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Apologies. I have been known to go hog-wild on the italics. It's an addiction I am trying to break. Some people have their exclamation marks. Others have their

Apologies. I have been known to go hog-wild on the italics. It's an addiction I am trying to break. Some people have their exclamation marks. Others have their emoticons. I have my trigger-happy asterisks.

palish 15y ago
Er... I didn't mean to make it sound like I was making fun of you. I wasn't, sorry. I'm truly serious: emphasis on "do whatever it takes to succeed" results in people doing illegal and immoral things to succeed, such as what Airbnb did.
- BrainScraps 15y ago
  I think that's an over-simplification. Call me naive, but I think that to most people, "do whatever it takes to succeed" assumes a certain baseline of ethics in the intended audience. This phrase here is meant to spur the reader to do the right sorts of "anything": being disciplined, getting out of their comfort zone, learning, taking risks, getting their "hands dirty" in good honest work, hacking and building. The author cannot be blamed for those who act immorally because they lack ethical training or discipline.
- c2 15y ago
  Nothing AirBNB did was illegal or immoral. The most you can say about what they did was that it was mildly annoying.
  - palish 15y ago
    What AirBNB did was directly illegal and immoral. It was illegal because it violated the CAN-SPAM act: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN-SPAM_Act_of_2003#The_mechanics_of_CAN-SPAM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN-SPAM_Act_of_2003#The_mechan... .... CAN-SPAM defines a "commercial electronic mail message" as "any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service, including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose." (The fact that they weren't punished for their crimes illustrates the hypocrisy of our legal system, but does not change the fact that they violated the law for personal gain.) It was immoral because it violated Craigslist TOS, and because they portrayed themselves as females in order to make other females feel safe using their service.
    - c2 15y ago
      Here's another quote from the page: "In particular, it does not require e-mailers to get permission before they send marketing messages" Can you point to a single case where someone did what AirBNB did and got a conviction? Also, violating craigslist TOS is debatable, pretending to be females is not on it's face immoral.
zyfo 15y ago
I think he was referring to this: http://davegooden.com/2011/05/how-airbnb-became-a-billion-dollar-company/ http://davegooden.com/2011/05/how-airbnb-became-a-billion-do... HN thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2603844 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2603844

palish 15y ago

Er... I didn't mean to make it sound like I was making fun of you. I wasn't, sorry. I'm truly serious: emphasis on "do whatever it takes to succeed" results in people doing illegal and immoral things to succeed, such as what Airbnb did.

BrainScraps 15y ago
I think that's an over-simplification. Call me naive, but I think that to most people, "do whatever it takes to succeed" assumes a certain baseline of ethics in the intended audience. This phrase here is meant to spur the reader to do the right sorts of "anything": being disciplined, getting out of their comfort zone, learning, taking risks, getting their "hands dirty" in good honest work, hacking and building. The author cannot be blamed for those who act immorally because they lack ethical training or discipline.
c2 15y ago
Nothing AirBNB did was illegal or immoral. The most you can say about what they did was that it was mildly annoying.
- palish 15y ago
  What AirBNB did was directly illegal and immoral. It was illegal because it violated the CAN-SPAM act: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN-SPAM_Act_of_2003#The_mechanics_of_CAN-SPAM http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN-SPAM_Act_of_2003#The_mechan... .... CAN-SPAM defines a "commercial electronic mail message" as "any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service, including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose." (The fact that they weren't punished for their crimes illustrates the hypocrisy of our legal system, but does not change the fact that they violated the law for personal gain.) It was immoral because it violated Craigslist TOS, and because they portrayed themselves as females in order to make other females feel safe using their service.
  - c2 15y ago
    Here's another quote from the page: "In particular, it does not require e-mailers to get permission before they send marketing messages" Can you point to a single case where someone did what AirBNB did and got a conviction? Also, violating craigslist TOS is debatable, pretending to be females is not on it's face immoral.

zyfo 15y ago

I think he was referring to this: http://davegooden.com/2011/05/how-airbnb-became-a-billion-dollar-company/ http://davegooden.com/2011/05/how-airbnb-became-a-billion-do... HN thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2603844 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2603844