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Obama to hit Y Combinator headquarters in Mountain View on May 8
- ceejayoz 13y agoWith something other than a drone, one hopes.
- WalterSear 13y agoWith Marissa Mayer. Don't think this has anything to do with the little people of the valley.
- saraid216 13y agoWow. I clicked through solely to make this joke. I hate you for beating me to it.
- mscarborough 13y agoUgh. A bunch of wealthy people talking about what they are "going to do", but never doing anything tangible outside their narrow self-interest? All you have to do is give politicians more money and go home to pat yourself on the back for not giving it to the Republicans. Stop the presses, you're a real progressive! Marissa Mayer's "cozy" home could only accommodate 200 people for a presidential visit to her "upscale Palo Alto home"? Sounds awful.
- ceejayoz 13y ago> Marissa Mayer's "cozy" home could only accommodate 200 people for a presidential visit to her "upscale Palo Alto home"? I imagine she has a backyard.
- bambam12897 13y agoI don't think you pay several thousand dollars to stand in a backyard... Though I could be wrong.
- morgante 13y ago> I don't think you pay several thousand dollars to stand in a backyard... Though I could be wrong. I've been to a number of high-class fundraisers/events held in back yards. It's pretty standard (obviously everything is spruced up nicely) to hold nice events in the yards of mansions.
- ceejayoz 13y agoYou're not paying for the venue, you're paying for the access.
- dmitrygr 13y agoEvery time he comes to the area they put a huge [30-mile-radius, 18,000 foot tall] no-fly zone for all but commercial air traffic around him. Why inconvenience so many pilots? Is he that afraid of his people?
- yurisagalov 13y agoThis is not Obama's doing. A US President essentially travels with a 30-mile-radius 18,000 foot TFR wherever they go.
- krapp 13y agoThat happens for every president. It's a military aircraft carrying the leader of the country, probably high ranking officials and diplomats, and a lot of sensitive information. It would be ludicrous and irresponsible not to control the airspace around him.
- barry-cotter 13y agoThe UK prime minister doea not have this level of bullshit surrounding him. Nor does the French president or the German chancellor. I'm pretty sure the Japanese and Canadian prime ministers don't. The Russians do. I submit a further argument for the superiority of parliamentary over presidential systems. Less worship of politicians.
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- WalterSear 13y agoWill someone please ask him about the Princeton "The US is an Oligarchy" study and get his response on tape? Preferably while surrounded by Marissa and any other techno oligarchs that are present. I know I'm going to be disappointed with his response, but I still want to see it.
- sirkneeland 13y agoIf the last Obama fundraiser visits are any guide, that'll do wonders for traffic that day. Making a note in the calendar to WFH on May 8...
- ilyanep 13y agoIt's never too late to start biking to work if you live close enough!
- toomuchtodo 13y agoWhenever he visits Chicago, my 45-60 minute commute goes to 2+ hours (escorted motorcade from ORD to downtown with traffic blocked from on-ramps on the Kennedy/I90). Work from home if you can.
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- bambam12897 13y agoHe's there to raise money. If he wanted to talk to Sam Altman he'd just buy him a ticket to DC
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- bambam12897 13y agoI can't be the only one that finds it pathetic that the president needs to prostitute himself in such a way to make a few thousand dollars for a political party. You'd think they have more important things to do - given they're running a nation and all.. Anecdote: Joe Biden visited our town recently. I'd bet the amount of money spent on flying him out here far exceeds the amount he raised at the dinner. There is a huge security apparatus that travels with them. Not just the presidential/VP jets, but a few days before he arrived a plane carrying the armored car(s), a whole ton of people in charge of security and god knows what else.
- stormqloud 13y agoHopefully in the middle of the massive sucking up somebody will remind him that he is massive disappointment. Would be nice to see somebody in silicon valley stand up for principles instead of just money and a popularity contest to meet "important people".
- Vecrios 13y agoThe comments in here are snarky hilarious. Love HN!
- lclarkmichalek 13y agoWhy be interesting when you can be acerbic
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- nirkalimi 13y agoMake sure to not schedule any meetings in mountain view on that day.
- dang 13y agoAll: to judge by the first dozen comments or so, this thread seems headed to a dismayingly low-quality place. When you post, please ensure that whatever opinion your comment expresses, it points in a thoughtful, non-reflexive direction. This leaves lots of room for whatever position you want to articulate—it just requires conscious care. (Just in case anyone's wondering, I'm saying this purely from the HN side. I learned about this event by seeing it at #1 on the front page five minutes ago and haven't discussed it with anyone at YC.) Edit: For the curious, the post is being weighed down entirely by user flags.
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- lancewiggs 13y agoIt might be constructive to create a "top 3 questions from HN to ask the President". For me they would be around political funding & the power of lobby groups, immigration reform and privacy/surveillance.
- waterlesscloud 13y agoNo one is going to ask him anything the least bit upsetting at an event like this.
- WalterSear 13y agoI am wondering where all the downvotes are coming from.
- zorn09 13y agoThey are coming because the bubble that exists around our politicians and the fawning rich upper class and idiot lower class (democrat or republican) is to put it simply, bursting. People are getting fed up with the ideologue denigrating wealth and success and hard work, then he goes to the rich elite of the elite in silicon valley with his hand out like a common beggar. Hypocrites.
- daniel-cussen 13y agoWho is he fundraising for? The Democratic Party in general?
- dang 13y agoThis is a factual, neutral question. It doesn't deserve downvoting.
- pekk 13y agoIf there's anything we need more of on HN, it's partisan bickering. This whole story is worse than useless
- dang 13y agoBut daniel-cussen's question wasn't that at all. You can flag a story as off-topic if you feel strongly that nothing like it should be on HN.
- WalterSear 13y agoOh, I'm sure there's room for some gender sniping in here somewhere.
- tokenadult 13y agoAs other replies have pointed out, the question suggests not having read the fine article (unless the person asking the question has little understanding of United States politics, in which case it is a legitimate informational question).
- gdubs 13y agoThe article says it's for the DNC, so that would be the party in general. The midterm elections are coming up in the fall, and people like Nate Silver have been suggesting the Democrats are in danger of losing the senate -- I'm guessing the fundraising will be kicking into overdrive as we head into the summer.
- joshAg 13y ago
- leccine 13y agoI hope he does not hit the same way he hits Yemen... :)
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- chatman 13y agoWhy is this news? Self promotion?
- dang 13y agoAw, come on. I'm sure I'm not the only person who went "holy shit" when I saw this after 7 years on HN.
- danbmil99 13y agoThoughts about the Keystone Pipeline? I know it's an election year, but really, can't we have a bit of rational decision-making for once? Punting till after the election just seems so very lame.
- danbmil99 13y agoHeh, just keep scrolling. You're almost at the bottom now
- WalterSear 13y agoSeems par for his course.
- EGreg 13y agoWhat can be done that's uniquely YC to welcome him as he does fundraising? Maybe speak about the JOBS act?
- downandout 13y agoIt's disappointing that demand for tickets to have dinner with him would be so great in Silicon Valley. He really screwed the Valley with this NSA stuff, among other things, and has forever damaged the trust that the world once had in US technology companies. He has directly taken money away from any Valley business whose customers are sensitive to such issues. I realize that the Valley leans markedly to the left, but at some point you have to take a stand against people that are messing up, even if you agree with their political ideologies.
- krapp 13y agoIt's not too surprising that a community of wealthy entrepreneurs wouldn't turn away a chance to be close to someone that powerful and influential. I do really hope one of them gives him a polite earful though. It's probably a lot different for someone in his position (and with his need to fundraise) to hear a Democratic tech millionaire point out how certain policies have wrecked the tech industry than hearing it from some in the rank-and-file.
- downandout 13y agoIf Obama truly believes in the populist ideals that apparently got him elected, this type of thing wouldn't be effective at all. Hopefully, in this case, those conversations do occur and he does betray all of his rhetoric about rich people being unable to influence him etc. My guess is it will be much more "You're the greatest - keep it up" type of conversations, but we'll see.
- krapp 13y agoI've come to believe that, while Obama ran as an idealist, he's more of a cynic and a pragmatist at heart. But if anyone could get away with holding his attention long enough to tell him off, it would be the YC crowd. He needs their money and he needs their influence. And I have no doubt he's going to try to sell, somehow, moving tech jobs and manufacturing back to the US or something. While we can't expect much from Obama, at least publicly, we know some of the techno-riche are reading this thread right now (or having someone do it for them) so I think they can consider themselves as having their marching orders. ... not that the rich have ever, historically, had to follow... marching orders but whatever.
- argumentum 13y agoYC is playing in the big leagues now. This should be viewed as no different than Obama (or other campaigning politician) going to Google or Facebook. Such events don't fundamentally alter the organizations involved and could be a great opportunity to advance issues like the founder visa & patent reform. Regardless what you think of Obama or his policies, it's better that the most powerful person on earth hears from startups as well as the giant corporations that already have his ear. Startups are a huge part of the real tech industry, but have been politically invisible to this point. There is no organization today that can better represent the policy needs of small, scrappy startups than Y-Combinator. This is great.
- WalterSear 13y agoI think this is about image, not influence. Y combinator is much hipper than google, and makes for a much better media story.
- mikeyouse 13y ago99% of the country has never heard of YC, it's probably closer to 100% in the midterm battleground states. This clearly isn't about being 'Hip'.
- WalterSear 13y agoThey are also used to not hearing about things that become huge overnight. It will play much better in the press for him to have gone to 'some place where they make start ups' than a more faceless corporate behemoth. It's simply a better media opportunity.
- philwelch 13y agoThis is disappointing. Marissa Mayer is probably already a lost cause, but for Sam Altman to co-host a Democratic fundraiser starring Obama shows that Y Combinator is firmly in the "establishment". How, in good conscience, can they support a president who has done nothing of substance about the NSA's abuses? I can see this being cast as a pragmatic move--this is part of how you buy and sell influence, and YC is a big enough player now that if they can buy influence on behalf of their interests (i.e. the interests of the startups they fund) they derive a real benefit, but it's disappointing to see them participate in a corrupt system instead of trying to disrupt it.
- mscarborough 13y ago> Marissa Mayer is probably already a lost cause Yep, pretty much. She's coasted so far on buying companies, closing offices, and Alibaba value, but it's gonna get a bit harder soon. > How, in good conscience, can they support a president who has done nothing of substance about the NSA's abuses? Because they don't care? Obama has no problem with war or drone strikes against illegitimate targets, or deporting more "illegals" than any previous administration.
- sama 13y agoplanning to ask about surveillance issues.
- philwelch 13y agoI guess I just naively hoped that you'd make sure you were on the same page with someone about surveillance issues before you helped him raise large amounts of money. But maybe that's not how politics work.
- davi 13y agoGiven the hosts and the venue, the best topic to bring up could be software patent reform. This is something pg has written about in the past [0] -- I wouldn't be surprised to learn this issue is the driving reason for hosting the dinner. [0] http://paulgraham.com/patentpledge.html http://paulgraham.com/patentpledge.html
- melvinmt 13y agoWho is going to host him? pg or sama?
- logn 13y agoI'd like to see a total cost for these trips. Last time I saw the president drive by for a fund-raiser, they closed down the entire route on the roads he was to take. At every driveway, parking lot and intersection, there were police. The motorcade stretched a couple blocks. Preparation took place weeks in advance. Add in Air Force One costs and to me these fund-raisers seems like nothing more than money laundering.
- pekk 13y agoLook, a story which involves Obama. Time for me to shill for literally any political cause which occurs to me by pretending that I am concerned that we aren't all rejecting him more violently. Maybe we can slip in a plug for the Tea Party.