Comment by latexr
6 hours ago
> I'm guessing someone is gonna compare this to the old Dropbox post, but whatever.
If they do, you’ll be in good company. That post is about the exact opposite of what people usually link it for. I’ll let Dan explain:
6 hours ago
> I'm guessing someone is gonna compare this to the old Dropbox post, but whatever.
If they do, you’ll be in good company. That post is about the exact opposite of what people usually link it for. I’ll let Dan explain:
Dan makes a case for being charitable to the commenter and how lame it is to neener-neener into the past, not that it has some opposite meaning everyone is missing out on.
Dan clearly references how people misunderstand not only the comment (“he didn't mean the software. He meant their YC application”) but also the whole interaction (“He wasn't being a petty nitpicker—he was earnestly trying to help, and you can see in how sweetly he replied to Drew there that he genuinely wanted them to succeed”).
So yes, it is the opposite of why people link to it (which is a judgement I’m making, I’m not arguing Dan has that exact sentiment), which is to mock an attitude (which wasn’t there) of hubris and lack of understanding of what makes a good product.
The comment isn't infamous because it was petty or nitpicking. It's because the comment was so poorly communicated and because the author was so profoundly out-of-touch with the average person that they had lost all perspective.
It's why it caught the zeitgeist at the time and why it's still apropos in this conversation now.
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