4 ms·

As much as I disagree with his thesis here, the entire point of it is that YC wants to and does fund toy companies. So they're trying to solve the exact problem

As much as I disagree with his thesis here, the entire point of it is that YC wants to and does fund toy companies. So they're trying to solve the exact problem you're railing against.

loorinm 9y ago
So funding toy companies (IE Mark Zuckerberg and other well-off white men) is solving the problem of only funding Mark Zuckerberg and other well-off white men?
- encoderer 9y ago
  So nothing is worthwhile if it doesn’t also solve inequality? Tall order.
  - loorinm 9y ago
    I am directly responding to above person’s claim that this practice by YC is somehow solving the very problem it is creating. At no point did I claim that everything has to solve inequality.
- csallen 9y ago
  I'm black, I did YC. I know quite a few women and non-white men who've gone through YC, too. I think if you made your point (which is an important one!) with less snark and hyperbole, it would be more effective.
adpirz 9y ago
I think OP has a point. MZ was comfortable enough leaving school for a semester, and that too after being put on academic probation for violating serious codes of ethics. Despite all that, he still managed a $500k seed investment from Peter Thiel. Students who grow up in poverty and put the work in to get into college, let alone a prestigious one like Harvard, are usually fighting to do everything right just to make it through, and many don't because they can't make financial commitments (and yes, despite tons of scholarship money) or personal commitments with family. People like Mark always had the security of their family's relative wealth and security on top of their general status in society. That's not a luxury afforded to most, and certainly not those from low-income backgrounds.
- aeorgnoieang 9y ago
  I think the point is only 'locally' right. If you consider a long enough period of time, effectively no one has ever been able to afford the luxury of 'building a toy'. And yet, at least some people do now have that luxury. It certainly isn't impossible for lots and lots of people to afford some degree of something pretty similar tho.

As much as I disagree with his thesis here, the entire point of it is that YC wants to and does fund toy companies. So they're trying to solve the exact problem you're railing against.

loorinm 9y ago

So funding toy companies (IE Mark Zuckerberg and other well-off white men) is solving the problem of only funding Mark Zuckerberg and other well-off white men?

encoderer 9y ago
So nothing is worthwhile if it doesn’t also solve inequality? Tall order.
- loorinm 9y ago
  I am directly responding to above person’s claim that this practice by YC is somehow solving the very problem it is creating. At no point did I claim that everything has to solve inequality.
csallen 9y ago
I'm black, I did YC. I know quite a few women and non-white men who've gone through YC, too. I think if you made your point (which is an important one!) with less snark and hyperbole, it would be more effective.

adpirz 9y ago

I think OP has a point. MZ was comfortable enough leaving school for a semester, and that too after being put on academic probation for violating serious codes of ethics. Despite all that, he still managed a $500k seed investment from Peter Thiel. Students who grow up in poverty and put the work in to get into college, let alone a prestigious one like Harvard, are usually fighting to do everything right just to make it through, and many don't because they can't make financial commitments (and yes, despite tons of scholarship money) or personal commitments with family. People like Mark always had the security of their family's relative wealth and security on top of their general status in society. That's not a luxury afforded to most, and certainly not those from low-income backgrounds.

aeorgnoieang 9y ago
I think the point is only 'locally' right. If you consider a long enough period of time, effectively no one has ever been able to afford the luxury of 'building a toy'. And yet, at least some people do now have that luxury. It certainly isn't impossible for lots and lots of people to afford some degree of something pretty similar tho.