7 ms·

I sometimes think that at this level of the game everyone hates everyone else and its all politics. You don't "come out" for or against anyone publicly, you lea

I sometimes think that at this level of the game everyone hates everyone else and its all politics. You don't "come out" for or against anyone publicly, you leave all of that under cover. It makes knowing who your friends and enemies are more difficult and it restricts your ability to maneuver. Another quote from my grandfather was "Mutual respect does not require that you like someone."

colecut 3y ago
The comment you are responding to has quotes of people definitely coming out "for" Sam.
jzb 3y ago
I'm sure there's some genuine friendships, but it's always interesting to see what people say publicly vs. privately. Also fair to say that there are people I've worked with that I did not, at the time, appreciate but grew to appreciate later on. Years ago I was at an event talking to a colleague who was absolutely bashing someone (with good reason) and then another colleague walked up. Same person came up and my first colleague changed tone to "yeah, so-and-so is an interesting character." Because I knew that the other colleague also hated the person, I called him on it. I wonder, though, how often that dynamic plays out where nobody will voice a negative opinion publicly - so people slide by without being called on behavior that shouldn't get ignored.
- ChuckMcM 3y ago
  > I've worked with that I did not, at the time, appreciate but grew to appreciate later on. Exactly right. People are complicated and liking or disliking them is adjacent to whether or not they are 'good' at their job. I've known people who sucked at their job, but doing the same job in a different environment were stars. That experience led me to disassociate what people do as part of their job from the person themselves. And I can respect someone for doing a good job, even when I find their personal attitude or motivations distasteful. Complicated.
tsavo 3y ago
A similar saying that I learned from a business mentor years ago, "Just because someone is nice to you doesn't make them your friend, just because someone is mean to you doesn't make them your enemy."
klik99 3y ago
Def not true. People who operate at this level can separate business and friendship. But occasionally when big enough deals fall through it can damage long term friendships, but it's not common. PG firing sama and keeping it secret sounds like PG likes and respects sama but didn't think he should run YC. If he didn't like sama he could have done a lot more damage by making it more public.
nabla9 3y ago
"like" or "hate" are words for people and petty personal conflicts. It's counterproductive to take business conflicts personally. PG removed Sam Altman silently without harming his future. There is no reason to be enemies after the issue is solved. There may be deals to be made again.
- ChuckMcM 3y ago
  > It's counterproductive to take business conflicts personally. 100% agree with this, but it is productive to understand what was behind a business conflict. Personal like or dislike can change which alternative of a choice of equal alternatives, someone might make. As Tony Soprano would say, "It's just business."
  - hitekker 3y ago
    Your comments are great but your audience is inexperienced. Most of our experience is largely in pointless, online arguments and few serious real-life struggles. The latter scares the hell out of us so we run from the conflict and from our feelings. Then we say we "didn't take it personally" to cover up the cowardice.
    - hef19898 3y ago
      If that is the case for you, consider yourself lucky. And for once, this comment isn't containing even trace amounts of sarcasm.
  - rramadass 3y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38388714 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38388714
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- koolba 3y ago
  > PG removed Sam Altman silently without harming his future. When police departments do that to overly aggressive cops, it’s generally considered a bad thing.
themagician 3y ago
It's all politics WAY before this level.

colecut 3y ago

The comment you are responding to has quotes of people definitely coming out "for" Sam.

jzb 3y ago

I'm sure there's some genuine friendships, but it's always interesting to see what people say publicly vs. privately. Also fair to say that there are people I've worked with that I did not, at the time, appreciate but grew to appreciate later on. Years ago I was at an event talking to a colleague who was absolutely bashing someone (with good reason) and then another colleague walked up. Same person came up and my first colleague changed tone to "yeah, so-and-so is an interesting character." Because I knew that the other colleague also hated the person, I called him on it. I wonder, though, how often that dynamic plays out where nobody will voice a negative opinion publicly - so people slide by without being called on behavior that shouldn't get ignored.

ChuckMcM 3y ago
> I've worked with that I did not, at the time, appreciate but grew to appreciate later on. Exactly right. People are complicated and liking or disliking them is adjacent to whether or not they are 'good' at their job. I've known people who sucked at their job, but doing the same job in a different environment were stars. That experience led me to disassociate what people do as part of their job from the person themselves. And I can respect someone for doing a good job, even when I find their personal attitude or motivations distasteful. Complicated.

tsavo 3y ago

A similar saying that I learned from a business mentor years ago, "Just because someone is nice to you doesn't make them your friend, just because someone is mean to you doesn't make them your enemy."

klik99 3y ago

Def not true. People who operate at this level can separate business and friendship. But occasionally when big enough deals fall through it can damage long term friendships, but it's not common. PG firing sama and keeping it secret sounds like PG likes and respects sama but didn't think he should run YC. If he didn't like sama he could have done a lot more damage by making it more public.

nabla9 3y ago

"like" or "hate" are words for people and petty personal conflicts. It's counterproductive to take business conflicts personally. PG removed Sam Altman silently without harming his future. There is no reason to be enemies after the issue is solved. There may be deals to be made again.

ChuckMcM 3y ago
> It's counterproductive to take business conflicts personally. 100% agree with this, but it is productive to understand what was behind a business conflict. Personal like or dislike can change which alternative of a choice of equal alternatives, someone might make. As Tony Soprano would say, "It's just business."
- hitekker 3y ago
  Your comments are great but your audience is inexperienced. Most of our experience is largely in pointless, online arguments and few serious real-life struggles. The latter scares the hell out of us so we run from the conflict and from our feelings. Then we say we "didn't take it personally" to cover up the cowardice.
  - hef19898 3y ago
    If that is the case for you, consider yourself lucky. And for once, this comment isn't containing even trace amounts of sarcasm.
- rramadass 3y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38388714 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38388714
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
koolba 3y ago
> PG removed Sam Altman silently without harming his future. When police departments do that to overly aggressive cops, it’s generally considered a bad thing.

themagician 3y ago

It's all politics WAY before this level.