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>Princeton undergrad, Harvard MBA, SVP at Bain, CEO at eBay, HP, primary candidate in a gubernatorial race You just listed the standard elitist silver spoon CV

>Princeton undergrad, Harvard MBA, SVP at Bain, CEO at eBay, HP, primary candidate in a gubernatorial race You just listed the standard elitist silver spoon CV. She had a stellar career because she was born into it. Her track record at all of these institutions speaks to her actual talent. Meritocracy, my ass.

hn_throwaway_99 6y ago
I think Meg Whitman is a pretty horrible CEO, not to mention she appears to treat people like shit. This article by Rob Enderle (from back in August mind you) gives a good overview of her poor leadership: https://techspective.net/2020/08/07/meg-whitman-and-predicting-the-failure-of-quibi/ https://techspective.net/2020/08/07/meg-whitman-and-predicti...
Hnrobert42 6y ago
One does not necessarily beget the next. That is, there are plenty of folks who went to Princeton who didn’t make it to Harvard MBA. And many Harvard MBAs who dont become SVPs at major firms. And so on. In fact, under your philosophy, how could one be successful at all and not have you scoff at their success? Does the person have to literally go from rags to riches? I do not deny that each step in her journey made it easier to take the next step. They made it easier because they were necessary. They are also hard work and long hours. It’s not a life I would volunteer for. Now, if you want to talk about folks plopped into plumb positions by family members of powerful politicians, cough Hunter Biden, cough Jared Kushner, then you can talk about silver spoon elitism all you want.
- wpietri 6y ago
  Plenty of people work hard. Most of them do it for peanuts. I guarantee plenty of people at eBay worked harder than Whitman, for example; that place was an exploitative sweatshop in her era. I expect her maids worker harder than her, too. Sure, she was good at working the system that her elite upbringing put her on track for. Among the managerial caste, she was unusually good at ladder-climbing. And she was certainly lucky to join a dot-com success story at the right moment. But being good at managerialist skills and selling one's self aren't all that it takes to succeed at business. Indeed, that can be a real handicap, because being good at working other Harvard MBAs doesn't mean a thing when it comes to pleasing people you want to pay $4.99 a month.
  - pm90 6y ago
    So from your analysis, it seems like she’s in the wrong industry? Her elitist background makes her a poor candidate for a B2C company, but maybe, IDK, a hedge fund is where she belongs? Or running anything else where her customers are other elites?
    - wpietri 6y ago
      She has a billion dollars. She won. Good job, game over. My analysis is that before she does any more damage she should donate 99% of her wealth and retire. If she's looking to do something socially positive, which I'm not particularly expecting, she could go raise money among her set, or advocate for a cause.
  - vagrantJin 6y ago
    Haha. I was about to make the comment that university prestige means didley in actually running a business. Whats worse is they raised more than a billion dollars which boggles the mind on how you can fail so hard with people literally throwing money at it. How amd where did the money burn at that rate? Whitman's success to failure ratio is astonishing and that failure tends not to be attributed to the prestigious education...oddly.
  - Hnrobert42 6y ago
    Do you have actual evidence to back up your “guarantee” or are you just speculating? I don’t understand why so many folks come to the internet to pontificate like experts about things they know so little about. Speaking of, what managerial caste are you talking about? Your use of that term insults people living under an actual caste system.
C1sc0cat 6y ago
"Meritocracy" as originally defined does not mean what you think it does

hn_throwaway_99 6y ago

I think Meg Whitman is a pretty horrible CEO, not to mention she appears to treat people like shit. This article by Rob Enderle (from back in August mind you) gives a good overview of her poor leadership: https://techspective.net/2020/08/07/meg-whitman-and-predicting-the-failure-of-quibi/ https://techspective.net/2020/08/07/meg-whitman-and-predicti...

Hnrobert42 6y ago

One does not necessarily beget the next. That is, there are plenty of folks who went to Princeton who didn’t make it to Harvard MBA. And many Harvard MBAs who dont become SVPs at major firms. And so on. In fact, under your philosophy, how could one be successful at all and not have you scoff at their success? Does the person have to literally go from rags to riches? I do not deny that each step in her journey made it easier to take the next step. They made it easier because they were necessary. They are also hard work and long hours. It’s not a life I would volunteer for. Now, if you want to talk about folks plopped into plumb positions by family members of powerful politicians, cough Hunter Biden, cough Jared Kushner, then you can talk about silver spoon elitism all you want.

wpietri 6y ago
Plenty of people work hard. Most of them do it for peanuts. I guarantee plenty of people at eBay worked harder than Whitman, for example; that place was an exploitative sweatshop in her era. I expect her maids worker harder than her, too. Sure, she was good at working the system that her elite upbringing put her on track for. Among the managerial caste, she was unusually good at ladder-climbing. And she was certainly lucky to join a dot-com success story at the right moment. But being good at managerialist skills and selling one's self aren't all that it takes to succeed at business. Indeed, that can be a real handicap, because being good at working other Harvard MBAs doesn't mean a thing when it comes to pleasing people you want to pay $4.99 a month.
- pm90 6y ago
  So from your analysis, it seems like she’s in the wrong industry? Her elitist background makes her a poor candidate for a B2C company, but maybe, IDK, a hedge fund is where she belongs? Or running anything else where her customers are other elites?
  - wpietri 6y ago
    She has a billion dollars. She won. Good job, game over. My analysis is that before she does any more damage she should donate 99% of her wealth and retire. If she's looking to do something socially positive, which I'm not particularly expecting, she could go raise money among her set, or advocate for a cause.
- vagrantJin 6y ago
  Haha. I was about to make the comment that university prestige means didley in actually running a business. Whats worse is they raised more than a billion dollars which boggles the mind on how you can fail so hard with people literally throwing money at it. How amd where did the money burn at that rate? Whitman's success to failure ratio is astonishing and that failure tends not to be attributed to the prestigious education...oddly.
- Hnrobert42 6y ago
  Do you have actual evidence to back up your “guarantee” or are you just speculating? I don’t understand why so many folks come to the internet to pontificate like experts about things they know so little about. Speaking of, what managerial caste are you talking about? Your use of that term insults people living under an actual caste system.

C1sc0cat 6y ago

"Meritocracy" as originally defined does not mean what you think it does