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IMO I remember interviewing there and my bullshit detector was at 10000%. First the interviewer went off on a tangent claiming that they’re not evil (unsolicite

by mlazos 6y ago

IMO I remember interviewing there and my bullshit detector was at 10000%. First the interviewer went off on a tangent claiming that they’re not evil (unsolicited) and second it seems like they’re capitalizing on the whole “big data” trend. They’ll find “insights” across multiple data streams without ever providing examples beyond license plate readers. I am surprised they haven’t gotten enterprise businesses to sign on - although maybe enterprise business only trust certain brands, but am not surprised they’ve gotten the government to sign on.

nodesocket 6y ago
I am very interested in investing in Palantir stock. There is political risk with Biden reducing contractor and military spend, but ultimately they provide critical software / infrastructure for the government and that won't be going anywhere.
fourstar 6y ago
So did you pass the interview? EDIT: downvoted. Guessing you didn't and that's why you're salty. Kek.
ashtonkem 6y ago
“We’re not evil” is a bit like “don’t worry”; if it’s said too often or without prompting, it tends to make the listening party assume that they’re in fact not worrying enough
- piinbinary 6y ago
  I'm reminded of the Monty Python sketch where a bored airline pilot says to the passengers, "you have no cause for alarm." Similarly, if a political entity calls themselves a name containing "democratic" or "republic", you can be assured that it is not a democracy.
  - skrebbel 6y ago
    Czech republic? Actually it's a counterpoint cause they renamed to Czechia right about when their government got less democratic :-)
  - nickff 6y ago
    >"Similarly, if a political entity calls themselves a name containing "democratic" or "republic", you can be assured that it is not a democracy. " Like the Italian Republic, Republic of Korea, French Republic, Republic of Ireland, or Republic of China? The non-democratic countries are usually 'People's Republics'.
    - dmurray 6y ago
      There's no country that calls itself the Republic of Ireland. That's a football team.
      - nickff 6y ago
        The act which made "Ireland" independent was called "The Republic of Ireland Act", and reads as follows: "... the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland_Act_1948 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland_Act_1948
        dmurray 6y ago
        The constitution [0] reads "The name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland", and that act can't override it. I suppose it's splitting hairs to distinguish between the "name of the State" and the "description of the State" and either can reasonably be seen as what the country calls itself. [0] http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/cons/en/html http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/cons/en/html
        stordoff 6y ago
        > Notably, the Act did not change the official name of the state. It merely provided the description for the State. The Constitution of Ireland provides that Éire (or Ireland in English) is the official name of the State and, if the Act had purported to change the name, it would have been unconstitutional as it was not a constitutional amendment. The distinction between a description and a name has sometimes caused confusion. The Taoiseach, John A. Costello, who introduced the Republic of Ireland Bill in the Oireachtas, explained the difference in the following way: > If I say that my name is Costello and that my description is that of senior counsel, I think that will be clear to anybody who wants to know. If the Senator [Helena Concannon] will look at Article 4 of the Constitution she will find that the name of the State is Éire. Section 2 of this Bill declares that "this State shall be described as the Republic of Ireland." Its name in Irish is Éire and in the English language, Ireland. Its description in the English language is "the Republic of Ireland."
  - heinrich5991 6y ago
    Federal Republic of Germany?
  - tgb 6y ago
    That sketch predates Monty Python formation - it was part of "How to Irritate People."
baddox 6y ago
> First the interviewer went off on a tangent claiming that they’re not evil (unsolicited) They're a big data company that works mostly with governments and militaries, and they're named after evil (and unreliable!) magical spying technology from The Lord of the Rings. It's clear why they feel the need to try to convince you that they're not evil.
- foolmeonce 6y ago
  If you are evil and proud it makes sense to name yourself after evil. It is a waste of everyone's time to try to recruit non-evil people. Given that this headline is the only example of evil failing that I have seen in recent times, they should probably assume the problem is salary, intelligent evil people are clearly the most occupied and must be very expensive. Taking short cuts with either stupid or ethical people is never going to work for them.
  - hcrisp 6y ago
    The palintiri weren't evil. They were created by the Noldor (elves) not Melkor or Sauron -- perhaps even by Feanor, who also created the beautiful gems known as the Silmarils. This was in Aman before the elves fell. They were given to the Numenoreans (men from which Aragorn came), and brought by Elendil into Middle Earth. Also called "seeing stones", the palintiri were used to observe and communicate over long distances. They were not used for evil purposes until Sauron captured one, and also when used by those he corrupted. Gandalf even said that it was beyond the power of Sauron to create a palintir, nor could he make them lie or show false images (though he could show select ones, and so deceive). So a stone that can tell only the truth can't be evil, although some beings that used them were.
    - randycupertino 6y ago
      Thanks for the explanation! I've been rereading the LOTR series over COVID shelter in place and it's been so enjoyable taking me back remembering what a great story it is and experiencing it again! I ended up ordering the LOTR ATLAS with maps drawn by Tolkein's son which looks exciting to explore. Dunno if I have the mental fortitude to tackle the Silmarilion though!
blantonl 6y ago
Based on what you've posted here - they're going to make a fortune.
brundolf 6y ago
https://twitter.com/shutupmikeginn/status/403359911481839617 https://twitter.com/shutupmikeginn/status/403359911481839617
janoc 6y ago
I have also got an unsolicited pitch from their recruiter and I have to concur - before I even knew what is the company about and who is behind it my BS detector was off the scale almost immediately. All talk about "extremely high hiring standards", perks like "washing your laundry", "free massages", "wear pink on Friday" and similar nonsense, but not a single word about what is the company doing or what would I, should they hire me, be doing apart from gems like "Deploy Palantir at moment's notice". Then I have found the zingers: "Palantir employees are far from anti-social. We have parties pretty often." And the bit on how people there turned down or left Google and Facebook. I mean WTF? Why would you include things like this in a recruiting pitch? The creepiness vibe was off the charts. Then I did a bit of research and it was obvious why. I have told the headhunter in no uncertain terms to take a hike. But I have heard they are paying well - if you can stomach what they are doing.
- jacquesm 6y ago
  It worked though. Both you and the GP ended up not working there, increasing the ratio of gullible fools that did end up working there. It's the same as the spammers with their Greetings in the name of God. If that turns you off you are not their mark, best to move on. Think of it as an optimization strategy from their part.
  - janoc 6y ago
    I wouldn't have been eligible to work for them anyway, given who their customers are and that I would not be able to get a security clearance as a foreign national (yay for headhunters not bothering to do their homework). The rest of your argument is just nonsense, sorry. If that was the case, then why to pay a recruiter to actively reach out to me? It is not like they don't have enough job seeking applicants at their doors, even today. And they certainly did even 10 years ago when the above has happened and all the bad press about the shady stuff Palantir is/was involved in had yet to come out - before Facebook scandals, before Cambridge Analytica (where Palantir was involved), before Trump election (Palantir's founder Thiel is big Trump's donor), etc.
    - 6y ago
sdoering 6y ago
> I am surprised they haven't gotten enterprise businesses to sign on What makes you think that? I know of at least one global brand using Palantir.
- legerdemain 6y ago
  What? Palantir has tons of commercial contracts, although I guess they don't pay as well as government contracts do. Scroll down in this long Buzzfeed article to find a subset of Palantir's commercial clients and their internal code names for them: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/williamalden/inside-palantir-silicon-valleys-most-secretive-company https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/williamalden/inside-pal...
Barrin92 6y ago
the one thing that set me off was their whole rebranding of software developers as "forward deployed engineers", like some kind of William Gibson-esque cringy stealth company. I honestly couldn't go anywhere and introduce myself like that, it makes you sound like some kind of spec ops person and all you do is write Java
- legerdemain 6y ago
  Palantir's "forward deployed engineers" are generally not developers. They're more like post-sales support and data engineers, embedding with clients to deploy and configure products. They might write plugins and extensions, but a relatively small fraction of their time is spent coding. The software engineer role at Palantir is called "software engineer."[1] https://jobs.lever.co/palantir/1619afea-6923-4047-a913-c92939b1ef0b https://jobs.lever.co/palantir/1619afea-6923-4047-a913-c9293...
- itronitron 6y ago
  I have always thought of them as a staffing agency.
  - randycupertino 6y ago
    They kind of seem like a consulting agency like McKinsey but optimized for trendy "big data" and "AI" to pursue biggov contracts.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
charwalker 6y ago
I bet Palantir could provide something like a social credit score to supplement existing data like from Experian/etc. I wonder if lenders want to work with them but can't due to regulations, ethics, complexity, profitability of the relationship, or simply bad optics.

by mlazos 6y ago

nodesocket 6y ago

I am very interested in investing in Palantir stock. There is political risk with Biden reducing contractor and military spend, but ultimately they provide critical software / infrastructure for the government and that won't be going anywhere.

fourstar 6y ago

So did you pass the interview? EDIT: downvoted. Guessing you didn't and that's why you're salty. Kek.

ashtonkem 6y ago

“We’re not evil” is a bit like “don’t worry”; if it’s said too often or without prompting, it tends to make the listening party assume that they’re in fact not worrying enough

piinbinary 6y ago
I'm reminded of the Monty Python sketch where a bored airline pilot says to the passengers, "you have no cause for alarm." Similarly, if a political entity calls themselves a name containing "democratic" or "republic", you can be assured that it is not a democracy.
- skrebbel 6y ago
  Czech republic? Actually it's a counterpoint cause they renamed to Czechia right about when their government got less democratic :-)
- nickff 6y ago
  >"Similarly, if a political entity calls themselves a name containing "democratic" or "republic", you can be assured that it is not a democracy. " Like the Italian Republic, Republic of Korea, French Republic, Republic of Ireland, or Republic of China? The non-democratic countries are usually 'People's Republics'.
  - dmurray 6y ago
    There's no country that calls itself the Republic of Ireland. That's a football team.
    - nickff 6y ago
      The act which made "Ireland" independent was called "The Republic of Ireland Act", and reads as follows: "... the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland..." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland_Act_1948 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Ireland_Act_1948
      - dmurray 6y ago
        The constitution [0] reads "The name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland", and that act can't override it. I suppose it's splitting hairs to distinguish between the "name of the State" and the "description of the State" and either can reasonably be seen as what the country calls itself. [0] http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/cons/en/html http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/cons/en/html
      - stordoff 6y ago
        > Notably, the Act did not change the official name of the state. It merely provided the description for the State. The Constitution of Ireland provides that Éire (or Ireland in English) is the official name of the State and, if the Act had purported to change the name, it would have been unconstitutional as it was not a constitutional amendment. The distinction between a description and a name has sometimes caused confusion. The Taoiseach, John A. Costello, who introduced the Republic of Ireland Bill in the Oireachtas, explained the difference in the following way: > If I say that my name is Costello and that my description is that of senior counsel, I think that will be clear to anybody who wants to know. If the Senator [Helena Concannon] will look at Article 4 of the Constitution she will find that the name of the State is Éire. Section 2 of this Bill declares that "this State shall be described as the Republic of Ireland." Its name in Irish is Éire and in the English language, Ireland. Its description in the English language is "the Republic of Ireland."
- heinrich5991 6y ago
  Federal Republic of Germany?
- tgb 6y ago
  That sketch predates Monty Python formation - it was part of "How to Irritate People."

baddox 6y ago

> First the interviewer went off on a tangent claiming that they’re not evil (unsolicited) They're a big data company that works mostly with governments and militaries, and they're named after evil (and unreliable!) magical spying technology from The Lord of the Rings. It's clear why they feel the need to try to convince you that they're not evil.

foolmeonce 6y ago
If you are evil and proud it makes sense to name yourself after evil. It is a waste of everyone's time to try to recruit non-evil people. Given that this headline is the only example of evil failing that I have seen in recent times, they should probably assume the problem is salary, intelligent evil people are clearly the most occupied and must be very expensive. Taking short cuts with either stupid or ethical people is never going to work for them.
- hcrisp 6y ago
  The palintiri weren't evil. They were created by the Noldor (elves) not Melkor or Sauron -- perhaps even by Feanor, who also created the beautiful gems known as the Silmarils. This was in Aman before the elves fell. They were given to the Numenoreans (men from which Aragorn came), and brought by Elendil into Middle Earth. Also called "seeing stones", the palintiri were used to observe and communicate over long distances. They were not used for evil purposes until Sauron captured one, and also when used by those he corrupted. Gandalf even said that it was beyond the power of Sauron to create a palintir, nor could he make them lie or show false images (though he could show select ones, and so deceive). So a stone that can tell only the truth can't be evil, although some beings that used them were.
  - randycupertino 6y ago
    Thanks for the explanation! I've been rereading the LOTR series over COVID shelter in place and it's been so enjoyable taking me back remembering what a great story it is and experiencing it again! I ended up ordering the LOTR ATLAS with maps drawn by Tolkein's son which looks exciting to explore. Dunno if I have the mental fortitude to tackle the Silmarilion though!

blantonl 6y ago

Based on what you've posted here - they're going to make a fortune.

brundolf 6y ago

https://twitter.com/shutupmikeginn/status/403359911481839617 https://twitter.com/shutupmikeginn/status/403359911481839617

janoc 6y ago

I have also got an unsolicited pitch from their recruiter and I have to concur - before I even knew what is the company about and who is behind it my BS detector was off the scale almost immediately. All talk about "extremely high hiring standards", perks like "washing your laundry", "free massages", "wear pink on Friday" and similar nonsense, but not a single word about what is the company doing or what would I, should they hire me, be doing apart from gems like "Deploy Palantir at moment's notice". Then I have found the zingers: "Palantir employees are far from anti-social. We have parties pretty often." And the bit on how people there turned down or left Google and Facebook. I mean WTF? Why would you include things like this in a recruiting pitch? The creepiness vibe was off the charts. Then I did a bit of research and it was obvious why. I have told the headhunter in no uncertain terms to take a hike. But I have heard they are paying well - if you can stomach what they are doing.

jacquesm 6y ago
It worked though. Both you and the GP ended up not working there, increasing the ratio of gullible fools that did end up working there. It's the same as the spammers with their Greetings in the name of God. If that turns you off you are not their mark, best to move on. Think of it as an optimization strategy from their part.
- janoc 6y ago
  I wouldn't have been eligible to work for them anyway, given who their customers are and that I would not be able to get a security clearance as a foreign national (yay for headhunters not bothering to do their homework). The rest of your argument is just nonsense, sorry. If that was the case, then why to pay a recruiter to actively reach out to me? It is not like they don't have enough job seeking applicants at their doors, even today. And they certainly did even 10 years ago when the above has happened and all the bad press about the shady stuff Palantir is/was involved in had yet to come out - before Facebook scandals, before Cambridge Analytica (where Palantir was involved), before Trump election (Palantir's founder Thiel is big Trump's donor), etc.
  - 6y ago

sdoering 6y ago

> I am surprised they haven't gotten enterprise businesses to sign on What makes you think that? I know of at least one global brand using Palantir.

legerdemain 6y ago
What? Palantir has tons of commercial contracts, although I guess they don't pay as well as government contracts do. Scroll down in this long Buzzfeed article to find a subset of Palantir's commercial clients and their internal code names for them: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/williamalden/inside-palantir-silicon-valleys-most-secretive-company https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/williamalden/inside-pal...

Barrin92 6y ago

the one thing that set me off was their whole rebranding of software developers as "forward deployed engineers", like some kind of William Gibson-esque cringy stealth company. I honestly couldn't go anywhere and introduce myself like that, it makes you sound like some kind of spec ops person and all you do is write Java

legerdemain 6y ago
Palantir's "forward deployed engineers" are generally not developers. They're more like post-sales support and data engineers, embedding with clients to deploy and configure products. They might write plugins and extensions, but a relatively small fraction of their time is spent coding. The software engineer role at Palantir is called "software engineer."[1] https://jobs.lever.co/palantir/1619afea-6923-4047-a913-c92939b1ef0b https://jobs.lever.co/palantir/1619afea-6923-4047-a913-c9293...
itronitron 6y ago
I have always thought of them as a staffing agency.
- randycupertino 6y ago
  They kind of seem like a consulting agency like McKinsey but optimized for trendy "big data" and "AI" to pursue biggov contracts.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

charwalker 6y ago

I bet Palantir could provide something like a social credit score to supplement existing data like from Experian/etc. I wonder if lenders want to work with them but can't due to regulations, ethics, complexity, profitability of the relationship, or simply bad optics.