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Strong agree. I found Sam Altman's writing on quora and followed it off-and-on long, long before I found out "who he is." And his advice is so overly-positive
by arkades 7y ago
Strong agree.
I found Sam Altman's writing on quora and followed it off-and-on long, long before I found out "who he is." And his advice is so overly-positive and one-note that, honestly, I thought he was a snake oil salesman or self-help guru. I would never have guessed he was actually a VC / successful entrepreneur.
Frankly, his arguments and writing continue to sound like Self-Help Guru shined through the lens of SV VC to me. Nuance isn't really on the table.
- throwaway8291 7y agoAgreed. I remain amazed until today about his progression. He founded a startup to solve a white upper middle class "problem", raised millions for that, was lucky to get a little bit more when he sold out his startup's users' data to the greater fool and now runs around and tries to get rich off other peoples creativity and sweat through the VC vehicle. When I learned that he actually founded OpenAI that org lost almost all appeal to me. So yes, it might not be too much of a stretch to picture him as the embodiment of the current silicon valley mindset and all its tech-hybris and duplicity.
- appleshore 7y agoAs opposed to what, being a financial engineer or wealth manager? Or maybe he should be a real entrepreneur and open up a well managed brand of gas stations? Or build a better kitchen utensil? Or maybe leverage political relationships for tax abatements for major real estate deals? Vs pushing people to strive for grand ideas, restructuring the greatest accelerator in SV history towards big, bold ideas.
- adenverd 7y agoOptimism is arguably a form of error, just as pessimism is. And yet it is one of the most valuable qualities you can have when undertaking ambitious projects.