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The right way to have communicated would have been "Oh shit, I didn't mean it that way, sorry guys. I understand how that may have come across poorly." instead
by phillmv 13y ago
The right way to have communicated would have been "Oh shit, I didn't mean it that way, sorry guys. I understand how that may have come across poorly." instead of "What me racist unpossible!"
- PhasmaFelis 13y agoYeah, I agree 100% with his conclusion, but I would've been a bit less defensive about why people might have misunderstood him.
- sp332 13y agoHe was explicitly called out as being prejudiced when deciding which companies to fund. I don't think he's being too defensive here. http://www.siliconbeat.com/2013/08/27/quoted-y-combinators-paul-graham-on-ceos-with-strong-foreign-accents/ http://www.siliconbeat.com/2013/08/27/quoted-y-combinators-p...
- mathattack 13y agoYes - it's the type of thing you have to jump on quickly before the negative PR spirals. And unfortunately, corrections and clarifications rarely get the hype that original articles or misquotes get in the first place.
- tokipin 13y agoThe meaning is pretty clear in the interview: "I'm not sure why. It could be that there are a bunch of subtle things entrepreneurs have to communicate and can't if you have a strong accent. Or, it could be that anyone with half a brain would realize you're going to be more successful if you speak idiomatic English, so they must just be clueless if they haven't gotten rid of their strong accent." He is talking about strong accents as a superficial data point. You would have to make shit up to infer anything beyond that. I actually think his second suggestion (a lack of a critical kind of sensibility) is the deeper and more meaningful one.