Kara Swisher: Shame on Silicon Valley for Climbing the (Trump) Tower in Silence | Hacker News Reader

Kara Swisher: Shame on Silicon Valley for Climbing the (Trump) Tower in Silence

recode.net

17 pointsjdp237 comments

Negotiating with a president is a complex sale, not a simple sale. In the SPIN Selling Fieldbook (https://www.amazon.com/SPIN-Selling-Fieldbook-Practical-Exer...), Neil Rackham makes the case that in complex sales situations it is better to get a continuation than a 'no'. Additionally, the objective is likely a series of incremental wins toward a desirable future rather than an all-in-one victory. I get where Swisher is coming from, and I agree that the CEOs should plan to manage the inevitable spin that will surround the meeting, but it seems like going to the meeting is worth doing.

Side note: when I was using it as a consultant I actually saw a lot of positive results from the SPIN Selling approach. The idea is to demonstrate to your customer you understand their situation, problem, the implication of that problem, and customer needs. Then, map their needs back to your product to show, in your customer's words, how what you're selling satisfies their needs. The framework is proposed in opposition to the classical concept of the "hard sell" or "closer" method often applied at car dealerships.

I think "shame" is a really good word for what I'm feeling about my country's president-elect right now. As we slip further and further into the world described by George Orwell, I can only hope that those among us (here) with the power and voice to make a difference, will stand up to the fascist threat that Trump represents and fight for the ideals that are enshrined in our constitution. It is a living document, and right now it feels like I'm watching it die.

When I call these top leaders — of course, it has to be off the record — I get a running dialogue in dulcet tones about needing to cooperate and needing to engage and needing to be seen as willing to work together.

Silicon valley firms know a lot of information about a lot of people. I have extremely limited faith in their willingness to protect anyone's privacy if push comes to shove.

And, before anybody starts flagging this as political: the "political detox" experiment is over. See Dan's announcement at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13131251

But remember that most politics is still off-topic, as per the HN guidelines:

"Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

I'm fine with the article, just in case some of them do go there just to kiss the ring and ask for lower corporate taxes.

But I hope at least some of those CEOs will go there to change Trump's mind about a few things. It's probably better not to let Trump surround himself only by clueless people (as long as the non-clueless people speak out when needed). I could see Elon Musk try to change his mind about renewables and EVs by talking about how they could create many American jobs, for instance. Same goes with Tim Cook on the encryption issue. Or maybe I'm just an optimist.

Chris Sacca seems very courageous, as does Kara Swisher. Unfortunately, it's probably only a matter of time before HUAC gets them fired for their brave, outspoken, original and iconoclastic political positions...

Wait, what's that you say?

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