4 ms·

Makes me think really hard about tech’s blind adoration for the “PayPal mafia.” I find myself seeing more instances of soul crushing amoral behavior from this g

by tempsy 7y ago

Makes me think really hard about tech’s blind adoration for the “PayPal mafia.” I find myself seeing more instances of soul crushing amoral behavior from this group of entrepreneurs than just about any other group.

TremendousJudge 7y ago
the ones on "tech" that profess blind adoration towards these people are the ones that are in it for the profits
- TAForObvReasons 7y ago
  Elon Musk is one of the paypal mafia, but it seems that many people who aren't "in it for the profits" profess blind adoration
  - navigatesol 7y ago
    I can't tell if you're saying he's a good or bad example. But Musk has managed to get himself wealthy from many businesses that mostly burn capital, including the biggest CEO pay package in history. He may be the ultimate example of the PayPal Mafia.
    - TAForObvReasons 7y ago
      Criticism of Musk or the operation of any of his companies (such as the arguably nepotic acquisition of SolarCity) are generally downvoted to oblivion here, and it's hard to tell if everyone is an investor or just blindly support him. Actually surprised that my comment managed to get upvoted back, it was -3 within a few minutes of posting the comment.
- siruncledrew 7y ago
  I'll caveat with saying not all entrepreneurs are this way, but the 'entrebroneurs' are the ones allured to the douchebag persona of being a "Russ Hanneman" type of founder.
soup10 7y ago
It's worth pointing out that Google shamelessly cloned Yelp and funnels everyone into using their clone when they search for restaurants. If Yelp is in desperate spot its because Google put them there.
- qes 7y ago
  Google also did it better, but that's just my opinion.
  - RHSeeger 7y ago
    They're still pretty bad https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/20/18693144/google-maps-fake-business-listings-investigation-report https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/20/18693144/google-maps-fake...
- rurp 7y ago
  Most companies face stiff competition and that's no reason to excuse immoral behavior. Not to mention that Google tried to acquire Yelp and was turned down. Either Yelp's plan to take on Google always included copious dark patterns, or their earlier plans totally failed and this is what they've fallen back on. Either way Yelp can't die soon enough.
  - soup10 7y ago
    What are you talking about stiff competition? Google just lazily cloned it and hijack the results of restaurant searches so they win by default.
    - monitorman 7y ago
      You challenge that it is stiff competition in your first sentence, then you define that Google is, indeed, stiff competition in your second.
      - soup10 7y ago
RHSeeger 7y ago
Every person I know in tech thinks the lot of them are different forms of Satan. It's the people outside of tech, that don't know of their exploits, that don't think that.
- dylan604 7y ago
  But it's not just one tech company. Readers of HN are leaning to most, at least a lot the big ones, as forms of Satan. Facebook, Amazon, Google, PayPal, Uber, etc are all companies I go out of my way to not conduct business if I can help it. I'll also just add any too-big-to-fail bank to that list of forms of Satan as well. While not the tech companies people think of, they are nothing but tech on the inside. Why does it still take overnight for checks to be deposited vs an immediate transfer? (only slightly rhetorical)
codinger 7y ago
The problem with using another form of payment is I won't purchase from a small business online without PayPal. PayPal offers consumer protection so I can take a risk with a company I don't trust yet. if it goes bad I can file a complaint and it will almost always get resolved.
- chasedehan 7y ago
  You don’t have to have paypal for that. You can easily contest any payment from your credit card.
  - ademarre 7y ago
    Except you may have to deal with the inconvenience of changing your credit card number.
    - judge2020 7y ago
      Unless they stored the number and are using it at multiple "merchants", your bank can stop all transactions from them from going through. There's also virtual card services like privacy.com and those provided by multiple banks.
- navigatesol 7y ago
  You find PayPal better to deal with than your credit card company?
  - codinger 7y ago
    As a consumer, it isn't bad.
justaguyhere 7y ago
Tech is the new wall street. Between privacy concerns, screwing of small businesses, blindly supporting mega corps with copyright... sometimes I feel even wall street is better :(

by tempsy 7y ago

TremendousJudge 7y ago

the ones on "tech" that profess blind adoration towards these people are the ones that are in it for the profits

TAForObvReasons 7y ago
Elon Musk is one of the paypal mafia, but it seems that many people who aren't "in it for the profits" profess blind adoration
- navigatesol 7y ago
  I can't tell if you're saying he's a good or bad example. But Musk has managed to get himself wealthy from many businesses that mostly burn capital, including the biggest CEO pay package in history. He may be the ultimate example of the PayPal Mafia.
  - TAForObvReasons 7y ago
    Criticism of Musk or the operation of any of his companies (such as the arguably nepotic acquisition of SolarCity) are generally downvoted to oblivion here, and it's hard to tell if everyone is an investor or just blindly support him. Actually surprised that my comment managed to get upvoted back, it was -3 within a few minutes of posting the comment.
siruncledrew 7y ago
I'll caveat with saying not all entrepreneurs are this way, but the 'entrebroneurs' are the ones allured to the douchebag persona of being a "Russ Hanneman" type of founder.

soup10 7y ago

It's worth pointing out that Google shamelessly cloned Yelp and funnels everyone into using their clone when they search for restaurants. If Yelp is in desperate spot its because Google put them there.

qes 7y ago
Google also did it better, but that's just my opinion.
- RHSeeger 7y ago
  They're still pretty bad https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/20/18693144/google-maps-fake-business-listings-investigation-report https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/20/18693144/google-maps-fake...
rurp 7y ago
Most companies face stiff competition and that's no reason to excuse immoral behavior. Not to mention that Google tried to acquire Yelp and was turned down. Either Yelp's plan to take on Google always included copious dark patterns, or their earlier plans totally failed and this is what they've fallen back on. Either way Yelp can't die soon enough.
- soup10 7y ago
  What are you talking about stiff competition? Google just lazily cloned it and hijack the results of restaurant searches so they win by default.
  - monitorman 7y ago
    You challenge that it is stiff competition in your first sentence, then you define that Google is, indeed, stiff competition in your second.
    - soup10 7y ago

RHSeeger 7y ago

Every person I know in tech thinks the lot of them are different forms of Satan. It's the people outside of tech, that don't know of their exploits, that don't think that.

dylan604 7y ago
But it's not just one tech company. Readers of HN are leaning to most, at least a lot the big ones, as forms of Satan. Facebook, Amazon, Google, PayPal, Uber, etc are all companies I go out of my way to not conduct business if I can help it. I'll also just add any too-big-to-fail bank to that list of forms of Satan as well. While not the tech companies people think of, they are nothing but tech on the inside. Why does it still take overnight for checks to be deposited vs an immediate transfer? (only slightly rhetorical)

codinger 7y ago

The problem with using another form of payment is I won't purchase from a small business online without PayPal. PayPal offers consumer protection so I can take a risk with a company I don't trust yet. if it goes bad I can file a complaint and it will almost always get resolved.

chasedehan 7y ago
You don’t have to have paypal for that. You can easily contest any payment from your credit card.
- ademarre 7y ago
  Except you may have to deal with the inconvenience of changing your credit card number.
  - judge2020 7y ago
    Unless they stored the number and are using it at multiple "merchants", your bank can stop all transactions from them from going through. There's also virtual card services like privacy.com and those provided by multiple banks.
navigatesol 7y ago
You find PayPal better to deal with than your credit card company?
- codinger 7y ago
  As a consumer, it isn't bad.

justaguyhere 7y ago

Tech is the new wall street. Between privacy concerns, screwing of small businesses, blindly supporting mega corps with copyright... sometimes I feel even wall street is better :(