Even if you were right (and I have no idea if you are), this is a pretty poisonous form of ad hominem. Is a few too many people upvoting her posts such a bad thing that it justifies making a comment like this in order to correct it?
Kudos to pg for stepping in here. There is an increasingly venomous tone in HN and even when someone responds they are voted down.
In my case maybe I deserve a little of it for being an over the top marketer some of the time, but civil discourse evaporating here. the ad hominem stuff basically drives away the good people.
Even if you were right (and I have no idea if you are), this is an even more insidious form of ad hominem. Would you have felt the need to post that if someone pointed out the lack of accomplishments of some random male developer?
People are quite ruthless with what they perceive as fluff blog posts from ANY source, and I'm not sure your generation's social mores regarding politeness or chivalry are necessarily the correct prescription for alleviating discrimination.
Your implication that women shouldn't be held to the same standard is inherently condescending.
Pocket Fun Games - would you have funded a MALE single founder in another country doing a FREE iPhone app? Not exactly a million-dollar idea, those free, ad-free iPhone apps.
It's not just throwing away your/Sequoia's money, it's that when you fail to hold female applicants to the same standard, the resulting failures add grist to the mill for the other side of the sexist argument, which presumably is the opposite effect from what you intend.
Yes, I would have. I'm quite concerned about the increasingly nasty tone on HN, of which your comment is a startling example. I've read a lot of the comments on HN over the last 3 years and I've seen few so venomous. And ironically, completely mistaken. Pocket Fun Games has two founders, one of them male, and they are one of the most profitable companies from their YC cycle.
