4 ms·

Weird: The most relevant hn post on Altman’s departure from YC is https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19342184 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19342184 B

Weird: The most relevant hn post on Altman’s departure from YC is https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19342184 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19342184 But despite comments to the effect that the YC post indicated Sam’s departure, it doesn’t seem to say anything about it right now?

greatNespresso 3y ago
Thank you for the article, I saw a comment from Sam in the HN post but agreed it did not look obvious that he got fired.
theschmed 3y ago
Nor in 2022 when it was first archived by Wayback (unless archives from previous have been removed) https://web.archive.org/web/20230000000000*/https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/updates-from-yc/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230000000000*/https://www.ycom...
- twoodfin 3y ago
  But this contemporaneous TechCrunch article—which is clearly talking about the same blog post—says it did! https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/08/y-combinator-president-sam-altman-is-stepping-down-amid-a-series-of-changes-at-the-accelerator/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/08/y-combinator-president-sam...
- jeromegv 3y ago
  They actually changed the URL structure This is the old URL, and they indeed mentioned Sam leaving https://web.archive.org/web/20190316222853/https://blog.ycombinator.com/updates-from-yc/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190316222853/https://blog.ycom...
  - theschmed 3y ago
    Ohhhh thanks. Looking at those it looks like there was an edit: > Updated on 6/12/20 > In May 2019, Geoff Ralston took over as YC President. At that time, Sam Altman stepped away from any formal position at YC. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028062425/https://blog.ycombinator.com/updates-from-yc/ https://web.archive.org/web/20201028062425/https://blog.ycom... And then shortly after the edit disappeared too: https://web.archive.org/web/20210423025128/https://blog.ycombinator.com/updates-from-yc/ https://web.archive.org/web/20210423025128/https://blog.ycom...
    - twoodfin 3y ago
      I mean, do what you want, the YC blog is not the New York Times, but the Winston Smith-esque silent modifications are cast into some relief given current events.
    - jacquesm 3y ago
      You are watching history being made.
dang 3y ago
I'm pretty sure the HN thread hasn't changed, but you're right, the YC post has: https://web.archive.org/web/20190310042303/https://blog.ycombinator.com/updates-from-yc/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190310042303/https://blog.ycom.... One could bisect to find out where. Weird! I've never known these things to change like that, and it's not as if the news wasn't already public.
- js2 3y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38386524 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38386524
throwaway_xghd 3y ago
The statement about Sam on the announcement post at https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/updates-from-yc/ https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/updates-from-yc/ evolved over time: 1. March 2019: "Sam is transitioning to Chairman of YC and has shifted his operational responsibilities at YC to other partners. This change will allow Sam to spend more time focusing on OpenAI while still being responsible, along with the rest of the partnership, for the long-term social and economic success of YC. Because YC is run as a partnership, there will be no significant operational change." 2. June 2020: "In May 2019, Geoff Ralston took over as YC President. At that time, Sam Altman stepped away from any formal position at YC." 3. April 2021: gone entirely waybackmachine: https://web.archive.org/web/20190310003417/https://blog.ycombinator.com/updates-from-yc/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190310003417/https://blog.ycom... Basically seems like they were updating it as leadership turnover happened as Sam went from president to chair to out, and Geoff from partner to president to out.
- empathy_m 3y ago
  Yeah I was reading about this last week on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/EricNewcomer/status/1725633569056506282 https://twitter.com/EricNewcomer/status/1725633569056506282 ) - the departure was "under explored". I have to imagine that the industry does not appreciate this kind of attention from the mainstream press. Everybody is making loads of money -- does it really matter if a particular business deal went south in a particular way? Maybe it's better if we all just focus on the exciting new things that are being built and all the value we're creating for the world and ourselves.
  - hnfong 3y ago
    Reading about how YC handled the situation, it's quite obvious that OpenAI's board should have taken a page out of YC's playbook on how to fire an important person (or maybe even sama specifically) without stirring up unnecessary drama.

greatNespresso 3y ago

Thank you for the article, I saw a comment from Sam in the HN post but agreed it did not look obvious that he got fired.

theschmed 3y ago

Nor in 2022 when it was first archived by Wayback (unless archives from previous have been removed) https://web.archive.org/web/20230000000000*/https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/updates-from-yc/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230000000000*/https://www.ycom...

twoodfin 3y ago
But this contemporaneous TechCrunch article—which is clearly talking about the same blog post—says it did! https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/08/y-combinator-president-sam-altman-is-stepping-down-amid-a-series-of-changes-at-the-accelerator/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/08/y-combinator-president-sam...
jeromegv 3y ago
They actually changed the URL structure This is the old URL, and they indeed mentioned Sam leaving https://web.archive.org/web/20190316222853/https://blog.ycombinator.com/updates-from-yc/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190316222853/https://blog.ycom...
- theschmed 3y ago
  Ohhhh thanks. Looking at those it looks like there was an edit: > Updated on 6/12/20 > In May 2019, Geoff Ralston took over as YC President. At that time, Sam Altman stepped away from any formal position at YC. https://web.archive.org/web/20201028062425/https://blog.ycombinator.com/updates-from-yc/ https://web.archive.org/web/20201028062425/https://blog.ycom... And then shortly after the edit disappeared too: https://web.archive.org/web/20210423025128/https://blog.ycombinator.com/updates-from-yc/ https://web.archive.org/web/20210423025128/https://blog.ycom...
  - twoodfin 3y ago
    I mean, do what you want, the YC blog is not the New York Times, but the Winston Smith-esque silent modifications are cast into some relief given current events.
  - jacquesm 3y ago
    You are watching history being made.

dang 3y ago

I'm pretty sure the HN thread hasn't changed, but you're right, the YC post has: https://web.archive.org/web/20190310042303/https://blog.ycombinator.com/updates-from-yc/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190310042303/https://blog.ycom.... One could bisect to find out where. Weird! I've never known these things to change like that, and it's not as if the news wasn't already public.

js2 3y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38386524 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38386524

throwaway_xghd 3y ago

The statement about Sam on the announcement post at https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/updates-from-yc/ https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/updates-from-yc/ evolved over time: 1. March 2019: "Sam is transitioning to Chairman of YC and has shifted his operational responsibilities at YC to other partners. This change will allow Sam to spend more time focusing on OpenAI while still being responsible, along with the rest of the partnership, for the long-term social and economic success of YC. Because YC is run as a partnership, there will be no significant operational change." 2. June 2020: "In May 2019, Geoff Ralston took over as YC President. At that time, Sam Altman stepped away from any formal position at YC." 3. April 2021: gone entirely waybackmachine: https://web.archive.org/web/20190310003417/https://blog.ycombinator.com/updates-from-yc/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190310003417/https://blog.ycom... Basically seems like they were updating it as leadership turnover happened as Sam went from president to chair to out, and Geoff from partner to president to out.

empathy_m 3y ago
Yeah I was reading about this last week on Twitter ( https://twitter.com/EricNewcomer/status/1725633569056506282 https://twitter.com/EricNewcomer/status/1725633569056506282 ) - the departure was "under explored". I have to imagine that the industry does not appreciate this kind of attention from the mainstream press. Everybody is making loads of money -- does it really matter if a particular business deal went south in a particular way? Maybe it's better if we all just focus on the exciting new things that are being built and all the value we're creating for the world and ourselves.
- hnfong 3y ago
  Reading about how YC handled the situation, it's quite obvious that OpenAI's board should have taken a page out of YC's playbook on how to fire an important person (or maybe even sama specifically) without stirring up unnecessary drama.