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Re:Winklevoss twins' new Facebook lawsuit rejected by judge by sedev on Monday July 25, 2011 @12:29PM (#2803281)
I can't decide if that shows whether these guys would be good or bad entrepreneurs. This kind of insane persistence in pursuit of what you believe in is sometimes a good sign for starting a business. On the other hand, they have made some very poor choices in that pursuit, and they've demonstrated that money is far more important to them than it is to the entrepreneurs that I admire.

Independent of that, they're exercising a non-trivial chilling effect on startups at the earliest stages, so I hate 'em for that, and I am deeply suspicious of the class angle - these guys are sons of wealth, I can't imagine they've ever known serious privation in their lives, and they're trying to squeeze still more money from someone who, much as I dislike him, earned it by working his ass off.

If I were a Randian, I'd be the kind of Randian who believes that the wealthy are the real parasites, for exactly reasons like this.

Re:Winklevoss twins' new Facebook lawsuit rejected by judge by jonnathanson on Monday July 25, 2011 @12:41PM (#2803356)
"these guys are sons of wealth, I can't imagine they've ever known serious privation in their lives, and they're trying to squeeze still more money from someone who, much as I dislike him, earned it by working his ass off."

True, but with a few asterisks.

First: Zuckerberg himself didn't exactly go hungry as a kid. AFAIK, he came from a fairly well to do -- probably upper middle class, though certainly not Winklevoss-class -- background.

The class angle certainly makes unsympathetic villains of the Winklevosses, but their actions -- not our best guesses at their upbringing -- are the real reasons to revile them.

Re:Winklevoss twins' new Facebook lawsuit rejected by judge by shapoopy on Monday July 25, 2011 @02:04PM (#2803764)
Likewise, as much as the last name "Winklevoss" makes me want them to be the stuck-up rich assholes to Zuckerberg's self-made work ethic, Zuckerberg did go to Harvard from Phillips-Exeter Academy.

Financial Aid can do wonders, but that kind of track record spits money.

Re:Winklevoss twins' new Facebook lawsuit rejected by judge by sedev on Monday July 25, 2011 @02:12PM (#2803809)
Those are important amplifications and qualifications to what I said - thanks. :)