[WhatsName]

Doesn't YC have some code of conduct or legal/ethical guidelines? I would assume a legal and compliance department would have some major headache if documented cases of misconduct jeopardize later due diligence. I would not fund or aquire a company on the radar of national regulatory bodies for something as stupid as this.

[stevekemp]

It's not "spam", it's a "growth hack".

[devmor]

Looking for ethics in an industry where a pluraility of founders are tied to Peter Thiel is a headscratchingly dense idea.

[Goronmon]

Doesn't YC have some code of conduct or legal/ethical guidelines?

Regardless of any claims of having this, I would say this behavior aligns with what I have seen over the last couple decades. I'm more surprised that other people would expect anything different?

[thinkingtoilet]

Like every other VC firm, the only thing they care about is money. They can pretend to morals, but they will never sacrifice one for the other in any meaningful way.

[buellerbueller]

Imagine thinking in 2026 that an American tech company has ethics.

[haute_cuisine]

Only free individual can have strong ethics. There are no free people in capitalism, money is debt after all. Think of applied pressure once you sign under VC money and amount of brainwashing / gaslighting. I sincerely hope my observation is wrong.

[buellerbueller]

If you are going to go down that road: life is debt, and there is no true freedom. We are bound by the needs of our meat-containers, after all.

I don't like unfettered capitalism, but when I consider economies that have existed over time, it certainly looks like constrained capitalism affords the most freedom.

[whalesalad]

When you are a team of 3 people eating ramen there is no legal or ethical compliance department.

[Rapzid]

If it were taking up time and not producing results then they would care.

[mbesto]

> Doesn't YC have some code of conduct or legal/ethical guidelines?

Sorry but lol you must be new here.