Comment by sebmellen
19 hours ago
He blocked me (a relative nobody) on X for remarking on the number of people I know who’ve made it to YC on completely fraudulent credentials.
19 hours ago
He blocked me (a relative nobody) on X for remarking on the number of people I know who’ve made it to YC on completely fraudulent credentials.
His reaction seems entirely appropriate. He could ignore you, but then you might keep replying to his posts and potentially spread incorrect but damaging information. He is losing close to zero by blocking you, but preventing a potential big loss. Why did you make that remark, if not to damage YC's reputation? This does not seem like the correct approach, if you wanted to improve their selection process.
The hilarious part is that I never interacted with him directly at all. I was just commenting something to a mutual on X, the thread blew up, he snooped it, and went on a blocking spree. It may have been different if I were directly accosting him in replies to his posts.
> Why did you make that remark, if not to damage YC's reputation?
Seems harsh and cultish to assume malice. He didnt say you parents have false credentials
I would say calling out people and institutions like that is important so as to keep them honest, and if they arent honest and are trying to grift/defraud people then they deserve the reputation loss
> He is losing close to zero by blocking you, but preventing a potential big loss.
Thats great for gary, but the rest of the world isnt there waiting to be optimized for his benefit. If people trust YC to incubate good talent, but feel its becoming a hub for grifters, then some accountability is in order. Institutions are beholden to their public stakeholders, even private institutions, because they still have people who are using and supporting them
Well, incorrect or not, now that person has a very strong motivation to talk bad about YC. Smart "reaction."