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What makes you think height is so important? I have not noticed any correlation. One of the nice things about startups vs politics is that appearance is much le

by paul 12y ago

What makes you think height is so important? I have not noticed any correlation. One of the nice things about startups vs politics is that appearance is much less important for success. (unless you think Bill Gates is some kind of super model :)

lsc 12y ago
The relationship between height and income is very well documented, at least for men. It's not absolute, certainly, we can all come up with the names of successful short men, just like we can come up with the names of successful black men and successful women. It doesn't mean those things don't put you at a serious disadvantage when talking to VC or trying to get a job.
- paul 12y ago
  Show me the documentation where tall people get more venture funding.
  - lsc 12y ago
    I don't have that documentation. I started this conversation, a couple messages back, in response to this quote from sytelus: >4. Make friends/Surround yourself with smart people.: Not extremely practical unless you are a famous VC but even then not trivial. Which I read as someone claiming that it is difficult to become friends with high-G individuals, unless you are a high-status individual. My argument was that G, in and of itself, does not confer status, and thus high-G individuals who aren't high-status aren't going to have any more people competing to be their friends than people of similar status who are more average. If you want smart friends, go find them. There isn't much competition. That was my point. I don't think you took issue with any of that. I think the problem was that I said: >unless by smart, you mean "Smart, tall and well-spoken" or "Smart, tall, and able to hold the right kind of conflicting ideas in your head without emotional distress" - which is often what VC seem to mean by smart. And you taking offense to this, really, is pretty reasonable. I'd take it as an insult if someone claimed people like me hired on irrelevant personal biases, too. One way to make this seem less insulting is to say that I lump in the "tall and well spoken and able to hold the right kind of conflicting ideas in your head" with "social and business skills" - because in the work world, this has been my experience. It's possible that things are different in the VC world.
    - paul 12y ago
      Yes, I think tech is one of the few places in society where being awkward and nerdy does not prevent you from being highly successful :)

by paul 12y ago

lsc 12y ago

The relationship between height and income is very well documented, at least for men. It's not absolute, certainly, we can all come up with the names of successful short men, just like we can come up with the names of successful black men and successful women. It doesn't mean those things don't put you at a serious disadvantage when talking to VC or trying to get a job.

paul 12y ago
Show me the documentation where tall people get more venture funding.
- lsc 12y ago
  I don't have that documentation. I started this conversation, a couple messages back, in response to this quote from sytelus: >4. Make friends/Surround yourself with smart people.: Not extremely practical unless you are a famous VC but even then not trivial. Which I read as someone claiming that it is difficult to become friends with high-G individuals, unless you are a high-status individual. My argument was that G, in and of itself, does not confer status, and thus high-G individuals who aren't high-status aren't going to have any more people competing to be their friends than people of similar status who are more average. If you want smart friends, go find them. There isn't much competition. That was my point. I don't think you took issue with any of that. I think the problem was that I said: >unless by smart, you mean "Smart, tall and well-spoken" or "Smart, tall, and able to hold the right kind of conflicting ideas in your head without emotional distress" - which is often what VC seem to mean by smart. And you taking offense to this, really, is pretty reasonable. I'd take it as an insult if someone claimed people like me hired on irrelevant personal biases, too. One way to make this seem less insulting is to say that I lump in the "tall and well spoken and able to hold the right kind of conflicting ideas in your head" with "social and business skills" - because in the work world, this has been my experience. It's possible that things are different in the VC world.
  - paul 12y ago
    Yes, I think tech is one of the few places in society where being awkward and nerdy does not prevent you from being highly successful :)