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This makes YCombinator look bad. Did they know about this before investing in Zidisha? If not, maybe consulting the likes of GiveWell could be a good idea.
by pratyushag 13y ago
This makes YCombinator look bad. Did they know about this before investing in Zidisha? If not, maybe consulting the likes of GiveWell could be a good idea.
- onalark 13y agoGiveWell? Aren't those the guys that astroturfed MetaFilter a few years ago?
- bmm6o 13y agoYes, but that was before "growth hacking" was cool.
- pratyushag 13y agoYep. Although they apologized publicly for it and came out being a much stronger organization. Their apology (not half bad): http://www.givewell.org/about/shortcomings http://www.givewell.org/about/shortcomings Deceit in lending is not uncommon among microfinance organizations, but it's surprising to see it from a YC-backed company. I look forward to Zidisha's response, I'm sure they'll shed more light on it.
- gohrt 13y agoAlso, 6 years later, their apology is still posted and crosslinked on their website, years later, in an easily accessible/sharable URL. MeFi's analysis, which FWIW, notes that most of the offending activity was done under the founders' real first-names: http://mefiwiki.com/wiki/Givewell http://mefiwiki.com/wiki/Givewell (Where is AirBnB's apology for violating Craigslist's TOS with the spamming from "Jessica"?)
- cjbprime 13y agoGiveWell's written about microfinance before, fairly skeptically: http://blog.givewell.org/2009/10/23/6-myths-about-microfinance-charity-that-donors-can-do-without/ http://blog.givewell.org/2009/10/23/6-myths-about-microfinan... http://www.givewell.org/international/economic-empowerment/microfinance http://www.givewell.org/international/economic-empowerment/m...