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Doesn't this fly in the face of "don't deal with jerks"? (I'm not being deliberately inflammatory, this is a genuine query)

noahth 16y ago
so there's this thing called money...
pg 16y ago
If you mean Mark, I don't think he is.
- david927 16y ago
  What remains to be seen is how many who would otherwise apply feel the same way. The sense I get in the community is that a lot of people think he is, and this may adversely affect the quality of applicants.
  - nicholasjbs 16y ago
    This doesn't make sense to me. Why would people not apply to YC just because they now have the option of gaining access to more Facebook APIs? FWIW, I spoke with Zuckerberg today. He certainly didn't set off my "jerk detector" in any way.
    - nopassrecover 16y ago
      It's good to hear he's a nice guy, but the "jerk" concern is about his (perhaps underserved) reputation for exploitation and dishonesty.
- nopassrecover 16y ago
  That's actually good to hear and I meant Mark although obviously Mark != Facebook. When I say "not a jerk" I'm thinking a strong respect for liberty (individual rights / respect for the rights of others). However, and a lot of this is influenced by allegations, Mark has done the following wrong by my reckoning, enough to question whether he is safely "not a jerk": 1. Been trusted with source code and market insight from a group he worked with, told them it was useless and then used it to develop his own site. 2. Shown little respect for privacy or IP concerns of users until market pressure forced him. 3. Been dishonest with users by changing terms and using the data of users for Facebook business purposes without explicit permission (now largely rectified). 4. Copied the look, feel and features of early competitors while litigating those who attempt the same with Facebook. 5. Allegedly (unlikely perhaps) given away a share of the company as part of overdue project complications and not advised future investors. While a lot of this is probably untrue, it's enough for me to question the man's integrity, honesty and ability to be trusted.
  - pg 16y ago
    To the extent any of this is true, it's probably no more eggs than most people would break in the making of a 500 million person omelette.

noahth 16y ago

so there's this thing called money...

pg 16y ago

If you mean Mark, I don't think he is.

david927 16y ago
What remains to be seen is how many who would otherwise apply feel the same way. The sense I get in the community is that a lot of people think he is, and this may adversely affect the quality of applicants.
- nicholasjbs 16y ago
  This doesn't make sense to me. Why would people not apply to YC just because they now have the option of gaining access to more Facebook APIs? FWIW, I spoke with Zuckerberg today. He certainly didn't set off my "jerk detector" in any way.
  - nopassrecover 16y ago
    It's good to hear he's a nice guy, but the "jerk" concern is about his (perhaps underserved) reputation for exploitation and dishonesty.
nopassrecover 16y ago
That's actually good to hear and I meant Mark although obviously Mark != Facebook. When I say "not a jerk" I'm thinking a strong respect for liberty (individual rights / respect for the rights of others). However, and a lot of this is influenced by allegations, Mark has done the following wrong by my reckoning, enough to question whether he is safely "not a jerk": 1. Been trusted with source code and market insight from a group he worked with, told them it was useless and then used it to develop his own site. 2. Shown little respect for privacy or IP concerns of users until market pressure forced him. 3. Been dishonest with users by changing terms and using the data of users for Facebook business purposes without explicit permission (now largely rectified). 4. Copied the look, feel and features of early competitors while litigating those who attempt the same with Facebook. 5. Allegedly (unlikely perhaps) given away a share of the company as part of overdue project complications and not advised future investors. While a lot of this is probably untrue, it's enough for me to question the man's integrity, honesty and ability to be trusted.
- pg 16y ago
  To the extent any of this is true, it's probably no more eggs than most people would break in the making of a 500 million person omelette.