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There is a truth that I'm trying to reach for those who achieve success in Silicon Valley and those that do not. You can't paint this broad brushstroke to encap

There is a truth that I'm trying to reach for those who achieve success in Silicon Valley and those that do not. You can't paint this broad brushstroke to encapsulate the total environment here for both women and men. You forget about those who fall through the cracks, and those who never had a chance at success here. The technology bubble has created this disparity, and you can see it through the black market that rises around the excess of this bubble. I spend a lot of time trying to understand this black market, since it provides more truth than understanding the boom and bust of market economies. The general sentiment on YC is that of idealism, but if you don't see the narrow alleyways and dark pits in which people live in then you can't fully comprehend the extent to what people will do to survive or thrive. Travel around East Oakland, East San Jose, and you can see that there are people who will do anything for any advantage out of their given situation. For some women, it is using their bodies to get out. And you see it in the competitive environment of tech. This is the art of competition, bringing the cost of everything down - one of those costs is that of the human body.

rquantz 11y ago
I'm trying to figure out what you think I believe, and the nearest I can come is that you seem to think I'm judging women for behavior that I find distasteful because I just can't comprehend what life is like in the "dark pits in which people live." Let me be clear: I am not decrying the behavior of women. I am criticizing VCs who expect sex from women who are trying to get funded. I recognize that some women resort to various kinds of sex work because they are financially desperate, while others do it because it is work they enjoy and it is lucrative (also to be clear, some women do it because they are forced into it by traffickers or others. This is not ok). I believe that prostitution should be legal, because its prohibition is bad for sex workers and makes their work less safe. I believe that consenting adults should be able to do what they choose in the bedroom. However, soliciting sex from women who are seeking funding has no place in the ethical practice of venture capital, for the reasons I outlined in previous comments (it is coercive and creates a bad environment for female entrepreneurs). Additionally, accepting sex from someone seeking funding also has no place in the ethical practice of venture capital, because it is likely to cloud judgement and produce bad investments. This is not idealism, it is a rational response to the fact that women had few other options than to "use their bodies" for millennia. People will do what they do, but if a VC tries to get a women to have sex with him in order to get funding, and instead of "using her body" she sues the shit out of him, he got what he deserved.
- hiddenpewpew 11y ago
  All we have is our bodies, what else is there to give?

rquantz 11y ago

I'm trying to figure out what you think I believe, and the nearest I can come is that you seem to think I'm judging women for behavior that I find distasteful because I just can't comprehend what life is like in the "dark pits in which people live." Let me be clear: I am not decrying the behavior of women. I am criticizing VCs who expect sex from women who are trying to get funded. I recognize that some women resort to various kinds of sex work because they are financially desperate, while others do it because it is work they enjoy and it is lucrative (also to be clear, some women do it because they are forced into it by traffickers or others. This is not ok). I believe that prostitution should be legal, because its prohibition is bad for sex workers and makes their work less safe. I believe that consenting adults should be able to do what they choose in the bedroom. However, soliciting sex from women who are seeking funding has no place in the ethical practice of venture capital, for the reasons I outlined in previous comments (it is coercive and creates a bad environment for female entrepreneurs). Additionally, accepting sex from someone seeking funding also has no place in the ethical practice of venture capital, because it is likely to cloud judgement and produce bad investments. This is not idealism, it is a rational response to the fact that women had few other options than to "use their bodies" for millennia. People will do what they do, but if a VC tries to get a women to have sex with him in order to get funding, and instead of "using her body" she sues the shit out of him, he got what he deserved.

hiddenpewpew 11y ago
All we have is our bodies, what else is there to give?