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I... I hope I'm not ruining it by asking if this is a test to see how the HN comments respond to subtlety? <strike>I suppose that's part of the joke, though li
by kevinalexbrown 14y ago
I... I hope I'm not ruining it by asking if this is a test to see how the HN comments respond to subtlety?
<strike>I suppose that's part of the joke, though like some good jokes it makes me sad. We get upset that VC's respond with boilerplate and knee-jerk, but then we do the same thing.</strike>
Update: egh, looks like we're not doing too badly.
- Mahn 14y ago> We get upset that VC's respond with boilerplate Even if it sounds impersonal and lazy, this is just called being polite, most people still prefer an answer of this kind to "lol no, sorry, you suck". And that's why we do it aswell. Perhaps we should work more on make it seem less impersonal, but the message is clear and loud in any case.
- batgaijin 14y agoDude I would take a cut to have someone as a vc who said "lol no, sorry, you suck." I mean jesus christ these are the last people we want patting our egos.
- kyro 14y agoYou're looking for Dave McClure.
- soneca 14y agoNot me, I like people being polite with me. Which doesn't mean these messages couldn't be more informal and direct. But "you suck" is not impersonal, is rude. I have my ego pretty much under control, exagerated compliments won't do any damage here.
- RougeFemme 14y agoAgreed. I would rather rate boilerplate than rate no response at all.
- mbetter 14y agoGreat comment.
- eli 14y agoLike they say, the second best answer you can get from a VC is a quick no.
- michaelochurch 14y agoI prefer when people are realistic. Polite and impolite are immaterial. VC boilerplate is etiquette, which means formalized behavior designed to reduce conflict, but also at the expense of communication. It's not really about politeness, so much as being noncommital both ways.
- jessriedel 14y agoI got the distinct pleasure of describing my big physics idea to Murray Gell-Mann, who is both a Nobel laureate and expert in (one half) of the specific topic I was interested in. He told me very bluntly he thought it was hopeless, and I consider it a sign of respect that he didn't feel the need to sugarcoat it. There's politeness--with which I've only seen Gell-Mann flirt--but then there's the sticky-sweet bullshit the OP was parodying. (He's wrong though, and I'm still working on it :)
- kevinalexbrown 14y agoCongratulations on getting your PhD! And good luck.
- jessriedel 14y agoThanks!
- scott_s 14y agoMy office is above yours and about four offices down. Where did you end up living?
- jessriedel 14y agoHa, I'm doing a terrible commute to Greenwich Village, supplemented with a bed to crash in in Tarrytown. I'll have to stop by and say hello.
- miked 14y agoI'll have to stop by and say hello. I believe the correct expression is "grab coffee".
- corwinstephen 14y agoIn the time I've spent as an entrepreneur, I learned that I actually much prefer the "Your idea sucks and here's why" approach than the polite and encouraging response, mainly because if they try to keep things positive, you're likely to continue to spend time trying to get to a point where they WILL invest, which turns out to be never, because they're not interested. It's a sure fire way to waste a boat load of your time.
- nitrogen 14y agoThe problem with universally sugar-coated answers is that, unless you're psychic, it's impossible to know for sure where you stand and what to improve, and you're left to randomly walking through the self-improvement space until you get lucky or run out of resources.
- mesozoic 14y agoI think the point is they don't bother to provide any actionable feedback at all. Just prove some more assumptions k thx.