[dterra]

Only time will tell, and startups or established business es that will suffer it or not, will let us all know. I dont agree with the letter, and even the analogy with PG. You can still build and launch. and be successful not depending on MA or PG. Let them do what they do, because they do it amazing. Again, time will tell if MA is doing it all wrong. I dont think so.

[raganwald]

The analogy with Hacker News was not meant as a criticism. I personally think that Paul's interest in investing in startups--which may be more about passion than pecuniarum for all I know--actually makes Hacker News a better forum than if it were moderated (or meta-moderated) by someone with an interest in page views or the size of the community, to give two examples.

I had expected people to follow that reasoning and reply "Actually, HN is better because Paul Graham is more interested in nurturing startups than in selling advertising." I was mistaken and have learned that sometimes a simple, direct argument is going to get the job done while an indirect argument may just come across as noise.

Mea Culpa.