
An Open Letter To Randi Zuckerberg: How Could You Do This to Real Entrepreneurs? - geofflewis
http://pandodaily.com/2012/04/05/an-open-letter-to-randi-zuckerberg-how-could-you-do-this-to-real-entrepreneurs/#.T34_BscFzbU.twitter
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minimax
Who is voting this to the HN front page and what the hell is wrong with you? I
would rather see links to 30 more DCPU-16 simulators than read this tripe.
Stop it.

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callumjones
I think this plays more to those who come to Hacker News because of Y
Combinator, HN isn't just a site for developers it is also a site for
entrepreneurs (majority of which are based in Silicon Valley at this stage).

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AwesomeTogether
Actually the most shameful thing about the Bravo show is that it refers to
Randi Zuckerberg as an "internet entrepreneur."

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michaelkscott
The Wikipedia page on Randi Zuckerberg also refers to her as an "internet
entrepreneur."

Is this really the correct way to label her (i.e. What significant thing has
she done in tech that earns her that title?)

Someone should probably edit that wiki page. But again, I wouldn't really know
what to call her either — other than something like, internet marketer?

~~~
stfu
Most likely description would be "entourage member of somebody famous". Or
even better "privacy advocate" and "defender of freedom of speech" - as the
only thing I know from is for having made the notorious statement _I think
anonymity on the Internet has to go away_.

~~~
jaredsohn
>made the notorious statement I think anonymity on the Internet has to go
away.

That would make her more of a "privacy opponent" than "privacy advocate", but
that is just really a part of her job as Marketing Director at Facebook.

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vellum
It’s a Bravo Reality show. Of course they’re going to sex it up. Does anyone
really think the “Real Housewives” resemble real housewives? If they taped
real developers in their natural habitat, it would just be a timelapse of
someone sitting in front of a monitor.

~~~
ceol
One of her points, stated towards the end, says,

 _How on earth can Randi Zuckerberg — who knows how one frame of film will be
taken as gospel over a thousand books, blog posts, or real interviews — sleep
at night?_

People are stupid. They are going to assume the Bravo portrayal is an accurate
depiction of Silicon Valley, much like how they assumed _The Social Network_
was an accurate depiction of the beginnings of Facebook. She doesn't believe
it should be excused because "It's a Bravo reality show."

~~~
stfu
Most likely somebody needs to compensate for being the "underachiever" in the
family.

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mgkimsal
"How on earth can Randi Zuckerberg — who saw the angst over that movie by the
people it affected most — sell herself out to Hollywood’s desire to make
Silicon Valley look like, as the pilot says, “high school”?"

Angst?

 _LIFE_ is like high school. Popularity matters. Schmoozing and getting along
with people matters. Achievement matters, but less so than social skills.
College is arguably somewhat more a meritocracy, but 'real life' reverts back
to being more like high school than college.

I don't say that as a bad thing, but I had to do some mental adjustment once I
had that realization.

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meddlepal
Hyperbole much? She is an entertainment content producer. She is producing
entertainment. She is not making a documentary. And only idiots and people
looking for a cheap joke really think jersey shore is an actual representation
of new jersey... It's more a characterization of long island!

~~~
RollAHardSix
Or a representation of Long Island Ice Tea's perhaps! On a serious note, I
just wanted to highlight your comment for it's accuracy and become others in
this thread seem to be missing the point (That 'She is producing
entertainment').

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rrbrambley
What's next? How about: Get 5-10 early-stage startups with decent ideas, put
them in a huge house (or office building with several offices) and film them
all as they make progress on their product. YC, but being filmed all the time.
Judges consist of Silicon Valley bigwigs (PG, some VCs, etc.). The "winners"
get funded at the end. The show's title: Series A.

No shirtless club dancing. No dumbasses.

I'm not saying this would paint a more accurate picture for viewers, but I'd
definitely be interested in watching it. Call me crazy?

~~~
abiekatz
Bloomberg did a decent miniseries based on TechStars New York
<http://www.bloomberg.com/video/75400336/>

It was a lot more serious than this Bravos show will be but they still
probably manufactured some conflict to keep things engaging.

~~~
andrewf
It's been claimed they did - <http://melanie.io/2011/09/30/techstars-lies-
videotape/>

HN discussion @ <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3132954>

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alaskamiller
Because people are people.

Because we are potentially petty, petulant, persistent.

Because fame and money motivates us differently.

So that puts us at this awkward impasse.

Either you, Sarah Lacy, have no clue and can't read people well or know the
real story behind all this but decided this is an opportunity to sell
yourself.

Or Randi Zuckerberg is a sellout as you said.

~~~
rhizome
Sarah Lacy got her start at Techcrunch, IIRC. QED if IARC.

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sriramk
reposting my comment from that post

I find the show distasteful but it is as accurate a portrayal of Silicon
Valley as Jersey Shore is of that particular geo/demographic. In a way, this
shows you how mainstream Silicon Valley now is - instead of just being
portrayed as nerds and VCs, this shows that there exists many, many flavors of
people/lifestyle here in the Bay Area.

Let's be clear - this is a Bravo show, not a Ken Burns documentary. A
realistic portrayal of this place would have a bunch of people staring in
front of their text editors all day. Or attending meetings and whiteboarding
things. Not exactly riveting television.

~~~
jiganti
If anything it's going to draw more attention to things in SV, wouldn't you
think? A number of people I know had only heard of the actual Jersey Shore
location before the show got big, but largely have ignored the stereotype the
show provides while learning a decent amount about the area on their own.

Perhaps my experience isn't an accurate depiction of the public's perception
of the New Jersey coastline, but I agree that this show is an argument for how
established SV has become.

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trotsky
Manufactured controversy is a popular marketing tactic, no? If I actually had
a problem with something a friend of mine was doing the last thing I'd be
doing is writing an open letter about it based on a couple of 30 second
promos. Unless, of course, that friend asked you to.

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alanh
Pendantic, but if it were an “open letter,” shouldn’t it be written in the
second person? The body content contains two instances of the word “you,” both
directed to the reader; references to RZ are in the third person.

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abiekatz
It is interesting that one of the cast members is Dwight Crow, a founder of
the YC company carsabi. I imagine being on a show like this could lead to
quite a bit of publicity but I wonder if it is worth the distraction and
likely unrealistic portrayal.

[http://sfist.com/2012/04/05/meet_the_cast_of_bravos_new_new_...](http://sfist.com/2012/04/05/meet_the_cast_of_bravos_new_new_sil.php)

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tzs
Am I missing something, or did the author of that screed omit telling us the
name of the show that she is complaining about?

Yes, I realize (after a little research) that the show is called "Silicon
Valley" and that the phrase "Silicon Valley" does occur several times in the
article, but unless I missed one, those are all references to the actual
Valley, not to the name of the show.

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tvorryn
If you want a semi-realistic startup reality tv show to watch right now, try
TechStars on Bloomberg Tv: <http://www.bloomberg.com/video/75400336/> or
Start-Up Junkies: <http://www.hulu.com/start-up-junkies>

