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It's a bizarre business model, but the aspect that is most baffling about this article is that he knew it before he signed up. There was no bait and switch. Th

It's a bizarre business model, but the aspect that is most baffling about this article is that he knew it before he signed up. There was no bait and switch. They never said he'd be paid. He knew users of the service paid for it. They never said they'd donate his "take" to charities. These were things he knew before he signed up. But he signed up thinking it would bring credibility/"exposure". Apparently it didn't bring enough of that, so instead he's using the feigned outrage to try to achieve the same. The charity bit is particularly weak. Eh. There's a reason there is a lot of eye rolling. Many of the other "mentors" probably have a stake and duped guys like this into "volunteering" their time to sniff at their aura.

unishark 5y ago
Volunteering your time to mentor people can be very rewarding in its own right though. But the fact that people are paying for it probably killed that aspect of it too. The cost of the service should have been a red flag from the start. It's the same as if you provide technical services at cost, say just asking the same hourly rate as your day job in hopes it will lead to something when they can afford more. Since they are paying, they will presume that is the market value for what they are getting and treat it as a price ceiling, making it far less likely the relationship will lead to something bigger.
hitekker 5y ago
> Apparently it didn't bring enough of that, so instead he's using the feigned outrage to try to achieve the same. The charity bit is particularly weak. Very relatable; I felt the same way about the article. When I was a younger man, I built a website for free at the request of a distant acquaintance. I told myself I was generous; I was spending weekends slaving away on Java & Spring out of the kindness of my heart. In reality, I was hoping that acquaintance would praise me, like me, and introduce me to their exclusive social circle. When I finally understood they really did just want a website-- not me or my friendship-- I got frustrated. I immediately asked to be paid with cash, despite my previous insistence it was unnecessary. There has to be a word for this invisible ledger that lives in our heads. The one that tracks the difference between our real investments and our imagined payoffs, that somehow wounds our pride and drive us to seek odd forms of recompense
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- Aditya_Garg 5y ago
  There is an good book on this called No More Mr Nice Guy. It talks about how certain psychological traits cause people (usually men) to start make invisible contracts with other people. This is usually because of a lack of assertiveness and a certain “fear” of being made fun of for asking for something The remedy is to go through assertiveness training, which the book covers. Another great book called When I say No I feel Guilty goes more in depth on this too
- vincentmarle 5y ago
  > There has to be a word for this invisible ledger that lives in our heads. It’s called a hidden competing commitment. The book “Immunity to Change” by Kegan is all about it.
fredsters_s 5y ago
There are obviously substantive issues with the messaging - however, the piece reads like a hand-wavey bad-faith attempt at creating controversy for internet hype, for an upcoming book. Silicon Valley is literally built on 'paying it forward'. Giving advice to others for free because that's how you got to where you are today. That's what the mentors here are doing. To feign ignorance of that, and then to wrap it up in a half-baked "bUt ItS Vc EvIL" is pretty transparent.
- santoshalper 5y ago
  Paying it forward doesn't usually have a price tag associated with it. This seems extremely scummy. What is Plato providing for the money they are providing? A booking service and some basic screening? That can't be worth more than $5 or $10/mo.
- Grustaf 5y ago
  > Silicon Valley is literally built on 'paying it forward'. Yes, that is what makes this especially tasteless. Exploiting people's generosity and the SV tradition of helping other entrepreneurs. Also, the point is not that VC is evil, it's that VC funded companies shouldn't make money from donations.

unishark 5y ago

Volunteering your time to mentor people can be very rewarding in its own right though. But the fact that people are paying for it probably killed that aspect of it too. The cost of the service should have been a red flag from the start. It's the same as if you provide technical services at cost, say just asking the same hourly rate as your day job in hopes it will lead to something when they can afford more. Since they are paying, they will presume that is the market value for what they are getting and treat it as a price ceiling, making it far less likely the relationship will lead to something bigger.

hitekker 5y ago

> Apparently it didn't bring enough of that, so instead he's using the feigned outrage to try to achieve the same. The charity bit is particularly weak. Very relatable; I felt the same way about the article. When I was a younger man, I built a website for free at the request of a distant acquaintance. I told myself I was generous; I was spending weekends slaving away on Java & Spring out of the kindness of my heart. In reality, I was hoping that acquaintance would praise me, like me, and introduce me to their exclusive social circle. When I finally understood they really did just want a website-- not me or my friendship-- I got frustrated. I immediately asked to be paid with cash, despite my previous insistence it was unnecessary. There has to be a word for this invisible ledger that lives in our heads. The one that tracks the difference between our real investments and our imagined payoffs, that somehow wounds our pride and drive us to seek odd forms of recompense

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Aditya_Garg 5y ago
There is an good book on this called No More Mr Nice Guy. It talks about how certain psychological traits cause people (usually men) to start make invisible contracts with other people. This is usually because of a lack of assertiveness and a certain “fear” of being made fun of for asking for something The remedy is to go through assertiveness training, which the book covers. Another great book called When I say No I feel Guilty goes more in depth on this too
vincentmarle 5y ago
> There has to be a word for this invisible ledger that lives in our heads. It’s called a hidden competing commitment. The book “Immunity to Change” by Kegan is all about it.

fredsters_s 5y ago

There are obviously substantive issues with the messaging - however, the piece reads like a hand-wavey bad-faith attempt at creating controversy for internet hype, for an upcoming book. Silicon Valley is literally built on 'paying it forward'. Giving advice to others for free because that's how you got to where you are today. That's what the mentors here are doing. To feign ignorance of that, and then to wrap it up in a half-baked "bUt ItS Vc EvIL" is pretty transparent.

santoshalper 5y ago
Paying it forward doesn't usually have a price tag associated with it. This seems extremely scummy. What is Plato providing for the money they are providing? A booking service and some basic screening? That can't be worth more than $5 or $10/mo.
Grustaf 5y ago
> Silicon Valley is literally built on 'paying it forward'. Yes, that is what makes this especially tasteless. Exploiting people's generosity and the SV tradition of helping other entrepreneurs. Also, the point is not that VC is evil, it's that VC funded companies shouldn't make money from donations.