Entrepreneurs: the Arrogance of Paul Graham
by Miki Saxon
Paul Graham is a poster boy for many of the things wrong in Silicon Valley — unlike Y Combinator president Sam Altman.
Graham says he won’t fund people with strong accents or women with young kids or who are planning on having kids, whereas Altman believes that eliminating gender bias is very important.
It seems that Graham’s arrogance knows no boundaries.
January 27, Graham took to Twitter to condemn Shark Tank, and shows like it.
Startups: Instead of appearing on Shark Tank, spend that energy fixing whatever makes your product so unappealing you think you need to.
Mark Cuban, a Tank investor, was not amused.
@paulg you mean like the sense of entitlement and arrogance they get when they become part of a YC class ? It’s hard to wash it out
Chris Sacca, a guest this season, chimed in.
@paulg Yeah, because a free 10-minute pitch to 7 million Americans is something every startup should turn down.
Beyond the sheer arrogance, it’s obvious Graham has never watched the show. He also doesn’t believe time should be wasted on marketing.
The entrepreneurs aren’t just in tech; they span multiple industries and many of them have already built their business and are at the point that they need not just money, but enterprise-strength expertise, which the Sharks offer.
Cuban hit it on the head when he said “arrogant and entitled.” Not to mention where he sees Y Combinator’s future.
@paulg the real question is why does a startup become part of YC any more ? The good old days of YC are just that
Read the whole thread here.
Image credit: Sarah Harlin via Wikipedia
