

Area Journalist Partying Too Hard - kunle
http://uncrunched.com/2012/07/22/area-journalist-partying-too-hard/

======
_delirium
_There is an obscene amount of money here. But it’s the only place in the
world where most rich people don’t really flaunt it. I know a billionaire that
drove an old Honda until recently, for example. Another that lived in a small
apartment so he didn’t have to bother with the hassle of a home._

Well sure, that does happen, but I think this is painting a picture that's a
bit unrealistically towards the opposite direction now. There are _some_
people who live a sort of rich-ascetic lifestyle, and there are some old
Hondas, but it's not really the norm. There are so many high-end cars that
what might cause people in other parts of the country to do a double-take
barely raises eyebrows in SV (oh, another Porsche). And there really are a lot
of quite fancy houses in the Valley; driving through Palo Alto and vicinity
(Atherton, Woodside, ...) doesn't give you the impression of a humble, down-
to-earth neighborhood. And, at bars, it is super-common to hear people
discussing money and deals and "acquihires" and IPOs and valuations (even
people who aren't doing any of that themselves, but are just caught up in the
whole scene/idea/fantasy).

I find it weird that Arrington of all people would claim that the
conversations are all about ideas, not money, when so much of TechCrunch's
reporting was always about valuations and financing and exits. Is he arguing
that his journalism is completely unrepresentative of the Valley?

Though you can find corners that exude more of a non-biz-oriented hacker
ethos, like Noisebridge. My brief impressions of SuperHappyDevHouse (have gone
3 times) were sort of in that direction also, with the feeling that a lot of
money was probably in the vicinity (random stuff would seemingly get paid for
magically, e.g. some VC sponsoring beer), but people didn't talk about it
much. They even have a comic about that vs. "other Silicon Valley parties":
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/progrium/2126533900/>

~~~
waterlesscloud
I live in L.A., I'm used to driving through the showy neighborhoods like
Beverly Hills, Malibu, Hollywood Hills, etc. Kind of blase about giant houses
and estates at this point.

But when I went through Woodside the first time, I definitely had a mental
Whoa! moment. Some of those places felt crazy off the scale.

Maybe it was just the surprise of it, since I hadn't really seen that kind of
estate anywhere in SV before then. Or maybe the woodsy aspect of it (even the
billionaires don't get that kind of forest in LA). But it seemed like big
showy displays of wealth to me.

------
MaxGabriel
This article was completely unfair. Here's the last third of the Times
article:

"But there is another side to the Valley. One where people are building truly
innovative companies. Where founders aren’t driven by seeing their name on
tech blogs or tweeting a picture of themselves with their new investors, M.C.
Hammer or Ashton Kutcher.

There are truly excited inventors, designers and programmers here, some of the
brightest people in the United States, who are trying to build something that
will fix a problem in the world. This is why I love working in Silicon Valley.

Where else in the world would people try to make a better and more efficient
taxi service, thermostat or tool for revolt? Where else would they reinvent
education, the Boy Scouts and even government? And there are those who are
helping the economy, creating services that enable people to find new forms of
income.

Once you are able to navigate through the sludge of pandering and ostentation,
you can see there is truly magical work taking place.

Luckily for people who live outside the bubble of Silicon Valley, there is a
wonderful group of creators here who believe that everything is broken and
that technology, creativity and guts can actually fix it."

~~~
ChuckMcM
I don't know about you, but that part of the article felt a bit less authentic
to me. One of the things I've noticed though are that people who are driven,
are quietly rich, people who just happened to be at the company at the right
time can be completely bonkers.

But the one thing I know for sure is that if you 'get rich', be it from the
lottery or a company IPO or a relative you never knew dying and leaving it to
you, how you will react is not predictable. Money changes your attitudes and
if you are not careful your values, and that can lead to profound changes in
people in unexpected directions.

~~~
larrys
Parent said: ""This article was completely unfair. Here's the last third of
the Times article: "But there is another side to the Valley""

You said:

"but that part of the article felt a bit less authentic to me"

You are both right. That's know as the "to be sure" part.

NYT does that as do other "responsible" media. The idea is to be circumspect
and present an opposing side to be complete. So someone can't say the article
is biased and people (like Arrington) can't easily take pot shots.

Do a search for "nyt "to be sure"" for just the last 24 hours and you will see
some examples.

Here is an example from <http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/>

"The summary statistic that comes from this data is the gross domestic
product. It has its faults, to be sure, but it is the best single figure we
have to tell us how well we are doing, economically."

------
JumpCrisscross
> _And unlike New York, LA or Washington DC, the conversations here are rarely
> about money. They’re usually about ideas._

I work on Wall Street and visit my family in the Silicon Valley regularly. If
this is true then traders and investment bankers rarely talk about money, they
talk about trades and deals.

I've identified with both Silicon Valley and Wall Street at various points and
can state with a fair amount of confidence that the cultures are highly
similar, right down to the more-virtuous-than-thou strain that runs deep
through both.

~~~
snowwrestler
I'm in DC and conversations here are about ideas and power. Mainly because
there is so little personal money here, in comparison to modern industry hubs
like NY, LA, or Silicon Valley. If you're under 40 and have a liquid $1
million in DC, you're pretty close to the top of the heap here.

------
trentmb
I feel the Geto Boys are oddly relevant here:

    
    
      And niggas always gotta high cap
      Showin' all his boys how he shot em
      But real gangsta-ass niggas don't flex nuts
      'cause real gangsta-ass niggas know they got em
      And everythings cool in the mind of a gangsta
      'cause gangsta-ass niggas think deep
      Up three-sixty-five a year 24/7
      'cause real gangsta ass niggas don't sleep
    

EDIT: Song for those unfamiliar (NSFW):
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL9ihXiFAko>

~~~
ktizo
That's probably from drinking too many cups of tea after 11pm. Ummm, word?

------
haldean
> My advice is this. Stop going to parties. Then use all that free time to
> start spending time with the serious people, doing serious things. They
> aren’t at those ridiculous parties. So, why are you?

I'm not invited to these parties, but a legitimate answer to this question is
"because they're fun". I'm not sure why he is so bothered that people want to
hold lavish parties; if I was invited, I'm sure I'd go. There's no reason to
spend your entire life working.

~~~
snambi
I agree. Parties are fun. It provides a nice break. The models and tigers can
distract, but they also provide a way to talk to strangers easily.

~~~
justincormack
Have to take your word for that. Never been lost for words and then suddenly a
tiger comes into view and I think of something witty to say, but there is
always a first time.

~~~
snambi
Its very easy. I would normally say "wow, look there is a tiger". You can say
this as loud as possible. btw, if you notice kids they would do the same
thing.

------
johnbender
"And unlike New York, LA or Washington DC, the conversations here are rarely
about money. They’re usually about ideas."

It appears as though the author is trying counter stupid/unfair
generalizations with more of the same.

------
droithomme
Methinks Arrington doth protest too much.

~~~
nirvana
Especially since the one "innovation" I'm aware of from him is his habit of
throwing very exclusive parties and using access as a mechanism to profit.

------
softbuilder
>But it’s the only place in the world where most rich people don’t really
flaunt it.

Wow. Someone needs to travel a little bit.

------
jmduke
Some rich people are humble, others have egos. This does not vary depending on
location.

------
ocirion
>"tweeting a picture of themselves with their new investors, M.C. Hammer or
Ashton Kutcher."

Has no one else picked up that the only reason Arrington responded was because
Bilton very obviously was taking a stab at MA in his Techrunch days. Who else
was proudly posting pics and tweets about MC Hammer at the TC after parties,
or blasting TC headlines about Kutcher being at an event.

------
dr_
Not sure I understand the criticism of the NYtimes article. It's not entirely
surprising that parties like that are happening in some instances, but Nick
fairly goes on to point out that all of the Valley is not like that, that
there are many people trying to accomplish truly great things.

------
MichaelApproved
_"I know a billionaire that drove an old Honda until recently, for example."_

Who knows if this is even true but I can believe there are a few millionaires
who drive older cars. What I don't understand is why they would do this since
newer cars are much safer with advanced safety systems.

It doesn't have to be a flashy new car either, a new Ford or Handa would have
so many safety advantages over an older car.

~~~
mc32
Here you see Ingvar Kamprad driving an old Volvo, Ballmer driving a Fusion,
and Ellison with a McLaren, Zuck with an Acura, Eric Schmidt in a Prius.

[http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/drivestyles-of-the-rich-
an...](http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/drivestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous-
worlds-wealthiest-people-and-the-cars-they-drive/)

~~~
ojbyrne
You do understand how PR works right? Facts are interpreted in ways to make
the person look better. I very much doubt that any of these people have just 1
car.

~~~
mc32
Fair point. I should have mentioned that some (most) of those listed have more
than one car --but from what I coud find (in other lists), the cars listed
seemed to be representative of their other cars. Ellison has other rare cars,
Ballmer another pedestrian car and so on. DiCaprio seems to buy anything with
some ZEV cachet, but he's been consistent since the EV-1's, I think.

I mean, basically some people feel they need to be flash, others find their
cars to be more utilitarian.

------
vipervpn
In the photo, there's an arm growing right out of the guys head. Wondering if
this is this a Silicon Valley thing, or if he should see a doctor.

------
rsanchez1
The NYT writer must have visited one of those brogrammers startup. Either that
or he just plain made it up. It really sounds like a description that came
straight out of The Hangover.

~~~
cududa
To be fair, the producer of the Hang Over movies does hang out at some tech
parties.

