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The problem with this position is its naivety. Are you going to say with a straight face that all potential founders are equally likely to be funded by investor

The problem with this position is its naivety. Are you going to say with a straight face that all potential founders are equally likely to be funded by investors purely on their probability of success, and not via false signals and stereotyping if not straight up bigotry? That there aren't credentials that can be effectively bought to gain access to that? Markets are just markets, not oracles of unbiased merit. Making whatever the market does morally normative as you're doing is frankly, evil. They're useful tools, but that is all. They should not be a religion.

aerosmile 6y ago
That argument sounds familiar, but it's not reflected in the latest YC stats (32% of founders come from underrepresented groups). I feel good knowing that one of the fastest career paths in the history of the world has a 32% admission rate to practically anyone anywhere in the world (again, if you're feeling down about your chances as a US citizen, spend a minute talking to one of the Nigerians in YC and your perspective with change instantly).
- coldtea 6y ago
  >I feel good knowing that one of the fastest career paths in the history of the world has a 32% admission rate to practically anyone anywhere in the world Anybody, as long as they had a westernized upbringing, access to computers and education, and a middle class or higher status in their country...
  - aerosmile 6y ago
    Fair enough. But having all those things in Nigeria still puts you way behind someone who was born into a poor family in the US (out of around 200 founders I met at YC, far more of them reminded me of Garry Tan - who is awesome! - than of the Winklevoss twins). It's not ideal in either case, but some things are less ideal than others.
- jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
  It's simultaneously possible for YC to perpetuate the problem while having better stats than typical.
wizzwizz4 6y ago
It's advocating for evil – how evil such advocacy actually is depends on your influence.
tjs8rj 6y ago
I was making the opposite point actually: markets ARENT moral, and what they support isn’t moral. It isn’t necessarily immoral either. They’re just systems of consensual transactions where everyone collectively decides value. The parent comment was making the point that markets should be moral, but are currently immoral. My stance is that they have nothing to do with morality. They certainly shouldn’t be a religion, but they aren’t just “useful tools”. Not infringing on people’s freedom to make consensual decisions should be the default, not some “tool” we “allow” because it’s “useful”. This isn’t about worshipping capitalism or markets, this about the fact that preserving individual freedom necessarily results in free markets. The core ideal is individual freedom - which is moral - free markets are just the byproduct.

aerosmile 6y ago

That argument sounds familiar, but it's not reflected in the latest YC stats (32% of founders come from underrepresented groups). I feel good knowing that one of the fastest career paths in the history of the world has a 32% admission rate to practically anyone anywhere in the world (again, if you're feeling down about your chances as a US citizen, spend a minute talking to one of the Nigerians in YC and your perspective with change instantly).

coldtea 6y ago
>I feel good knowing that one of the fastest career paths in the history of the world has a 32% admission rate to practically anyone anywhere in the world Anybody, as long as they had a westernized upbringing, access to computers and education, and a middle class or higher status in their country...
- aerosmile 6y ago
  Fair enough. But having all those things in Nigeria still puts you way behind someone who was born into a poor family in the US (out of around 200 founders I met at YC, far more of them reminded me of Garry Tan - who is awesome! - than of the Winklevoss twins). It's not ideal in either case, but some things are less ideal than others.
jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
It's simultaneously possible for YC to perpetuate the problem while having better stats than typical.

wizzwizz4 6y ago

It's advocating for evil – how evil such advocacy actually is depends on your influence.

tjs8rj 6y ago

I was making the opposite point actually: markets ARENT moral, and what they support isn’t moral. It isn’t necessarily immoral either. They’re just systems of consensual transactions where everyone collectively decides value. The parent comment was making the point that markets should be moral, but are currently immoral. My stance is that they have nothing to do with morality. They certainly shouldn’t be a religion, but they aren’t just “useful tools”. Not infringing on people’s freedom to make consensual decisions should be the default, not some “tool” we “allow” because it’s “useful”. This isn’t about worshipping capitalism or markets, this about the fact that preserving individual freedom necessarily results in free markets. The core ideal is individual freedom - which is moral - free markets are just the byproduct.