zlacker

This comment from a similar thread over 10 years ago pretty much sums it up:

I just saw Sam Altman speak at YCNYC and I was impressed. I have never actually met him or heard him speak before Monday, but one of his stories really stuck out and went something like this:

"We were trying to get a big client for weeks, and they said no and went with a competitor. The competitor already had a terms sheet from the company were we trying to sign up. It was real serious.

We were devastated, but we decided to fly down and sit in their lobby until they would meet with us. So they finally let us talk to them after most of the day.

We then had a few more meetings, and the company wanted to come visit our offices so they could make sure we were a 'real' company. At that time, we were only 5 guys. So we hired a bunch of our college friends to 'work' for us for the day so we could look larger than we actually were. It worked, and we got the contract."

I think the reason why PG respects Sam so much is he is charismatic, resourceful, and just overall seems like a genuine person.

Companies can “fail”, for all kinds of reasons, even with perfect execution by the founders. I don’t really know why Loopt failed, but based on sama’s track record since, he is definitely a person who makes a huge impact with whatever he does (even if you think OpenAI hype is overblown, as I do).

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3048944

>>ephext+(OP)
> just overall seems like a genuine person.

Yet he admitted to deceiving a customer in that same anecdote

>>ephext+(OP)
Pulling such a stunt is a hustler move, as well as deceptive, manipulative, and dishonest.

----

Edit: Sure, dang. I didn't realize UTF-8 magic was frowned upon. Could be a helpful addition to the guidelines if this is the case.

>>ephext+(OP)
> like a genuine person

> we hired a bunch of our college friends to 'work' for us for the day so we could look larger than we actually were

?

>>ephext+(OP)
That sounds like straight up deception, to be fair.

>>ephext+(OP)
Wait, is there a definition of "genuine person" for this commenter that I don't know?

>>Grimbu+x
Fake it until you make it or until you lose $51B

>>kristi+71
It almost seems like fraud. If somebody is investing in or contracting with a company base on false impressions that were deliberately created by deception then... jeez.

It isn't to the same degree as Holmes saying that the blood machines work, but it is in the same direction.

>>metada+r
If you want to emphasize a word or phrase, put *asterisks* around it and it will get italicized.

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

>>jborde+82
That's the SV way.. winner write the history. It's a cool "being resourceful" story when you don't blow the f up, but it becomes fraud when you do.

>>ephext+(OP)
The classic Accuracy International switcheroo. Always remembered fondly when it works out, not so much when it doesn't, but it's almost always interesting!