3 ms·

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 shoest

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.
colmvp 11y ago
Thank you for actually pointing that out. As an Asian man, it annoys me that we also get excluded from being included as part of diversity. Asian men in tech? Who gives a shit, we need more x y and z! Not enough Asian men in Hollywood? Who gives a shit, they don't sell movies and the demographic of the U.S. isn't composed of Asians anyway!

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.

colmvp 11y ago

Thank you for actually pointing that out. As an Asian man, it annoys me that we also get excluded from being included as part of diversity. Asian men in tech? Who gives a shit, we need more x y and z! Not enough Asian men in Hollywood? Who gives a shit, they don't sell movies and the demographic of the U.S. isn't composed of Asians anyway!