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I was willing to support the general message Brian Armstrong put out, but with the added context and chronology I cannot. I would say that this kind of mission

I was willing to support the general message Brian Armstrong put out, but with the added context and chronology I cannot. I would say that this kind of mission statement can only work if done at the beginning, as reacting in response to the work environment described by their employees was doomed for failure. I know many people like Brian Armstrong, and the investors. They are all cut from a similar cloth and they honestly have no clue how to react. They don't know how to get women on a panel, they don't know how to get qualified people of color in positions to change things. They are just told what they did wrong and just shut themselves off from it. The very people with power to change anything get marginalized themselves. And yes, some - not all - of them actually are not interested in inclusion or really are racist and sexist. But for the former, there is room to empathize with these kind of people to steer their energy in more productive ways.

RestlessMind 6y ago
From Coinbase's "About us"[1] > They don't know how to get women on a panel 2 out of 7 members of the exec team are women. > they don't know hot to get qualified people of color in positions to change things 4 out of 7 members of the exec team have last names of Choi, Chatterjee, Grewal, Gupta. It's almost as if you have strong biases (or delusions) and didn't even do a basic fact check before making bold claims against Coinbase. [1] https://www.coinbase.com/about https://www.coinbase.com/about
- vmception 6y ago
  Yeah my point was about empathizing with people being expected to make statement after statement, instead of vilifying them when they stop jumping when people say jump. Aside from the topic sentence of that paragraph it was no longer about Coinbase. I’m saying we can all address this better.
- TACIXAT 6y ago
  Where is the Hispanic and Black representation? I see 3/15 people on that page being women, not a very strong point for a group that is 50% of the population. This is the standard SV makeup. Do a random sample of any large tech company and this is the team you’d get. This tells me they’re not doing anything different.
  - 9HZZRfNlpR 6y ago
    There are not enough qualified black people in that job market, what is this that Americans have that difficult to grok?
    - TACIXAT 6y ago
      If true, what are they doing to change that? When I was at Google there were zero paths to bring in people with potential and train them up. I’m guessing it is the same at Coinbase. Doing nothing to address the problem then pointing at your H1Bs and patting yourself on the back.
      - 9HZZRfNlpR 6y ago
        I would guess through the same system everyone else qualifies through, weather it be Google or someone else. Your local governments have to push the education forward instead of doing these racist affirmative action rules.
        vmception 6y ago
        The talent pools exist, they can definitely increase recruiting at different schools. America is where it is by not even tapping into the productivity of basically up to half of its population across various demographics, imagine if it did.
      - blahblahblogger 6y ago
        honest Q: why is it their job to fix this? also: for companies that are global in nature, with global operations, offices, employees, etc. is it right to take on the issues of the country where they have an office? (or are HQ-ed, or have X% of employees (even if majority)?) Why not other things? Why aren't the issues of the impoverished of India an issue w/ tech companies, especially given the large presence of "well to do" Indians or upper-casters?
        TACIXAT 6y ago
caffeine 6y ago
Why is it racist or sexist to not to be interested in "inclusion" (which actually means "quotas", right?) I would think that progressive activism is the minority rather than the default view. Isn't it the racially discriminatory stance to make decisions based on race? I think most rational people would rather make decisions purely on competence and facts, not identity.
- vmception 6y ago
  Inclusion doesnt mean quotas. Say that 30 times real fast and ask a new question
  - tetrometal 6y ago
    And yet you'll find numerous comments in this thread using disproportionate population statistics to erroneously declare bias and bigotry. Sure sounds like quotas are what is desired.
bellevue 6y ago
+1000. So succinct. Brian's hissy fit about being "apolitical" was clear and blatant "not my problem, let's ignore any racism and accusations of racism" which is utterly unacceptable at a company that (like any others of this size) is likely to have the occasional (or very common) problem with racism and discrimination.
camdenlock 6y ago
> They don’t know how to get women on a panel > they don’t know how to get qualified people of color in positions to change things These aren’t the kinds of things that someone running a business should be concerned with. Don’t be condescending. Women and “people of color” don’t need to be rescued and hoisted up into a business artificially. They are perfectly capable of joining the workforce through the same doors as all other people.

RestlessMind 6y ago

From Coinbase's "About us"[1] > They don't know how to get women on a panel 2 out of 7 members of the exec team are women. > they don't know hot to get qualified people of color in positions to change things 4 out of 7 members of the exec team have last names of Choi, Chatterjee, Grewal, Gupta. It's almost as if you have strong biases (or delusions) and didn't even do a basic fact check before making bold claims against Coinbase. [1] https://www.coinbase.com/about https://www.coinbase.com/about

vmception 6y ago
Yeah my point was about empathizing with people being expected to make statement after statement, instead of vilifying them when they stop jumping when people say jump. Aside from the topic sentence of that paragraph it was no longer about Coinbase. I’m saying we can all address this better.
TACIXAT 6y ago
Where is the Hispanic and Black representation? I see 3/15 people on that page being women, not a very strong point for a group that is 50% of the population. This is the standard SV makeup. Do a random sample of any large tech company and this is the team you’d get. This tells me they’re not doing anything different.
- 9HZZRfNlpR 6y ago
  There are not enough qualified black people in that job market, what is this that Americans have that difficult to grok?
  - TACIXAT 6y ago
    If true, what are they doing to change that? When I was at Google there were zero paths to bring in people with potential and train them up. I’m guessing it is the same at Coinbase. Doing nothing to address the problem then pointing at your H1Bs and patting yourself on the back.
    - 9HZZRfNlpR 6y ago
      I would guess through the same system everyone else qualifies through, weather it be Google or someone else. Your local governments have to push the education forward instead of doing these racist affirmative action rules.
      - vmception 6y ago
        The talent pools exist, they can definitely increase recruiting at different schools. America is where it is by not even tapping into the productivity of basically up to half of its population across various demographics, imagine if it did.
    - blahblahblogger 6y ago
      honest Q: why is it their job to fix this? also: for companies that are global in nature, with global operations, offices, employees, etc. is it right to take on the issues of the country where they have an office? (or are HQ-ed, or have X% of employees (even if majority)?) Why not other things? Why aren't the issues of the impoverished of India an issue w/ tech companies, especially given the large presence of "well to do" Indians or upper-casters?
      - TACIXAT 6y ago

caffeine 6y ago

Why is it racist or sexist to not to be interested in "inclusion" (which actually means "quotas", right?) I would think that progressive activism is the minority rather than the default view. Isn't it the racially discriminatory stance to make decisions based on race? I think most rational people would rather make decisions purely on competence and facts, not identity.

vmception 6y ago
Inclusion doesnt mean quotas. Say that 30 times real fast and ask a new question
- tetrometal 6y ago
  And yet you'll find numerous comments in this thread using disproportionate population statistics to erroneously declare bias and bigotry. Sure sounds like quotas are what is desired.

bellevue 6y ago

+1000. So succinct. Brian's hissy fit about being "apolitical" was clear and blatant "not my problem, let's ignore any racism and accusations of racism" which is utterly unacceptable at a company that (like any others of this size) is likely to have the occasional (or very common) problem with racism and discrimination.

camdenlock 6y ago

> They don’t know how to get women on a panel > they don’t know how to get qualified people of color in positions to change things These aren’t the kinds of things that someone running a business should be concerned with. Don’t be condescending. Women and “people of color” don’t need to be rescued and hoisted up into a business artificially. They are perfectly capable of joining the workforce through the same doors as all other people.