4 ms·

> Aaron was younger, a college freshman, and even more anti-authority than Steve. It's not exaggerating to describe him as a martyr for what authority later did

> Aaron was younger, a college freshman, and even more anti-authority than Steve. It's not exaggerating to describe him as a martyr for what authority later did to him. I started reading this cynically curious if Aaron would even be mentioned, but well said.

sakura24 3y ago
[dead]
abadpoli 3y ago
The NPR piece on Reddit this morning stated it was founded by Steve Huffman and Alex Ohanian, and didn’t even mention Aaron Swartz.
- sparky_z 3y ago
  He wasn't really a founder though. He was brought in months later because his own startup idea hadn't got any traction. He's a founder only in the same way that Elon is a "founder" of Tesla - a retroactive title that was the result of a deal.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - FredPret 3y ago
    The Elon-hate is so crazy to me. He pitched in a lot of cash at a do-or-die moment in Tesla's history. He then served as the CEO and driving force through some extremely lean and tough years, including working like hell to raise capital (which isn't optional if you're making cars) Would we have Tesla today without Musk? No. Would electric cars be ubiquitous if it was up to the likes of Ford, GM, Mercedes, Toyota to push the tech? No. It is, of course, entirely OK to dislike him - but at least admit his contributions.
    - FactKnower69 3y ago
      >working like hell to raise capital Sounds like some really back breaking labor, was this during his 80 hour work weeks?
      - FredPret 3y ago
        You're right - it's super easy to bounce around from one rich person to the next, trying to get fat cheques from them for your unproven and almost-certainly-going-to-fail hardware startup that would only work if enough other rich people also give you big cheques, based on nothing but a pinky-promise that you'll try your darndest to invent, manufacture, and sell cars well enough to get them their money back, one day, maybe, if all goes perfectly. Why don't you do it too?
      - HaZeust 3y ago
        Raising capital in a new industry sucks, lol. A cushy job is still a job, and the human brain does a REALLY good job at building the same amount of attrition across roles in relativity - whether you're breaking your back in the mine or cold-calling 400 people a day from a Herman Miller chair.
    - jyxent 3y ago
      How is this Elon-hate? Is a founder someone who founded a company or someone who joined it later? Calling someone not a founder doesn't change their contributions to the company.
    - joshmanders 3y ago
      I agree with you on your comments about his contributions, but that doesn't mean he deserves the title of Founder of Tesla (Nor does Aaron, RIP). Neither of them FOUNDED the company, they joined in later on.
    - thefaux 3y ago
      The whole point is that it isn't enough for him to be recognized for his contributions. He must rewrite history to paint himself as the singular genius while discounting the work of others who were also a part of the story. There is a messianic figure that he presents in his own self-mythologizing that I find dangerous and troubling. It is, of course, entirely OK to admire his contributions - but at least admit the dark side of his persona and the means he's used to achieved his ends.
  - rifty 3y ago
    I suppose to make the title legitimate Elon should’ve formally started another company, and then acquired the other? It seems like getting in and operating in a pivotal way within the first 12 months is a valid time frame to still be given a founder title if the other founders agree to it. Since when you decide to incorporate is not consistently/necessarily at the same time for finalizing the foundational team members for a getting a company on its feet.
- doodlebugging 3y ago
  This is probably because PG encouraged spez and kn0thing to pivot from their original idea and become founders of reddit in June 2005 and Aaron Swartz joined reddit in November 2005 after a conversation with PG, who suggested he work with spez and kn0thing on stabilizing the code since reddit had an early tendency to crash.[0] I found reddit back in 2005 and remember the post announcing that Aaron had joined the team and giving a bit of his background. Reddit was a lot different back then since there were no subreddits. [0]https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/the-brilliant-life-and-tragic-death-of-aaron-swartz-177191/ https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/the-brilli...
- sampo 3y ago
  > it was founded by Steve Huffman and Alex Ohanian That is true. But a bit later Reddit was joined with a company Aaron Swartz had founded, so he became a cofounder of this new arrangement of Reddit. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20241 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20241 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz#Entrepreneurship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz#Entrepreneurship
avs733 3y ago
Same...I honestly am furious at the effort to link Steve and Aaron here. Having known Steve, not well but for a LONG time I would struggle to label him anti-authority in any way. I think he wears many of the trappings of antiauthoritarianism - but only as a path to what he wants.
QuantumG 3y ago
It was a bit of a gut punch for me. His is a story of a self-selected marter. This is an unpopular opinion: he broke the law and refused to plead, then jumped on RT and dissed the prosecution for years. There was no chance they were going to back down. Why does this hurt me? Well, Lawrence Lessig and Richard Stallman and the rest of them radicalised me at a young age too. I was their boy. Watching that documentary was like looking into a time-warping mirror! Maybe every hairy nerd my age feels the same way, I don't know.

sakura24 3y ago

[dead]

abadpoli 3y ago

The NPR piece on Reddit this morning stated it was founded by Steve Huffman and Alex Ohanian, and didn’t even mention Aaron Swartz.

sparky_z 3y ago
He wasn't really a founder though. He was brought in months later because his own startup idea hadn't got any traction. He's a founder only in the same way that Elon is a "founder" of Tesla - a retroactive title that was the result of a deal.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- FredPret 3y ago
  The Elon-hate is so crazy to me. He pitched in a lot of cash at a do-or-die moment in Tesla's history. He then served as the CEO and driving force through some extremely lean and tough years, including working like hell to raise capital (which isn't optional if you're making cars) Would we have Tesla today without Musk? No. Would electric cars be ubiquitous if it was up to the likes of Ford, GM, Mercedes, Toyota to push the tech? No. It is, of course, entirely OK to dislike him - but at least admit his contributions.
  - FactKnower69 3y ago
    >working like hell to raise capital Sounds like some really back breaking labor, was this during his 80 hour work weeks?
    - FredPret 3y ago
      You're right - it's super easy to bounce around from one rich person to the next, trying to get fat cheques from them for your unproven and almost-certainly-going-to-fail hardware startup that would only work if enough other rich people also give you big cheques, based on nothing but a pinky-promise that you'll try your darndest to invent, manufacture, and sell cars well enough to get them their money back, one day, maybe, if all goes perfectly. Why don't you do it too?
    - HaZeust 3y ago
      Raising capital in a new industry sucks, lol. A cushy job is still a job, and the human brain does a REALLY good job at building the same amount of attrition across roles in relativity - whether you're breaking your back in the mine or cold-calling 400 people a day from a Herman Miller chair.
  - jyxent 3y ago
    How is this Elon-hate? Is a founder someone who founded a company or someone who joined it later? Calling someone not a founder doesn't change their contributions to the company.
  - joshmanders 3y ago
    I agree with you on your comments about his contributions, but that doesn't mean he deserves the title of Founder of Tesla (Nor does Aaron, RIP). Neither of them FOUNDED the company, they joined in later on.
  - thefaux 3y ago
    The whole point is that it isn't enough for him to be recognized for his contributions. He must rewrite history to paint himself as the singular genius while discounting the work of others who were also a part of the story. There is a messianic figure that he presents in his own self-mythologizing that I find dangerous and troubling. It is, of course, entirely OK to admire his contributions - but at least admit the dark side of his persona and the means he's used to achieved his ends.
- rifty 3y ago
  I suppose to make the title legitimate Elon should’ve formally started another company, and then acquired the other? It seems like getting in and operating in a pivotal way within the first 12 months is a valid time frame to still be given a founder title if the other founders agree to it. Since when you decide to incorporate is not consistently/necessarily at the same time for finalizing the foundational team members for a getting a company on its feet.
doodlebugging 3y ago
This is probably because PG encouraged spez and kn0thing to pivot from their original idea and become founders of reddit in June 2005 and Aaron Swartz joined reddit in November 2005 after a conversation with PG, who suggested he work with spez and kn0thing on stabilizing the code since reddit had an early tendency to crash.[0] I found reddit back in 2005 and remember the post announcing that Aaron had joined the team and giving a bit of his background. Reddit was a lot different back then since there were no subreddits. [0]https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/the-brilliant-life-and-tragic-death-of-aaron-swartz-177191/ https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/the-brilli...
sampo 3y ago
> it was founded by Steve Huffman and Alex Ohanian That is true. But a bit later Reddit was joined with a company Aaron Swartz had founded, so he became a cofounder of this new arrangement of Reddit. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20241 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20241 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz#Entrepreneurship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz#Entrepreneurship

avs733 3y ago

Same...I honestly am furious at the effort to link Steve and Aaron here. Having known Steve, not well but for a LONG time I would struggle to label him anti-authority in any way. I think he wears many of the trappings of antiauthoritarianism - but only as a path to what he wants.

QuantumG 3y ago

It was a bit of a gut punch for me. His is a story of a self-selected marter. This is an unpopular opinion: he broke the law and refused to plead, then jumped on RT and dissed the prosecution for years. There was no chance they were going to back down. Why does this hurt me? Well, Lawrence Lessig and Richard Stallman and the rest of them radicalised me at a young age too. I was their boy. Watching that documentary was like looking into a time-warping mirror! Maybe every hairy nerd my age feels the same way, I don't know.