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by JohnFen 16 days ago
I think it matters about the same as it always has. Appearance is a critically important part of communication and social interaction. Always has been, and always will be. As Frank Zappa once said during a concert: "Everybody in this room is wearing a uniform, and don't kid yourself."

I never thought this was some sort of taboo "nobody talks about this" topic, though. It's been openly and freely discussed for longer than I've been alive.
1 comments
jmaha 16 days ago
I think it's more that it's generally not as common a topic in SF, where aesthetics don't seem to matter as much. This might be different with founders and tech workers in places like NYC, but in SF it definitely doesn't seem that common.

Although not entirely appearance related, Slow Ventures put out books and seminars to help founders not only look and dress better, but also be more intentionally professional, that seems to suggest there's a drift away from startup swag to sport coats.

That got me wondering if aesthetics like hair transplants, breast implants, and similar were as common in tech as they seem to be in Vegas, Miami, or LA, but that it's just not discussed as much.

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JohnFen 16 days ago
I think aesthetics matter as much in SF as anywhere else. People hew to a certain look. It's just that the desired aesthetics differ there from most other places. Looking different from the normies is part of the aesthetics of that subculture.

And that aspect of appearance is what various advisors are talking about when it comes to appearance.

If you're wanting to get, say, a group of investors to give you a pile of money, or to woo a hotshot dev over to your company, or whatever, what you're facing is a communications problem. How you look, speak, dress, and carry yourself is a huge part of that communication. Through them, you're communicating something -- whether you intend to be or not -- so the point is that you should be communicating with intentionality.

Different subcultures have different aesthetic languages, and you do best by speaking in the language of those you're addressing.

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