Hacker News Reader

SamvitJon Dabrowski’s theory and existential depression (2020)

As someone who tested as "gifted" as child, I don't think as much naval gazing and self-analysis as this article describes is warranted for anyone, gifted or not. There are lots of productive ways in which to channel "giftedness" (success in school, creative pursuits, etc.), and this article instead puts giftedness on a pedestal, which (I think) is a bit indulgent and counterproductive.

SamvitJon Where did the other dollar go, Jeff?

This article starts of well, but quickly goes south.

> In a typical transaction, no market value is created. If I give you an apple and you give me an orange, the total amount of fruit in the economy remains constant. We can’t create fruit by bartering with it. We can only do so by foraging or cultivating an orchard.

Economics 101 begs to differ. Surprised at the level of economic illiteracy in this article (the author should read up on concepts like consumer surplus, labor markets, comparative advantage, economies of scale), given the interesting riddle it began with.

SamvitJon How People Get Rich Now

PG himself is a good example. His equity stake in VC is very likely worth in the $1-10B range (YC didn't take outside capital, see footnotes: http://www.paulgraham.com/worked.html). But his ownership stake isn't transparent to Forbes.

I think a lot of VCs and real estate investors would fall in this category.

SamvitJon Academic “ghost-writing”: the cheating scandal no one will discuss (2020)

It is a counter-point to "I always cringe when I have to interview someone with a masters degree in computer science", because there seems to be a generalization encoded there that people with master's degrees tend to be weak at interviewing and weak on practical skills (based on the rest of your comment).

SamvitJon Academic “ghost-writing”: the cheating scandal no one will discuss (2020)

As a counter-point, here are three examples of highly successful individuals in the tech industry with an M.S. in computer science as their highest degree:

- Soumith Chintala (https://www.linkedin.com/in/soumith): Co-inventor of PyTorch; Distinguished Engineer at Facebook AI

- Jacob Devlin (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-devlin-135ab048): Inventor of BERT; SWE at Google AI

- Yuxin Wu (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ppwwyyxx): Lead developer on Detectron2; SWE at Facebook AI

If we include successful entrepreneurs and CEOs, the list becomes larger still.

Of course, these examples are cherry-picked, but I'd be careful with your assumptions.

Many people who pursue Master's degrees in the U.S. are international students who didn't have the luxury to do their undergrad in the U.S., a large number of whom have gone on to great success in the tech industry. At the high end, M.S. in computer science grads represent the best and brightest of three groups: international students, PhD dropouts, and those curious enough about CS to pursue it at the graduate level.

SamvitJon They Rejected Us

Not getting an interview from HBS as "a Stanford honors grad" is the worst rejection he's ever experienced? The whole post reeks of humble brag.

SamvitJon What Straight-A Students Get Wrong

> This might explain why Steve Jobs finished high school with a 2.65 G.P.A., J.K. Rowling graduated from the University of Exeter with roughly a C average, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. got only one A in his four years at Morehouse.

In contrast, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg all graduated at the top of their classes in high school. So much confirmation bias - and that too from a psychology professor!

SamvitJon They Rejected Us

From later down in the list: "Applied to the Harvard Business School as a Stanford honors grad with a 740 GMAT, no interview. Was rejected from Airbnb for a customer support role and later was passed over for a PM role at Google after 2 phone screens. I've cofounded Y Combinator startup (Ridejoy YC S11)... Today I'm a product manager at Etsy. Timing and fit are everything."

This is literally the worst rejection story I've ever heard.

SamvitJon How Smart People Sabotage Their Success

On the other hand, Jeff Bezos, the richest individual in modern history, graduated high school valedictorian and summa cum laude from Princeton. Anecdotes abound!

SamvitJon Apple's New Map

I read this article in a very sarcastic tone. Wondering if that was intentional.

SamvitJon Dear Silicon Valley: America’s fallen out of love with you

You haven’t produced a new firm that has cracked the world’s top 200 since Facebook’s founding in 2003.

Facebook was founded in 2004.

SamvitJon Redfin shares surge more than 30% in $138.5M real estate tech IPO

"We are the Apple of real estate." could someone explain what this even means?