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I went to a talk by PayPal founders - Peter Thiel and Max Levchin - more than a decade ago (before I had any opinions about the former), and they essentially sa

I went to a talk by PayPal founders - Peter Thiel and Max Levchin - more than a decade ago (before I had any opinions about the former), and they essentially said the same thing. And from what I see in the comments here, a lot of people are misunderstanding the point. If Jensen, Thiel, or Levchin fully understood the challenges they'd face to get their companies off the ground, they would never have pursued it. That's not to say they regret the results. For better or worse, they all persevered, and so it's easy for us to say, well yeah, obviously that was the right move. Because PayPal and Nvidia are obvious slam dunks in retrospect. But none of us have been there, as pioneers of the unproven, and it's the height of arrogance to contradict that.

RCitronsBroker 3y ago
ya, well, it didn’t rattle Thiel enough not to create the abomination he called palantir afterwards. Twat.
- fastball 3y ago
  What's wrong with Palantir?
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - sneak 3y ago
    The same thing that’s wrong with any part of the military-industrial complex that weaponizes data against civilian populations.
    - peanuty1 3y ago
      Palantir helps the US defend its southern border from illegal aliens. I don't see anything wrong with that.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
      - jjj123 3y ago
        For one counter example out of many: It also helps the US spy on its own citizens.
        fastball 3y ago
        Which was kinda the will of the people, right? The PATRIOT act (and others) was passed by congress, who wasn't then voted out of office by the electorate. So I don't think Palantir is really any more complicit than "the American people".
        somehnguy 3y ago
        I don’t remember having any say at all one way or another. I think most people feel completely apathetic and helpless when it comes to our government. They do what they want and there isn’t really anything the average person can do about it without an absurd amount of money backing you - so might as well do something different with your time.
        sneak 3y ago
        Almost nothing done by congress that involves the military-industrial complex is “the will of the people” unless you redefine “the people” to be the thousand people who call the shots regarding the real allocation of tax money to industry. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp There is a reason we spend two billion dollars a day on the US military whilst not at war and it has nothing to do with “the people” who are mostly struggling to make rent and afford groceries whilst working constantly without healthcare. Most Americans don’t vote (but are forced to pay taxes to fund these things) so assuming their will without data is spurious at best and actively misleading at worst.
        fastball 3y ago
        Choosing not to vote also factors in to the "will of the people". If you don't vote, you have no one to blame but yourself. If you vote for candidates that enable/abide the military-industrial complex, the same applies. If you vote, but not for those people, and those people win anyway, well... that's how democracy works.
HellDunkel 3y ago
Aren't they just padding their own sholders? If the point was: "If i understood at the time what it would cost me, i would have refrained." OK. But it sounds more like "If I fully understood the challenges at the time i would have been scared." The latter is more or less drinking your own kool aid.
- vasco 3y ago
  It's exactly this. It's a way to validate their money comes from facing lots of adversity and being very courageous. Tapping their own backs seems like an appropriate description.
didibus 3y ago
> fully understood the challenges they'd face to get their companies off the ground, they would never have pursued it What kind of challenges is that? I'm genuinely curious. I don't particularly see the job of an entrepreneur as difficult. Not in the sense that it's easy to be successful, but in the sense that it's laborious, painful, sufferable, miserable, relentless, etc. For example, I'd consider medical surgeon a pretty difficult career. Years of study and practice. 24h+ shifts. Dealing with life and death on a consistent basis. So I'm interested what are the kinds of hardships faced by entrepreneurs that get them to say that?
- nvm0n2 3y ago
  He explains in the interview. It's mostly the fear that if you fail you just let down and disrupted the lives of all your employees in a very public way. The fear of shame.

RCitronsBroker 3y ago

ya, well, it didn’t rattle Thiel enough not to create the abomination he called palantir afterwards. Twat.

fastball 3y ago
What's wrong with Palantir?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- sneak 3y ago
  The same thing that’s wrong with any part of the military-industrial complex that weaponizes data against civilian populations.
  - peanuty1 3y ago
    Palantir helps the US defend its southern border from illegal aliens. I don't see anything wrong with that.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - jjj123 3y ago
      For one counter example out of many: It also helps the US spy on its own citizens.
      - fastball 3y ago
        Which was kinda the will of the people, right? The PATRIOT act (and others) was passed by congress, who wasn't then voted out of office by the electorate. So I don't think Palantir is really any more complicit than "the American people".
        somehnguy 3y ago
        I don’t remember having any say at all one way or another. I think most people feel completely apathetic and helpless when it comes to our government. They do what they want and there isn’t really anything the average person can do about it without an absurd amount of money backing you - so might as well do something different with your time.
        sneak 3y ago
        Almost nothing done by congress that involves the military-industrial complex is “the will of the people” unless you redefine “the people” to be the thousand people who call the shots regarding the real allocation of tax money to industry. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/eisenhower001.asp There is a reason we spend two billion dollars a day on the US military whilst not at war and it has nothing to do with “the people” who are mostly struggling to make rent and afford groceries whilst working constantly without healthcare. Most Americans don’t vote (but are forced to pay taxes to fund these things) so assuming their will without data is spurious at best and actively misleading at worst.
        fastball 3y ago
        Choosing not to vote also factors in to the "will of the people". If you don't vote, you have no one to blame but yourself. If you vote for candidates that enable/abide the military-industrial complex, the same applies. If you vote, but not for those people, and those people win anyway, well... that's how democracy works.

HellDunkel 3y ago

Aren't they just padding their own sholders? If the point was: "If i understood at the time what it would cost me, i would have refrained." OK. But it sounds more like "If I fully understood the challenges at the time i would have been scared." The latter is more or less drinking your own kool aid.

vasco 3y ago
It's exactly this. It's a way to validate their money comes from facing lots of adversity and being very courageous. Tapping their own backs seems like an appropriate description.

didibus 3y ago

> fully understood the challenges they'd face to get their companies off the ground, they would never have pursued it What kind of challenges is that? I'm genuinely curious. I don't particularly see the job of an entrepreneur as difficult. Not in the sense that it's easy to be successful, but in the sense that it's laborious, painful, sufferable, miserable, relentless, etc. For example, I'd consider medical surgeon a pretty difficult career. Years of study and practice. 24h+ shifts. Dealing with life and death on a consistent basis. So I'm interested what are the kinds of hardships faced by entrepreneurs that get them to say that?

nvm0n2 3y ago
He explains in the interview. It's mostly the fear that if you fail you just let down and disrupted the lives of all your employees in a very public way. The fear of shame.