Re:Ask HN: Why are YC startups so secretive in Job postings?
by gcheong on Sunday December 19, 2010 @02:19PM
(#2022284)
I think they are a benefit to HN, and I think that allowing comments would be even more beneficial as I stated in my comment below. You may be right, but the people wanting comments may also be right but we'll never know unless the experiment is actually run and I thought a large part of HN was experimentation.
Re:Ask HN: Why are YC startups so secretive in Job postings?
by pg on Sunday December 19, 2010 @02:45PM
(#2022335)
This most recent case suggests another problem with adding comments to jobs, at least for startups that hadn't launched yet: a few jerks would make a game of trying to out them. Which would mean such startups couldn't be as specific in job posts, lest they give away something that identified them.
Re:Ask HN: Why are YC startups so secretive in Job postings?
by Zak on Sunday December 19, 2010 @06:57PM
(#2022860)
I don't think it's reasonable to conclude that people who endeavor to figure out and post the identities of startups who post jobs are jerks. You make a fair point about why they shouldn't do it, and I think you're right to discourage it. Curiosity, however seems like a more probable motivation than malice.
Re:Ask HN: Why are YC startups so secretive in Job postings?
by gojomo on Sunday December 19, 2010 @05:03PM
(#2022639)
I don't think whether comments are allowed will make a difference when there is suitable mystery/curiosity. The recent case also illustrates this: other posts in this forum or others will be spawned to try to reason an identity out.
A posting anywhere with enough specific info to prompt applicant interest will prompt other observers to fill in the details. It's true for Google, Apple, Facebook etc. – so it will be true for self-identified YC startups who tout their impressive metrics as well.
Re:Ask HN: Why are YC startups so secretive in Job postings?
by danest on Sunday December 19, 2010 @10:44PM
(#2023232)
I posted the thread on asking what the startup was and I certainly didn't mean to be a jerk towards the new company. I was mostly curious because they got so much traction so fast and was willing to learn on how they achieved it. I apologize pg and YC W11 startup.
The inevitable discussion about how we could just have an etiquette of not doing that, or a guideline for not doing that, or a new kind of flag button for that, or or or, will just serve to illustrate how much simpler a solution just not allowing comments on those posts is.
These posts aren't hurting you. My bet is most HN people actully think they're a benefit of HN --- early access to YC jobs! This is a fake controversy. Can we think about tolerating the YC job ads in terms of "least we can do for running HN"?