VentureBeat - Latest Comments in From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

California Community College O — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 21:15:40 -0000

Hello, I don't know a lot about the subject matter in this particular post (From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship), but I did enjoy reading this and learned a little bit. Before clicking here I was trying to find out about california community college online course in particular, and I will come back now that I have found you.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

David Scott Lewis — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 21:26:37 -0000

Amen, Chris.

At least there's the Churchill Club and the AlwaysOn Network. Thank G-d for Tony Perkins!!

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:24:51 -0000

Phil,

I'm glad that you enjoyed the article. I have to disagree, however, in your assessment of "Thank You For Smoking." TYFS was written by Chris Buckley, a conservative. It was rewritten for the screen and directed by Jason Reitman, a self-described libertarian. And of course the film was produced by David Sacks, a member of the PayPal team, and a former editor of the Stanford Review.

What makes the film so successful is that it defends freedom of choice, not smoking, and attacks the hypocrisy of the mainstream.

Don't forget that this is a movie where the hero is a tobacco lobbyist, and the villains are the liberal senator and the intrepid investigative reporter.

The thing that seems to trip people up is that the movie is incredibly funny, and humor has not been a noted attribute of mainstream Republicans in the US. Nonetheless, I would argue that things like "Thank You For Smoking" and "Team America: World Police" express a point of view that Republicans would feel more at home with than Democrats.

P.S. Watch for an upcoming blog post on humor and politics.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Phil Edwards — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:56:55 -0000

Chris-

Enjoyed the article. And I don't necessarily think that the point is erroneous even on a logical basis (in addition to the coincidental one you describe). Computer companies of the past were founded on a certain type of democratization of information and resources, an undoubtedly bipartisan issue. However, it could be argued that companies like Paypal, which encourage economic liquidity, and their progeny, Linked in et al, encourage a certain amount of social liquidity, are conservative ideas. While Republicans don't exclusively hold insights into the advantages of liquidity in an economic and social "free market", it wouldn't be incorrect to say that a lot of conservative/libertarian ideals are predicated on that theory.

My one point of confusion was at the mention of the Thank You for Smoking film- this is a liberal film, despite it's coming from an author with Bill Buckley's DNA. Most libertarians/conservatives wouldn't be anti lobbying, and while many conservatives might agree with the point of the film (lobbyist structures are corrupt), it isn't really an example of Republican or conservative principles.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Matt — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 03:35:04 -0000

Joe,

I do not think that Chris's logic is faulty. Rather, he has a faulty premise that makes his argument logical but nonsensical. This faulty premise is the "eternal truth" that outsiders make the best entrepreneurs. Simply note that some outsiders have failed at entrepreneurship while many insiders have prospered.

BTW, Chris is not committing the fallacy of the undistributed middle. An example of that failing would be something like:

Bananas are yellow.
The school bus is yellow.
Therefore, the school bus is a banana.

Chris never really claims that entrepreneurial skill grants you outsider status which you are saying in part (1) of your post on 03.2.07 | 9:12 am.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 15:10:19 -0000

Phil,

I believe I stated very clearly:

"I do not believe that I ever tried to â€œpin entrepreneurial success on just a single factorâ€ or argue that being a Republican would â€œguaranteeâ€ success.

While it would be nice if a scholarly study existed to show whether or not Silicon Valley Republicans were disproportionately successful, Iâ€™m unaware of any such study, though if you can produce one that contradicts my speculation, Iâ€™m all ears."

Ultimately, I'm just a guy with a blog commenting on what I see as an interesting possibility. I don't claim to have followed the scientific method--after all, how many blog postings include peer-reviewed primary research?

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

phil black — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 00:51:41 -0000

OK, i have read the article and all the comments and I must say, i'm leaving my own comment b/c it pisses me off that i wasted my time on this one. this argument is crying out for a quantitative economic theory analysis to see what the correlating factors are to success. it appears that the author has called out one piece of data and has splashed it on the headlines as THE reason. PUh-leez. it's ridiculous to generalize as the author has done.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

davemc500hats — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 16:08:47 -0000

hi, my name is dave mcclure and i'm starting a new political [sub]-group called "Dr. Seuss Republicans"... for more info on this important development, please read details on my blog.

we now return you to your regularly scheduled argument.

;)

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:25:12 -0000

Joe,

Thanks for your recent comment. I'm glad that you are trying to be non-partisan (as am I--I generally self-identify as independent, though I do end up voting for Democrats and Republicans because, well, that's who ends up on the ballot).

I agree with your argument about the fallacy of the undistributed middle--note that I was careful to indicate that I was only speaking of Silicon Valley Republicans.

I would definitely speculate that Democrats in the OC make better entrepreneurs than OC Republicans.

On another level, you can see the corrosive impact that incumbency has had in Washington. When the Republicans were on the outside looking in, they actually generated interesting ideas and promoted reform. Then when they took control of Congress in recent years, they tossed their ideals aside and focused on the classic Washington activity of pork-belly and partisan politics, as exemplified by Tom DeLay and crew.

It's also important to remember that Republicans, like Democrats are a fragmented bunch. There are the Eisenhower Republicans, Ayn Rand Republicans, and Moral Majority Republicans. Each has very different characteristics, and can barely stand the other!

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:19:00 -0000

Courtney,

I definitely believe in attracting flies with honey rather than vinegar, but I also believe in fighting vinegar with vinegar. I am grateful that you and Joe have taken the time to engage in dialogue!

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Courtney — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:14:45 -0000

Chris -

I see that Joe and Sundar have taken their time and interest as I did to try and let you know how your coming across. Please be gracious and listen to what is being said. You can attract more flys with honey....

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Joe — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 12:12:54 -0000

And (peace) also with you.

Whether you believe it or not, Chris, I am trying hard to be NON-partisan in understanding your reasoning. When I read your column, something "felt" wrong with your conclusion. It got me to thinking about a logic class I once took. I went over to Wikipedia and looked up syllogisms. I think (I haven't made a firm conclusion, mind you), that the problem with your argument is that it uses a "fallacy of the undistributed middle." See Wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

Here's what Wikipedia says:

[START QUOTE] The fallacy of the undistributed middle is a logical fallacy that is committed when the middle term in a categorical syllogism isn't distributed. It is thus a syllogistic fallacy.

The fallacy of the undistributed middle takes the following form:

All Zs are Bs
Y is a B
Therefore, Y is a Z [END QUOTE]

Looking at your argument, I understand it as follows:

1. All great entrepreneurs (Z) are outsiders (B).
2. Republicans in Silicon Valley (Y) are outsiders (B).
-or-
2. Democrats in Orange County (Y) are outsiders (B).
3. Republicans in Silicon Valley (Y) are great entrepreneurs (Z).
-or-
3. Democrats in Orange County (Y) are great entrepreneurs (Z).

Mind you, I'm not trying to berate you on this. I just love to argue and I'm also a bit OC (like you couldn't figure that one out).

What's your take on this? Am I breaking down your argument fairly or am I misunderstanding the "fallacy of the undistributed middle"? Anyone else want to weigh in? I honestly do want to know if I'm wrong ... or right.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 23:22:07 -0000

Joe, a wise man told me, you can either be right, or you can be happy.

All my readers know that I prefer to be happy. They also no that I harbor no hatred of liberals or conservatives. If agreeing with The Economist makes me a vile, evil Republican in your mind, then count me in. Believe what you want to believe, and go in peace.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Joe — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:47:46 -0000

Chris Yeh: "I rest my case."

Judge: "But, Mr. Yeh, you haven't presented one shred of evidence to prove your case."

Chris Yeh: "What are you, some kind of LIBERAL?! I rest my case!"

Judge: "OK. Have it your way, Mr. Yeh. This court finds Mr. Yeh's argument to be without merit. Case dismissed."

Chris Yeh: "But, but, but Clinton..."

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:43:06 -0000

Joe's argument speaks for itself. I rest my case.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Joe — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:38:21 -0000

"All right then, what is the right argument?"

Why don't you just admit that your logic is faulty and move on? You keep claiming that everyone who disagrees with you is partisan and that partisanship is coloring their perception. But why can't you see that your own partisanship is what prompted you to write a column based on a tissue-thin premise in the first place? Oh, I forgot that I'm wasting my time asking this question because you have no interest in honest dialogue. As you wrote in your personal blog: â€œNow of course, the very act of writing a post on Republicans was a calculated attempt on my part to stir up controversy, so Iâ€™m actually pretty happy with the results." Your wish came true, Chris. We're all so proud of you.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:26:19 -0000

Joe,

I'm glad you feel like you "got me" by exposing a public post from my very own blog (which appears in the "About the Author" section) that links to this one. But don't be surprised if few think that this qualifies as much of a gotcha.

Hell, if you want to claim that I'm a Republican, you can point to this post in which I freely admit to having voted for Republican politicians (which, incidentally, must be true for most people in California, since Arnold Schwarzenegger easily won re-election):

http://chrisyeh.blogspot.co...

The bottom line is, everyone who writes in to attack my logic and arguments has to misinterpret my post and claim that I'm arguing something that I'm not.

Joe, you call my classic syllogism "pretzel-style" logic. To paraphrase "The Princess Bride": "Socrates, Aristotle, Descartes? Morons!" All right then, what is the right argument?

Assuming that one agrees that outsiders make better entrepreneurs, and that in Silicon Valley, Republicans are outsiders, show me what kind of logic allows one to conclude: "But Republicans won't make better entrepreneurs because they are not the *right kind* of outsiders."

This kind of insane troll logic should be exposed for what it is, whether its the idiocy of intelligent design, or raising minimum wages. To pick and choose when to apply logic depending on one's political beliefs is nothing more than hypocrisy, a crime of which both Republicans and Democrats are plenty guilty.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Joe — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 20:09:53 -0000

Yeah, Chris, you're so misunderstood. Your own words from your personal blog at:

http://chrisyeh.blogspot.co...

"Now of course, the very act of writing a post on Republicans was a calculated attempt on my part to stir up controversy, so I'm actually pretty happy with the results. But it certainly doesn't bode well for bipartisanship in this neck of the woods. Any closeted Republicans want to speak up?"

posted by Chris @ 10:16 AM 7 comments links to this post

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Joe — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:59:08 -0000

"I must say that the degree to which people have misread my arguments is quite disturbingâ€“it shows that partisan politics is blinding folks to anything other than the label of oneâ€™s political party."

Chris, you are being intellectually dishonest. First you write a column that uses pretzel-style logic. You go from:
1. Outsiders make the best entrepreneurs.
2. In Silicon Valley, Republicans are outsiders.
3. Therefore, Republicans are the best entrepeneurs in Silicon Valley.

Even though you wrote this column at a time when the country is deeply divided over the Iraq War and many other emotional issues, you imply that you expected readers to read it dispassionately. I don't believe for a second that your intention from the start was to do anything other than needle liberals.

After readers called you on your faulty logic, you claimed that you were not making a political argument.

The funniest part of all this is that you're trying to make yourself out as the victim of overzealous liberals. Shame on you.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:42:24 -0000

Sundar,

I do not believe that I ever tried to "pin entrepreneurial success on just a single factor" or argue that being a Republican would "guarantee" success.

While it would be nice if a scholarly study existed to show whether or not Silicon Valley Republicans were disproportionately successful, I'm unaware of any such study, though if you can produce one that contradicts my speculation, I'm all ears.

I've simply noted that A) Republicans are outsiders in the Valley, B) Outsiders have historically had more success as entrepreneurs, and C) The success of the PayPal team at that company and many others could be seen as supporting the conclusions that Republicanism might be correlated with entrepreneurial success.

If you wish to dispute the facts that went into my argument, by all means do so. Right now, it seems like you are setting up straw man arguments that you easily refute, but which don't reflect my actual column.

This suggests that either you are misunderstanding my words, which proves my point about how partisan politics is making it difficult for people who practice it to evaluate things objectively, or you using an feigned misunderstanding as a rhetorical technique.

I don't have any goal to convert people to being Republicans; I'm simply highlighting an interesting and somewhat counterintuitive observation.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Sundar Krishnamurthy — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:29:27 -0000

Chris, you may be jumping to conclusions too quickly! Even if you change all mentions of Republican to Democrat, I will argue the exact same point.

I am only questioning your statement about being Republican is a strong predictor of success in the valley.

It is hard to pin entrepreneurial success on just a single factor. Political affiliation may help make the right connections but success isn't guaranteed just because of that.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:42:49 -0000

Sundark,

Let me quote my column:

"Iâ€™m going to argue that the success of PayPalâ€™s GOP mafia is simply the logical extension of one of the eternal truths of Silicon Valley: Outsiders make the best entrepreneurs.

And in our neck of the woods, Republicans are the ultimate outsiders."

I think it's pretty darn clear that I'm not saying that Republicans make better entrepreneurs, I'm saying that outsiders make better entrepreneurs, and paradoxically, in Silicon Valley, Republicans are the ultimate outsiders.

I must say that the degree to which people have misread my arguments is quite disturbing--it shows that partisan politics is blinding folks to anything other than the label of one's political party.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Sundar Krishnamurthy — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:35:55 -0000

Chris,

Thanks for the response. Your response actually contradicts the main argument of your column -- being a Republican is a strong predictor of entrepreneurial success -- since it is not THE deciding factor if a factor at all!

Unless you have actual numbers to prove it with a count of all successful companies in the valley (both past and present) and show that a majority of the founders are Republican, your thesis is still a speculation.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Chris Yeh — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 14:34:15 -0000

Sundar,

I totally agree that Democrats should do better as entrepreneurs in conservative environments (though Austin would probably be an exception, since it is heavily Democratic).

Certainly it's not true that all it takes to be successful in the Valley is to vote Republican. If that were true, all of us entrepreneurs would register GOP immediately. But it does seem like Republicans are disproportionately represented in the ranks of successful entrepreneurs, given their rarity in this neck of the woods.

Re: From GOP to IPO: Silicon Valley republicans and entrepreneurship

Sundar Krishnamurthy — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 13:36:07 -0000

Fascinating attempt to connect party affiliation to entrepreneurial success. If you accept Chris' argument, several successful entrepreneur in Texas must be Democrats since they are outsiders in a red state. However, that doesn't seem to be true.

Success in the silicon valley comes from the opportunity, investment and access to talent it provides for anyone with an idea or a concept that has the potential to make a difference.

PayPal was originally offered by a company called Confinity Software (which later changed its name to X and then settled on its namesake offering) as a way to settle debts using Palm devices among individuals. It tried it's hand at being an online bank next and then hit pay dirt by being a payment processor for a fast-growing auction site (called EBay I believe ;-)).

It had nothing to do with the politics but an amazingly talented group of people who delivered a product that simplified payments among buyers and sellers located across the country.

Pinning it on political ideology or party affiliation is simplistic, wishful thinking even.