

Ask HN: How do you balance privacy with running a startup? - pseudonyms

Like many people, I&#x27;ve used an online pseudonym for years. I&#x27;ve turned down interview requests and avoided sending out press releases regarding my startup because I&#x27;m afraid of putting my real name out there, forever, on the internet.<p>I am curious how other people balance their concerns about identity theft, online stalking and doxing whilst creating a personal brand and&#x2F;or being at the helm of a startup.
======
patio11
I was fortunate in that someone once threw my real identity in my face during
a discussion "patio11" was having, and I realized that compartmentalization
was already compromised and thus a determined adversary was always going to
win. Having accepted this, and adjusting my online behavior to be more
reflective of my desired public self, defangs most of the problems associated
with people knowing who you are.

To quote Tyrion Lannister: "Let me give you some advice, bastard: Never forget
what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can
never be used to hurt you."

I tend to think that Internet folks have overly exaggerated impressions of the
risk profile associated with having basic biographical information available,
by the way. This is not a unique cross we have to bear -- every dentist,
lawyer, McDonalds franchisee, etc has the same "problem." The vast majority
are never targeted by the Internet hate machine.

The most annoying thing to have happen to me from having my identity public in
~8 years, aside from online criticism, was having someone find my cell phone
number on WHOIS and ask for advice at 4 AM in the morning. My advice was to
send me an email and schedule a call, like a considerate person.

~~~
thaumaturgy
> _I tend to think that Internet folks have overly exaggerated impressions of
> the risk profile associated with having basic biographical information
> available, by the way. This is not a unique cross we have to bear -- every
> dentist, lawyer, McDonalds franchisee, etc has the same "problem." The vast
> majority are never targeted by the Internet hate machine._

But, be careful of interpreting that as, "there is no risk." The internet hate
machine does find a new victim on a regular basis and toy with their lives for
its own amusement, it's just that probability is on your side thanks to the
really large number of people on the internet.

Small town politics can be a little nasty too, especially if you're a local
business owner that makes the mistake of getting involved in it. But, your
business probably doesn't depend very much on your reputation in town. (Mine
does.)

~~~
dennisgorelik
> The internet hate machine does find a new victim on a regular basis

Lightning strikes people on regular basis too.

That does not mean you should not go outside.

------
wglb
Growing up as an Amateur Radio Operator in which a) you must disclose your
real physical station address as well as your mailing address and b) all radio
communications are by nature public and may not be encrypted, I have a
different intensity level than most of the modern commentators about privacy.

And if you are in a business, you are likely to want the opposite of
anonymity.

If your state of well-being depends upon absolute and total privacy, you will
need to take rather extreme measures. Probably starting back in 1992.

------
aswerty
I recently created a personal blog and have just bumped into issues
surrounding anonymity with regards linking to accounts I use on different
sites. Some sites like Stack Overflow are fine to link to but I'm not too
happy linking to certain sites where I've expressed controversial opinions
and/or goofed around on. This is disappointing because on these sites I've
spent considerable time discussing aspects of software development.

So I think I'm just going to keep these accounts anonymous and just use my
blog, GitHub, and Stack Overflow as my professional public persona. I don't
have a problem putting my name out there as long as I know what I'm writing
can be directly tied back to me (not that anything on the other sites are
particularly bad – I just wouldn't want employers and such having direct
access).

~~~
yuhong
I wonder which kind of employers you have to deal with.

~~~
aswerty
The normal kind.

------
jarcane
The day I became a published author was the day I gave up on it. I'm still
semi-careful about more sensitive details, but I realized in my case that my
rep was bigger in my online name than it was in my own name, so the simplest
solution was to abandon the pretense.

I think this can be a real stumbling block to success these days. Increasingly
ones accomplishments are likely to be more visible online than anywhere, so
trying to keep them divorced just shoots ones own foot in the process. If I
had published my books under the name most people new me by rather than my
real name, then what do I do when its time to apply for work or pitch myself
further in real life?

Far easier to just wear my own face, for all its sins, but then I'm not
usually a prime target anyway. When I have been, I just go dark for a while.

------
davismwfl
patio11 already gave you awesome points, as usual. Below are some of my
personal points/experience.

I have helped a lot of small businesses with their technology, positioning and
marketing and this is one of the most common issues owners bring up. Typically
they will say they don't want to be "known" or be out if front because they
worry about their identity and the issues around it. Sometimes they say they
want their brand to be known not them, but in the early days their brand and
themselves are the same which people don't understand a lot of times.

However, it is the #1 mistake I think people make if they want their business,
or personal brand to grow. You cannot hide, you cannot turn down press, you
must be out there and be genuine. I do advise clients though, that if you are
posting what you know to be controversial content on a forum, blog etc and you
feel it would be damaging to your brand then first, don't; but if you must, do
it anonymously. The problem I see is that rarely is anything ever anonymous,
even when you think you are, so its easier just to be you. On the
controversial comments, I don't mean that you simply disagree with another
view point i.e. you think Ruby rocks and node sucks. I mean when someone has a
view that is anti-pattern to common polite society, e.g. racist comments,
sexist comments etc.

------
yuhong
This also reminds me of startupsanonymous.com and the Ask HNs that uses
throwaway accounts. I can understand why they are sometimes needed, but I'd
prefer that these problems be fixed if possible.

------
dennisgorelik
You have very low risk of loosing your privacy.

It is very hard to become a public person even if you want to. People have
very limited attention span.

