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These are always tough pieces to respond to, because there are certainly a lot of gender inequalities in the startup world. But I wish the piece had spent more

by birken 12y ago

These are always tough pieces to respond to, because there are certainly a lot of gender inequalities in the startup world. But I wish the piece had spent more time talking about the trajectory of the situation instead of just a description of its current state. They mention this particular pair of founders was turned down by YC and their trouble raising funding, but not any of the stats YC shares about how they have funded more and more female founders, and all of the outreach efforts they do. They mention Ellen Pao concerned a lawsuit, but then only say she is "at Reddit", instead of saying she is currently the CEO. The CEO! Also, they mention Peter Thiel and David Sacks are the new generation? I honestly didn't know who David Sacks was until I just looked it up. What about all of the partners at YC? What about Mark Zuckerberg? What about all of the non-sexist people?

potatolicious 12y ago
> "But I wish the piece had spent more time talking about the trajectory of the situation instead of just a description of its current state." I admire the leadership being shown at YC right now and the progress that has been made. But I'd caution against mistaking these accomplishments for trajectory. Just read the most upvoted posts in this very thread, and the number of men here who perceive that "women in tech" or feminism is a vendetta or war against men. While we certainly appear more willing to call out the most egregious and obvious sexism in the industry (see: the Tinder fiasco), there are an alarming of young, supposedly enlightened participants who are vocally and virulently against any kind of reform, and adamant in their belief that women are "shaking down" the industry with their rabid bands of "SJW" lapdogs. Note the sheer number of posters here who have completely not addressed any substance of the article and instead are focusing on how the tone is overly abrasive or the wording ineloquent. No, I'm not willing to optimistically call the trajectory upwards - I'm not sure if I'm willing to call the trajectory level.
- Kalium 12y ago
  In all honesty, this article reads like a hackneyed retread of several dozen other articles I've read. It trots out the same statistics, quotes the same people, and so on. It's hard to take an article seriously when it feels like one giant repost.
  - potatolicious 12y ago
    It's a repost for us maybe - because this is an issue that's finally being talked about within the industry. Keep in mind that Newsweek is a mainstream publication, so for many readers this is the first they'll have heard of tech industry sexism. The significance of this article isn't that it makes any revolutionary advancement in thought or argument (it doesn't), but that it is one of few high-profile accounts of the problem accessible to mainstream non-tech audiences. And this is IMO important - maybe unmasking the festering sores that blight this industry to the wider world would be a motivation to address them. I agree with you in spirit though - in fact I take issue with them quoting Wadhwa so liberally, the guy's promotion of women in tech reeks of opportunism and chauvinistic paternalism - just read his quotes in this article where he paints women founders as a bunch of lost lamb who are too dumb to know when a VC is hitting on them, who are then saved by his sagely advice.
    - Kalium 12y ago
      Perhaps seeing the constant stream of do-nothing protests in the Bay has made me cynical. So take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. I have exactly zero faith in the power of "awareness" or similar to affect much of anything. Beyond clogging up BART because someone has chained themselves to something again to raise awareness for something-or-other. Doubly so when it plays neatly into a larger cultural narrative about nerds as The Other, in need of forcible correction by right-thinking people.
      - geofft 12y ago
        I've been thinking for some time about the environmentalists. I'm relatively young, but I recall in the '90s and a bit in the '00s, the environmentalists were portrayed in media (sometimes older media) as bleeding-heart liberals, people who chained themselves to trees, vegans like PETA, ecoterrorists like Greenpeace, etc. Today, the stodgiest, most conservative industries have email footers reading "Save a tree -- think before printing." I can't find anything else to explain that other than "awareness". And I usually am one to believe in the power of protests, but this particular change baffles me... yet it still happened.

by birken 12y ago

potatolicious 12y ago

> "But I wish the piece had spent more time talking about the trajectory of the situation instead of just a description of its current state." I admire the leadership being shown at YC right now and the progress that has been made. But I'd caution against mistaking these accomplishments for trajectory. Just read the most upvoted posts in this very thread, and the number of men here who perceive that "women in tech" or feminism is a vendetta or war against men. While we certainly appear more willing to call out the most egregious and obvious sexism in the industry (see: the Tinder fiasco), there are an alarming of young, supposedly enlightened participants who are vocally and virulently against any kind of reform, and adamant in their belief that women are "shaking down" the industry with their rabid bands of "SJW" lapdogs. Note the sheer number of posters here who have completely not addressed any substance of the article and instead are focusing on how the tone is overly abrasive or the wording ineloquent. No, I'm not willing to optimistically call the trajectory upwards - I'm not sure if I'm willing to call the trajectory level.

Kalium 12y ago
In all honesty, this article reads like a hackneyed retread of several dozen other articles I've read. It trots out the same statistics, quotes the same people, and so on. It's hard to take an article seriously when it feels like one giant repost.
- potatolicious 12y ago
  It's a repost for us maybe - because this is an issue that's finally being talked about within the industry. Keep in mind that Newsweek is a mainstream publication, so for many readers this is the first they'll have heard of tech industry sexism. The significance of this article isn't that it makes any revolutionary advancement in thought or argument (it doesn't), but that it is one of few high-profile accounts of the problem accessible to mainstream non-tech audiences. And this is IMO important - maybe unmasking the festering sores that blight this industry to the wider world would be a motivation to address them. I agree with you in spirit though - in fact I take issue with them quoting Wadhwa so liberally, the guy's promotion of women in tech reeks of opportunism and chauvinistic paternalism - just read his quotes in this article where he paints women founders as a bunch of lost lamb who are too dumb to know when a VC is hitting on them, who are then saved by his sagely advice.
  - Kalium 12y ago
    Perhaps seeing the constant stream of do-nothing protests in the Bay has made me cynical. So take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt. I have exactly zero faith in the power of "awareness" or similar to affect much of anything. Beyond clogging up BART because someone has chained themselves to something again to raise awareness for something-or-other. Doubly so when it plays neatly into a larger cultural narrative about nerds as The Other, in need of forcible correction by right-thinking people.
    - geofft 12y ago
      I've been thinking for some time about the environmentalists. I'm relatively young, but I recall in the '90s and a bit in the '00s, the environmentalists were portrayed in media (sometimes older media) as bleeding-heart liberals, people who chained themselves to trees, vegans like PETA, ecoterrorists like Greenpeace, etc. Today, the stodgiest, most conservative industries have email footers reading "Save a tree -- think before printing." I can't find anything else to explain that other than "awareness". And I usually am one to believe in the power of protests, but this particular change baffles me... yet it still happened.