What is PG? What is Jessica?
If one isn't already immersed in the VC mindset that dominates (and is apparently a significant dynamic of) YC, how is one supposed to parse these articles?
If one isn't already immersed in the VC mindset that dominates (and is apparently a significant dynamic of) YC, how is one supposed to parse these articles?
The original community here was the readers of the pg articles, so the oldtimers know who pg is.
Jessica is the wife of pg, she comes here from time to time, but no too much. https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=jl
Both of them are part of the four founders of YC. She was the less technical of the cofounders but from a pg article: http://www.paulgraham.com/jessica.html
> [...] One of the things she's best at is judging people. She's one of those rare individuals with x-ray vision for character. She can see through any kind of faker almost immediately. Her nickname within YC was the Social Radar, and this special power of hers was critical in making YC what it is. [...]
> During interviews, Robert and Trevor and I would pepper the applicants with technical questions. Jessica would mostly watch. A lot of the applicants probably read her as some kind of secretary, especially early on, because she was the one who'd go out and get each new group and she didn't ask many questions. She was ok with that. It was easier for her to watch people if they didn't notice her. But after the interview, the three of us would turn to Jessica and ask "What does the Social Radar say?"
You can't write a blog post for everyone in the world. Then you would have to explain what is YC, what is a founder, what is a VC etc. Would be pretty boring blog post to be honest.
Oh wait, and let me introduce you to Google.
https://www.google.com/search?q=pg+and+jessica&oq=pg+and+jes...
Jessica = Jessica Livingston
There are a few people who get known that way in some contexts: rms, jwz, esr. They’re controversial, but that has become their shorthand within some context.
Y Combinator is a VC firm that specializes in investing in early stage/new tech companies and one of the first to do it on such a public scale. Their most significant successful investment is likely Stripe. Dropbox and Airbnb are other companies which had a lot of initial funding from YC
Not every article has to target the "everyone" audience.
What if we applied the standard to programming article? What if an article on rendering issues in mass effect and a patch in directx for the same had to include explanations for variables and for loops? It clearly weakens the article as there is value in getting to the point.
When you write hagiographical blog posts praising your teammates who are luminaries in the field, you write for the field. It's a sort of reverse shibboleth - you don't care for readers who know nothing and you increase the reader bond for those who do know. References (frequently to pop-culture) have a similar power. Terry Pratchett, for instance, does so very well with lots of things, including science¹.
Your invocation of the rule, actually, is an example of misunderstanding the purpose of a rule and misapplying it.