt it went that way. There is no way a VC would ever say to someone "hey can you find a white male to replace you as ceo of your company? thanks!". That is some serious r/thatHappened material. Given the rest of Adora's tweets she comes off as extremely focused/biased towards women's issue and harassment. I don't know her but I wouldn't be surprised if she embellished events to fit her agenda.
  - landon32 9y ago
    I know I don't have all the information, but just on first glance-- I think it's pretty inappropriate for a VC to ask an entrepreneur who is at demo day (presumably pitching) to babysit their kids, unless they had known each other for many months as friends, which seems very unlikely given the context.
    - enknamel 9y ago
      It could be ok in context. Maybe it wasn't. But just commenting that you think someone is good with kids shouldn't be offensive. If the VC literally wanted the demoer to watch their kids then sure that's not ok.
  - Obi_Juan_Kenobi 9y ago
    > Lighten up guys, it's just a joke! - some misogynist, probably
bengale 9y ago
I guess it depends on who gets to define what ‘best’ means and whether not not that limits who’s considered. Deliberate or not.

tptacek 9y ago

Here we're inventing a controversy where none necessarily exists; we simply don't know enough to discuss what's happening here, and so we shouldn't.

stcredzero 9y ago
Power corrupts, but it isn't instantaneous and it isn't as if there aren't good people who can resist that tendency. Y Combinator represents an aggregation of power, and so it's likely that someone, somewhere will be tempted to abuse such power. The "lowest cost" and most likely form of this would be through a false accusation of someone who only has marginal standing. You can say this for just about any organization which has power. This is why transparency is often a good check for power. In cases where transparency isn't practical, then there is the larger granularity of the market. Where this breaks down is in very acute concentrations of power. The realist view acknowledges that power is contextual, and that contextual abuses will happen. Sometimes the world is imperfect and you're going to have to leave for more peaceful pastures. Throughout all of the above, you can recognize "the good" in their magnanimity and their protection of the dignity and rights of individuals -- even extending this to the accused. I forget who said it, but the true test of character is not in how someone treats those they need, it's how they treat those they don't need.
- tptacek 9y ago
  I think it's very reasonable to be concerned about the level of influence YC has amassed. I'm not super concerned because I had raised funds in the valley before YC existed and I'm pretty confident that YC is a massive improvement for founders. But either way: sure, YC is very powerful. I would just push back on the idea that it's somehow out of bounds for them to have lists of potential business partners they won't want to work with in the future. Businesses do this all the time. All YC has done here is actually told us about one of those lists.
CyberDildonics 9y ago
So you think it is unfair that YC could have consequences simply from being accused of abusing their influence without being able to defend themselves?

thisisdallas 9y ago

> Should it be the best person for the job, male or female alike? Yeah, that's not how it works.

abiox 9y ago
what do you mean?

noahmbarr 9y ago

IMHO, this is poor writing on WP's part. I dug up the original tweet: "Last month another investor asked a female founder/CEO to search for a white male to replace her as CEO. Also uninvited."[1] [1] https://twitter.com/nolimits/status/845065946834386946 https://twitter.com/nolimits/status/845065946834386946

enknamel 9y ago
Those tweets look like they are taking events massively out of context and adding assumptions. I could see someone asking someone else to watch their kids. That happens often in real life if someone is genuinely warm person and is usually a joke/compliment. The second one I 100% doubt it went that way. There is no way a VC would ever say to someone "hey can you find a white male to replace you as ceo of your company? thanks!". That is some serious r/thatHappened material. Given the rest of Adora's tweets she comes off as extremely focused/biased towards women's issue and harassment. I don't know her but I wouldn't be surprised if she embellished events to fit her agenda.
- landon32 9y ago
  I know I don't have all the information, but just on first glance-- I think it's pretty inappropriate for a VC to ask an entrepreneur who is at demo day (presumably pitching) to babysit their kids, unless they had known each other for many months as friends, which seems very unlikely given the context.
  - enknamel 9y ago
    It could be ok in context. Maybe it wasn't. But just commenting that you think someone is good with kids shouldn't be offensive. If the VC literally wanted the demoer to watch their kids then sure that's not ok.
- Obi_Juan_Kenobi 9y ago
  > Lighten up guys, it's just a joke! - some misogynist, probably

bengale 9y ago

I guess it depends on who gets to define what ‘best’ means and whether not not that limits who’s considered. Deliberate or not.