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Not really, no. Everyone is biased. The point isn't to eliminate them but to acknowledge them and understand how they affect you. Sexism in tech is a very larg

by ceol 13y ago

Not really, no. Everyone is biased. The point isn't to eliminate them but to acknowledge them and understand how they affect you. Sexism in tech is a very large problem, and like every other large problem, it's made up of many small problems. I think it's silly for pg to claim that there's nothing YC can do to get more women founders. No one's asking him to fix the whole thing — only to explore some ways that he could do his part to fix his small problem and get some more women founders through YC.

wvenable 13y ago
I think it's silly that you think pg is claiming there is absolutely nothing he can do. The problem is now that many many people are now reading as much as possible into everything that he saying. If he has an opinion, you don't know exactly what it is. But you'll analyze every word, every phrasing, and make up your own assumptions. That is all that is happening here.
- ceol 13y ago
  The full transcript is at the bottom of the submitted article's page, and from the conversation, it's pretty clear that pg thinks there isn't anything he can do. When asked what YC could do to bring more women founders in, he says they don't exist and then says we need to start looking at middle school computer science curriculums. Those are two things he flat-out said; I'm not reading anything into it.
  - wvenable 13y ago
    I would say it's pretty clear that PG thinks there isn't any more he can do. Lets not assume that he's doing absolutely nothing now. I'll ask again: isn't it possible that he's right? There seems to be general consensus that girls do not get into computing science at a young age. So it makes sense there would be shortage of women with right ability at the right time for YC. There's nothing controversial about that. And short of inventing a time machine there isn't anything PG can do about that. I know a lot of women in computing and almost none of them started as young as my male peers. These women code and some started their own companies. But they didn't do it in their late teens or early 20's because they hadn't even discovered it then.
    - ceol 13y ago
      It's possible he's right that there's absolutely nothing more he could do. I think it's extremely unlikely, though. If women feel uncomfortable in YC-funded companies, I think that's a problem he could address. If women feel uncomfortable in the culture surrounding YC, I think that's another problem he could address. It's very un-hacker-like to, when confronted with a problem, throw your arms up in the air and proclaim there is nothing more you can do.
      - wvenable 13y ago
        You're still not addressing the point. If there is a shortage of women in computing then nothing you just mentioned will fix that. Sure those might be problems that could be fixed but that's not even what we're talking about. Those things aren't going to solve the underlying shortage.
        ceol 13y ago
        That is what we're talking about... They're problems that need to be addressed that pg has decided aren't his responsibility. That's the whole point of what we're talking about. You don't need to mold someone from adolescence in order for them to be a founder or a hacker. It's not something you have to grow up with.
        wvenable 13y ago
        You do need to mold someone from adolescence in order for them to be a founder or a hacker in their late teens and early 20's. PG is in the business of spending very small amounts of money on in the slim hope that a few of them will be wildly successful and return hundreds of times on that original investment in a relatively short time frame. He invests in people who move to the valley and live huddled together on peanuts and ramen. Those young people are a very small and specific subset of all people who can be founders or hackers. But Otherwise I agree with you entirely.
hacker789 13y ago
Do you think there are any biases in tech that unfairly advantage women who choose to enter and unfairly disadvantage men who choose to enter?

by ceol 13y ago

wvenable 13y ago

I think it's silly that you think pg is claiming there is absolutely nothing he can do. The problem is now that many many people are now reading as much as possible into everything that he saying. If he has an opinion, you don't know exactly what it is. But you'll analyze every word, every phrasing, and make up your own assumptions. That is all that is happening here.

ceol 13y ago
The full transcript is at the bottom of the submitted article's page, and from the conversation, it's pretty clear that pg thinks there isn't anything he can do. When asked what YC could do to bring more women founders in, he says they don't exist and then says we need to start looking at middle school computer science curriculums. Those are two things he flat-out said; I'm not reading anything into it.
- wvenable 13y ago
  I would say it's pretty clear that PG thinks there isn't any more he can do. Lets not assume that he's doing absolutely nothing now. I'll ask again: isn't it possible that he's right? There seems to be general consensus that girls do not get into computing science at a young age. So it makes sense there would be shortage of women with right ability at the right time for YC. There's nothing controversial about that. And short of inventing a time machine there isn't anything PG can do about that. I know a lot of women in computing and almost none of them started as young as my male peers. These women code and some started their own companies. But they didn't do it in their late teens or early 20's because they hadn't even discovered it then.
  - ceol 13y ago
    It's possible he's right that there's absolutely nothing more he could do. I think it's extremely unlikely, though. If women feel uncomfortable in YC-funded companies, I think that's a problem he could address. If women feel uncomfortable in the culture surrounding YC, I think that's another problem he could address. It's very un-hacker-like to, when confronted with a problem, throw your arms up in the air and proclaim there is nothing more you can do.
    - wvenable 13y ago
      You're still not addressing the point. If there is a shortage of women in computing then nothing you just mentioned will fix that. Sure those might be problems that could be fixed but that's not even what we're talking about. Those things aren't going to solve the underlying shortage.
      - ceol 13y ago
        That is what we're talking about... They're problems that need to be addressed that pg has decided aren't his responsibility. That's the whole point of what we're talking about. You don't need to mold someone from adolescence in order for them to be a founder or a hacker. It's not something you have to grow up with.
        wvenable 13y ago
        You do need to mold someone from adolescence in order for them to be a founder or a hacker in their late teens and early 20's. PG is in the business of spending very small amounts of money on in the slim hope that a few of them will be wildly successful and return hundreds of times on that original investment in a relatively short time frame. He invests in people who move to the valley and live huddled together on peanuts and ramen. Those young people are a very small and specific subset of all people who can be founders or hackers. But Otherwise I agree with you entirely.

hacker789 13y ago

Do you think there are any biases in tech that unfairly advantage women who choose to enter and unfairly disadvantage men who choose to enter?