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> According to Reuters, an overwhelming majority of the startups it looked at were founded by people who had held a senior position at a big technology firm, wo

> According to Reuters, an overwhelming majority of the startups it looked at were founded by people who had held a senior position at a big technology firm, worked at a well-connected smaller one, started a successful company, or attended one of three universities—Stanford, Harvard, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Did they ever stop to think that maybe people who are talented and interested in starting their own tech startup business might seek out these schools and positions, disproportionately to other options? You can't point at facts like these and claim they are proof for a lack of diversity. It might turn out that, given the chance to evaluate and interview every possible candidate in the world, that the top 1% of talent might be 80% drawn from those backgrounds, irrespective of all other traits.

hueving 11y ago
What do you mean, 'did they stop to think'? The whole point of this article and their motivation is that's the thinking that already dominates a lot of the culture in the valley. It goes something like this. Of the 7 billion people on the planet, anyone important will go to Stanford, Harvard, or MIT as a student. If they don't do that, they must prove themselves at an 'elite' company populated by such people so they can demonstrate their value and gain access to the exclusive funding supply.
- lawlessone 11y ago
  sounds more like an elitist club when you put it that way.
  - M8 11y ago
    Most likely he is a freshmen in one of the said establishments. Let's give it a few years. Wisdom takes time.
    - hueving 11y ago
      Who are you talking about? I was mocking the stupidity of thinking that a school says anything about you other than privilege/luck.
- mauricemir 11y ago
  Ironic as my first job was on campus at CIT Cranfield University which only did MSC and PHD courses and would consider those 3 as feeder schools They used to say Cranfield considered Harvard, MIT , Ox-bridge as as paces where it was permissible to do ones "First Degree" as long as you did the right course and the right supervisors and got a First.
  - hueving 11y ago
    It's not a competition to see who can stick their head the furthest up their ass.
    - mauricemir 11y ago
      Nah that was the Management school :-)
nraynaud 11y ago
Actually I don't see how being a manager at bigco or being a wealthy student in an expensive school with lots of means helps you bootstrap a company on a shoestring. On a side note I'm more and more weary about the "lack of diversity" narrative, Indians and eastern Asians are over-represented, this is not a white world, there is a lack of Blacks, Hispanic and women, but remember that the Indians and eastern Asians will be the most suffering minority in rebalancing. Also, I think the issue of white women might not call for the same changes as the issue of minorities, because they are not a minority. I still don't know what to do (but I don't work, so you're free to take my job, I was a manager in IT), but I think a more nuanced analysis and a finer picture than "it's a bunch of white rapists" might help finding leverage points.
- S4M 11y ago
  > Actually I don't see how being a manager at bigco or being a wealthy student in an expensive school with lots of means helps you bootstrap a company on a shoestring. I don't know either about the wealthy students, but being a manager at a bigco surely must help you to get customers with the network they have, especially if their startups are in a related field.
  - nraynaud 11y ago
    In my experience, it doesn't. They just go after blue chips again directly, but blue chips have a 18 months decision time on a purchase and don't like new technology. They lack the humility/will to go after many small companies to hone the product, business model and the funnel against many customers before hunting the whales again.
- x1798DE 11y ago
  Actually I don't see how being a manager at bigco or being a wealthy student in an expensive school with lots of means helps you bootstrap a company on a shoestring. I don't think the question is whether it helps you, the point is that it's a selection effect. Either the people who are smart and effective in those fields end up disproportionately wanting to go to big, brand-name schools and companies, those big brand-name schools and companies are able to hire those people, or both. It's possible that they also have a beneficial non-selection effect, but that's not what the parent comment was proposing.

hueving 11y ago

What do you mean, 'did they stop to think'? The whole point of this article and their motivation is that's the thinking that already dominates a lot of the culture in the valley. It goes something like this. Of the 7 billion people on the planet, anyone important will go to Stanford, Harvard, or MIT as a student. If they don't do that, they must prove themselves at an 'elite' company populated by such people so they can demonstrate their value and gain access to the exclusive funding supply.

lawlessone 11y ago
sounds more like an elitist club when you put it that way.
- M8 11y ago
  Most likely he is a freshmen in one of the said establishments. Let's give it a few years. Wisdom takes time.
  - hueving 11y ago
    Who are you talking about? I was mocking the stupidity of thinking that a school says anything about you other than privilege/luck.
mauricemir 11y ago
Ironic as my first job was on campus at CIT Cranfield University which only did MSC and PHD courses and would consider those 3 as feeder schools They used to say Cranfield considered Harvard, MIT , Ox-bridge as as paces where it was permissible to do ones "First Degree" as long as you did the right course and the right supervisors and got a First.
- hueving 11y ago
  It's not a competition to see who can stick their head the furthest up their ass.
  - mauricemir 11y ago
    Nah that was the Management school :-)

nraynaud 11y ago

Actually I don't see how being a manager at bigco or being a wealthy student in an expensive school with lots of means helps you bootstrap a company on a shoestring. On a side note I'm more and more weary about the "lack of diversity" narrative, Indians and eastern Asians are over-represented, this is not a white world, there is a lack of Blacks, Hispanic and women, but remember that the Indians and eastern Asians will be the most suffering minority in rebalancing. Also, I think the issue of white women might not call for the same changes as the issue of minorities, because they are not a minority. I still don't know what to do (but I don't work, so you're free to take my job, I was a manager in IT), but I think a more nuanced analysis and a finer picture than "it's a bunch of white rapists" might help finding leverage points.

S4M 11y ago
> Actually I don't see how being a manager at bigco or being a wealthy student in an expensive school with lots of means helps you bootstrap a company on a shoestring. I don't know either about the wealthy students, but being a manager at a bigco surely must help you to get customers with the network they have, especially if their startups are in a related field.
- nraynaud 11y ago
  In my experience, it doesn't. They just go after blue chips again directly, but blue chips have a 18 months decision time on a purchase and don't like new technology. They lack the humility/will to go after many small companies to hone the product, business model and the funnel against many customers before hunting the whales again.
x1798DE 11y ago
Actually I don't see how being a manager at bigco or being a wealthy student in an expensive school with lots of means helps you bootstrap a company on a shoestring. I don't think the question is whether it helps you, the point is that it's a selection effect. Either the people who are smart and effective in those fields end up disproportionately wanting to go to big, brand-name schools and companies, those big brand-name schools and companies are able to hire those people, or both. It's possible that they also have a beneficial non-selection effect, but that's not what the parent comment was proposing.