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It seems obvious now, but you only have to look at an HN thread 6 years ago discussing Yuri Milner to see that many people in tech (or at least on HN), includin
by argonaut 9y ago
It seems obvious now, but you only have to look at an HN thread 6 years ago discussing Yuri Milner to see that many people in tech (or at least on HN), including pg, did not believe Yuri was an extension of the Russian state: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3143604 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3143604. (Of course, many also recognized this as obvious at the time).
- pdog 9y agoPaul Graham on Yuri Milner at the time: "If there's one mistake this story makes, it's in trying to come up with complicated theories about why Yuri does well. He's simply smart." https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3143894 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3143894
- sheetjs 9y agoAt least the top reply at the time, by @mapgrep, addressed the concern: > Come now, Paul. Yes, Yuri is smart. But he also has huge sacks of money to throw around, most of which comes from oligarch Alisher Usmanov > It's kind of sad, to me at least, the extent to which a sort of amorality has really taken hold in Silicon Valley. It's nice that he's helped your investments out, Paul, but where does Yuri's money come from? Have you looked into him and Usmanov? I mean, the sad thing about Yuri Milner to me isn't that he's an ostentatious outsider, it's that he fits in so darn well in Silicon Valley. I wish this was the sort of place that looked completely alien to someone from Moscow or Wall Street. Every year, it seems that's less and less the case, at least in terms of culture. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3143960 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3143960
- throaway3424 9y ago“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his livelihood depends on his not understanding it.” Upton Sinclair & also Charlie Munger.
- notyourday 9y agoYC, the VCs with ethics only when it is at the expense of others.