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I can see why VC avoided Bolt's founder. A lot of his claims seem weak. I wouldn't work with a person like this either. The tweet about the fraud detection se

I can see why VC avoided Bolt's founder. A lot of his claims seem weak. I wouldn't work with a person like this either. The tweet about the fraud detection seems straight up false. People pointed out that Stripe posted it before Bolt. Can someone confirm? Even if Stripe posted after Bolt, it would be pretty damn strange for Stripe to write a blog within an hour.

sailingparrot 5y ago
> Can someone confirm? Hover over the dates in the links. Stripe's post [1]: 17:41 UTC Bolt's [2]: 20:08 UTC Considering this is the only thing he claimed to have "proof" on, and it turns out not only to be false but to be the actual opposite, this is really damning for the rest of his claims. If that was such a traumatizing event, how can one not think of checking the timestamp once in 4 years to at least know if you have a reason to be mad. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16869290 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16869290 [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16870692 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16870692
- vmception 5y ago
  Can we check internet archive? The database entries could be modified easily Not to entertain the conspiracy, I’ve just done it before so it comes to mind
  - dang 5y ago
    I'm on my phone so can't dig as easily, but you can tell from the item IDs that the Stripe post preceded the Bolt one, and we never change those. Edit: internet archive links are now at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30070287 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30070287.
    - gondo 5y ago
      So you change the dates sometimes? :)
      - oefrha 5y ago
        Second chance stories have submission time reset IIRC. It’s a routine thing, nothing nefarious.
        samwillis 5y ago
        From memory, I think if you go to the user who submitted the posts “submissions” list it will show you the original time rather than the “second chance time”.
        dang 5y ago
        That's true. Only the front page and the /item page show the second chance time. Edit: also, the timestamp that pops up when you hover over "X days/months/years ago" is always the original submission time, never the second-chance time.
  - sailingparrot 5y ago
    Can't see the timestamp on wayback archive. But over on Twitter the same is true, with Stripe's annoucement coming a few hours before Bolt's: https://twitter.com/stripe/status/986651162760724480 https://twitter.com/stripe/status/986651162760724480 https://twitter.com/bolt/status/986700626364055552 https://twitter.com/bolt/status/986700626364055552 And anyway Stripe's release was announcing the release of the product on that day, it wasn't just a random marketing filler. There is a just no way a company the size of Stripe is going to put something as sensitive as a new fraud detection system in production, on a 1h notice just to steal some views from a competitor's blog post if it's not 100% ready. I don't trust for 1 second that the CEO of a company in the same space can believe that either.
    - vmception 5y ago
      ooooh this is fun, time to archive this CEO's post, doesn't seem like it'll last for long
  - wglb 5y ago
    The database entries could be modified easily A strange an unfounded accusation. I collected both of these stories when they came in: * 16869290 2018-04-25 21:25:32 Stripe announcement * 16870692 2018-04-25 21:33:27 Bolt announcement This is immune to any database fiddling. These files are on my own server.
    - tentacleuno 5y ago
      Do you archive Hacker News? Could you possibly tell us more about it? I'm genuinely interested.
      - wglb 5y ago
        Check out https://hn.algolia.com/api https://hn.algolia.com/api
        tentacleuno 5y ago
        I use that site very regularly. Thank you very much!
- caaqil 5y ago
  > An ~hour later, this showed up Could it be about who hit the front page first, and not exact timestamps? (i.e., he meant the Stripe post hit the front page an hour after their post did?) That makes sense, since some posts quickly hit the front page and then disappear. Just as an alternative explanation.
  - dang 5y ago
    No, the Stripe post was on the front page for at least an hour and half before the Bolt post was submitted. I covered this in (mind-numbing) detail here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30070287 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30070287
  - conductr 5y ago
    It’s also seems to me that anything Stripe related gets a ton of upvotes. Probably not unusual due to their YC connection, HN presence, and generally being a long time darling of devs that frequent HN. It doesn’t mean it’s rigged, they’re just a competitor with a good tailwind from this site.
tomnipotent 5y ago
His entire rant is filled with Pizzagate-level reasoning and accusations. I doubt Stripe gave two craps about Bolt, and that its founders and YC probably spent more time talking about the weather. I suppose it's more exciting to paint yourself as the underdog incumbents are actively working against, rather than a mediocre investment opportunity offering easily replicable services.

sailingparrot 5y ago

> Can someone confirm? Hover over the dates in the links. Stripe's post [1]: 17:41 UTC Bolt's [2]: 20:08 UTC Considering this is the only thing he claimed to have "proof" on, and it turns out not only to be false but to be the actual opposite, this is really damning for the rest of his claims. If that was such a traumatizing event, how can one not think of checking the timestamp once in 4 years to at least know if you have a reason to be mad. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16869290 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16869290 [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16870692 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16870692

vmception 5y ago
Can we check internet archive? The database entries could be modified easily Not to entertain the conspiracy, I’ve just done it before so it comes to mind
- dang 5y ago
  I'm on my phone so can't dig as easily, but you can tell from the item IDs that the Stripe post preceded the Bolt one, and we never change those. Edit: internet archive links are now at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30070287 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30070287.
  - gondo 5y ago
    So you change the dates sometimes? :)
    - oefrha 5y ago
      Second chance stories have submission time reset IIRC. It’s a routine thing, nothing nefarious.
      - samwillis 5y ago
        From memory, I think if you go to the user who submitted the posts “submissions” list it will show you the original time rather than the “second chance time”.
        dang 5y ago
        That's true. Only the front page and the /item page show the second chance time. Edit: also, the timestamp that pops up when you hover over "X days/months/years ago" is always the original submission time, never the second-chance time.
- sailingparrot 5y ago
  Can't see the timestamp on wayback archive. But over on Twitter the same is true, with Stripe's annoucement coming a few hours before Bolt's: https://twitter.com/stripe/status/986651162760724480 https://twitter.com/stripe/status/986651162760724480 https://twitter.com/bolt/status/986700626364055552 https://twitter.com/bolt/status/986700626364055552 And anyway Stripe's release was announcing the release of the product on that day, it wasn't just a random marketing filler. There is a just no way a company the size of Stripe is going to put something as sensitive as a new fraud detection system in production, on a 1h notice just to steal some views from a competitor's blog post if it's not 100% ready. I don't trust for 1 second that the CEO of a company in the same space can believe that either.
  - vmception 5y ago
    ooooh this is fun, time to archive this CEO's post, doesn't seem like it'll last for long
- wglb 5y ago
  The database entries could be modified easily A strange an unfounded accusation. I collected both of these stories when they came in: * 16869290 2018-04-25 21:25:32 Stripe announcement * 16870692 2018-04-25 21:33:27 Bolt announcement This is immune to any database fiddling. These files are on my own server.
  - tentacleuno 5y ago
    Do you archive Hacker News? Could you possibly tell us more about it? I'm genuinely interested.
    - wglb 5y ago
      Check out https://hn.algolia.com/api https://hn.algolia.com/api
      - tentacleuno 5y ago
        I use that site very regularly. Thank you very much!
caaqil 5y ago
> An ~hour later, this showed up Could it be about who hit the front page first, and not exact timestamps? (i.e., he meant the Stripe post hit the front page an hour after their post did?) That makes sense, since some posts quickly hit the front page and then disappear. Just as an alternative explanation.
- dang 5y ago
  No, the Stripe post was on the front page for at least an hour and half before the Bolt post was submitted. I covered this in (mind-numbing) detail here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30070287 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30070287
- conductr 5y ago
  It’s also seems to me that anything Stripe related gets a ton of upvotes. Probably not unusual due to their YC connection, HN presence, and generally being a long time darling of devs that frequent HN. It doesn’t mean it’s rigged, they’re just a competitor with a good tailwind from this site.

tomnipotent 5y ago

His entire rant is filled with Pizzagate-level reasoning and accusations. I doubt Stripe gave two craps about Bolt, and that its founders and YC probably spent more time talking about the weather. I suppose it's more exciting to paint yourself as the underdog incumbents are actively working against, rather than a mediocre investment opportunity offering easily replicable services.