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He is obviously a great leader and those that work there wanted to work with him. It’s very clear in this thread how undervalued exceptional leadership actually

by mikeg8 3y ago

He is obviously a great leader and those that work there wanted to work with him. It’s very clear in this thread how undervalued exceptional leadership actually is, as evidence by comments thinking the top role in the most innovative company could be just plug-and-play.

jjtheblunt 3y ago
This comment made me look for a recent article about Paul Graham firing him from Ycombinator for being exactly not a great leader or trustworthy person. The article was just days ago but it’s eluding my search.
- mikeg8 3y ago
  Would love to see it. Everything I’ve read/seen from PG regarding Sama has been nothing but high praise. My understand is Sam chose to leave YC president role to pursue other interests/ventures which eventually turned into OpenAI
  - jjtheblunt 3y ago
    Washington Post and Hacker News https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38378216 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38378216
  - jacquesm 3y ago
    I think PG is very, very subtle when it comes to his writings about Sam and what you think is high praise may well be faint damnation.
- sumedh 3y ago
  > for being exactly not a great leader or trustworthy person. Didnt PGs wife invest/donate to Open AI?
contrarian1234 3y ago
I'm going to guess it's not about leadership. From the Lex Fridman interview he claims to be personally involved in all hires - and spend a good fraction of his time evaluating candidates. - He's not going to hire someone he doesn't like - Someone that doesn't like him is unlikely to join his team So it's very likely the whole staff ends up being people that "like" him or get along with him. He did come off as a charming smooth talking - and I'm sure he has lot of incredibly powerful friends/connections. But at least from that little window into his world I didn't feel he showed any particularly brilliance or "leadership". He did seem pretty deferential to ML experts (which i guess he's not) - but it's hard to know if it's a false humility or not
- calf 3y ago
  That's pathetic. I cannot respect someone and will not work under someone who functions that way. A personality cultist.
  - b112 3y ago
    It's also an unvalidated claim, predicated upon assumptions. I've hired people I "don't like" on a personal level. I care more about their ability to work positively with oters, and their professionalism and skill. Yet you and the parent poster have assumed he is hiring a cult, because he spends time evaluating? A weird assumption to make.
    - contrarian1234 3y ago
      oh sorry - I didn't mean it in a nefarious way at all I think it's just human nature to not hire people you feel you won't get along with. If you're deeply involved in all your hires, then I feel you'll end up with an organization full of people that you get along with and who you like (and probably like you back). I wouldn't go so far as to say it'd make a personality cult - though with their lofty mission statements and ambitions to make the world better.. who knows. Not going to psychoanalyze a bunch of people I don't know "I've hired people I "don't like" on a personal level." I'm honestly impressed... I feel that's rather exceptional. I feel a lot of hiring goes on "gut feeling"
int_19h 3y ago
There's exceptional leadership, and then there are charming sociopaths. Unfortunately, it can sometimes be hard to tell those two apart when a sociopath is actively pushing your emotional buttons to make you feel like they care about the same things as you etc.

by mikeg8 3y ago

jjtheblunt 3y ago

This comment made me look for a recent article about Paul Graham firing him from Ycombinator for being exactly not a great leader or trustworthy person. The article was just days ago but it’s eluding my search.

mikeg8 3y ago
Would love to see it. Everything I’ve read/seen from PG regarding Sama has been nothing but high praise. My understand is Sam chose to leave YC president role to pursue other interests/ventures which eventually turned into OpenAI
- jjtheblunt 3y ago
  Washington Post and Hacker News https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38378216 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38378216
- jacquesm 3y ago
  I think PG is very, very subtle when it comes to his writings about Sam and what you think is high praise may well be faint damnation.
sumedh 3y ago
> for being exactly not a great leader or trustworthy person. Didnt PGs wife invest/donate to Open AI?

contrarian1234 3y ago

I'm going to guess it's not about leadership. From the Lex Fridman interview he claims to be personally involved in all hires - and spend a good fraction of his time evaluating candidates. - He's not going to hire someone he doesn't like - Someone that doesn't like him is unlikely to join his team So it's very likely the whole staff ends up being people that "like" him or get along with him. He did come off as a charming smooth talking - and I'm sure he has lot of incredibly powerful friends/connections. But at least from that little window into his world I didn't feel he showed any particularly brilliance or "leadership". He did seem pretty deferential to ML experts (which i guess he's not) - but it's hard to know if it's a false humility or not

calf 3y ago
That's pathetic. I cannot respect someone and will not work under someone who functions that way. A personality cultist.
- b112 3y ago
  It's also an unvalidated claim, predicated upon assumptions. I've hired people I "don't like" on a personal level. I care more about their ability to work positively with oters, and their professionalism and skill. Yet you and the parent poster have assumed he is hiring a cult, because he spends time evaluating? A weird assumption to make.
  - contrarian1234 3y ago
    oh sorry - I didn't mean it in a nefarious way at all I think it's just human nature to not hire people you feel you won't get along with. If you're deeply involved in all your hires, then I feel you'll end up with an organization full of people that you get along with and who you like (and probably like you back). I wouldn't go so far as to say it'd make a personality cult - though with their lofty mission statements and ambitions to make the world better.. who knows. Not going to psychoanalyze a bunch of people I don't know "I've hired people I "don't like" on a personal level." I'm honestly impressed... I feel that's rather exceptional. I feel a lot of hiring goes on "gut feeling"

int_19h 3y ago

There's exceptional leadership, and then there are charming sociopaths. Unfortunately, it can sometimes be hard to tell those two apart when a sociopath is actively pushing your emotional buttons to make you feel like they care about the same things as you etc.