I think I may be the only person on HN (besides Dave himself) who actually enjoys his writing style. Then again, I grew up on the East coast playing poker and basketball everyday, so smack talk is second nature to me.

Most people in the Bay Area seem to be in a competition to see who can be the most modest, which has never been my style.

I like it too (east coast as well). I just see it as straightforward, though I've also been accused of having an offensive or off-putting tone when I thought I was being straightforward as well.

I don't see it as straightforward. I agree with a lot of what he says, but trash talk of pretty much any kind tends to distract of the issue at hand.

Like in sports or gaming, I always prefer the person who plays silently and speaks with purpose than someone who tends to trash talk while playing. But neither form of etiquette effects who is the better player.

Agreed. I am also an east coaster and I find Dave's style to be a brilliant balance of humor and content. He occassionally rubs me the wrong way, but I'm a big boy. I can take it.

I have a strong belief that any time you are offended, you should look within, not attack the offender.

I think it's a style. He's not literally being (or trying to be) an asshole. If you substract the style, he writes with substance. Frankly, I'd love to see more written in his style than some of the pompous/formal blowhards I've seen elsewhere on the web. Dave also was a "working stiff" before he got PayPal bank, I believe, which differentiates his perspective and style a bit more from the standard blueblood VC/bankster type.

Dave is a cool guy, and really nice to talk to, but I'll be the first to agree that when he's writing/giving speeches, his style sometimes serves to distract/detract. I remember hearing one of his speeches where it felt like every other word was either "fuck" or "shit". It was highly distracting.

thanks for the feedback. will try not to swear unnecessarily, but it does serve as useful / unintentional emphasis sometimes... guess that's the hillbilly talking.