| ▲ | toomuchtodo 10 hours ago |
| As someone else mentioned, ignore Ed’s personality and look solely at the balance sheets and capital analysis. Regardless of delivery, the math doesn’t math. It's wild to me how much Ed is criticized while pathological liars like Musk and Altman are glossed over. (Disclosure: I pay for Zitron's publication for the capital figures and exclusives he gets his hands on, I do not pay attention to his interviews, we are fact finding, if he wants to perform, I am not bothered, I've seen the performers on the other side, just keep the facts coming for ground truth) |
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| ▲ | sobellian 7 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| This was mentioned in the article. > For example, when Timothy B. Lee looked at a spreadsheet that Zitron used to create a projection of Anthropic's revenue, he found, "He doesn't count February 1-10, counts March 1-10 twice, counts August 21-October 21 as one month instead of two, and doesn't count October 21-November 1. [another commenter notes that his spreadsheet also contains February 30] ... Ed claims he tried to compute Anthropic's revenue for 2025 and came up with $3.6 billion, suggesting some funny business [but the numbers work out once you fix the errors]" |
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| ▲ | tim333 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| As someone with a bit of understanding of accounts and finance I don't think Ed's analysis is very good. He's not someone who would pass a finance exam. |
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| ▲ | jsLavaGoat 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I posted here a while ago when his bubble prediction lapsed and plenty of his fans were here. Telling me how I was wrong and the Q2 reports weren't complete yet because it was still early July and blah blah |
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| ▲ | rowanG077 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Are we living in the same universe? Musk and Altman are glossed over and not criticized? |
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| ▲ | GolfPopper 10 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Criticized as being poor human beings, or as being poor executives? Because the former, as P.T. Barnum pointed out, is just free advertising. And I see far more of that than the latter. Now, if and when their various empires collapse there will be no shortage of people pointing back and saying "all the signs were there", but in my everyday life (obviously just a single point of anecdata), it feels like I see a lot more coverage of them as "bad people" than as "bad at what they claim to be experts on". | |
| ▲ | toomuchtodo 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | HN has a fairly complex user footprint, it's not everyone of course and I do not mean to paint too broadly, but there is a strong contingent of those pro in a cluster. https://hackernewstrends.com/?q=Musk&q=Altman&from=151234560... | | |
| ▲ | rowanG077 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | I don't see any sentiment in that data. | | |
| ▲ | toomuchtodo 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | Would you like a list of pro Musk and Altman users based on their comment and submission history? I'm unsure if that violates the site guidelines, and I prefer not to have my subthreads detached or stern reprimands by mods (it makes me feel bothersome in a host's home). Profiling Hacker News users based on their comments - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47473086 - March 2026 (86 comments) (simonw's work I cribbed off of) | | |
| ▲ | rowanG077 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | I certainly believe there are some Musk and Altman glazers on this site. There are also certainly Ed Zitron glazers. The point is not a few users you can point out, it wouldn't prove anything. The point is that you claimed that Musk and Altman are "Pathological liars like Musk and Altman are glossed over". I would say that requires at least sentiment analysis that an extremely high percentage(90+%) of hackernews users match that description. And that is simply not what I observe when I use this site. My feeling is that sentiment for Musk and Altman are neutral at best. | | |
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| ▲ | aleph_minus_one 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| > while pathological liars like Musk and Altman are glossed over. You seem to live in a bubble where these people are worshipped ... :-( |
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| ▲ | dgellow 10 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | The bubble you’re talking about exists, it is SF and the rest of the tech industry. It’s literally where the AI leaders are located, where they overhype each others | |
| ▲ | toomuchtodo 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | gestures broadly at HN and the tech industry https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/ai-startupschool I am a realist, I understand the cult of personality, etc. Just like I wouldn't spend a moment trying to talk a Catholic out of their faith. I have no feelings on the topic, this can only last so long based on capital trajectories. | | |
| ▲ | aleph_minus_one 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | > gestures broadly at HN and the tech industry For me, HN ist rather some kind of counterweight/counterbubble where not everybody is insanely critical and cynical about Elon Musk and Sam Altman. :-) | | |
| ▲ | aarjaneiro 6 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | > counterbubble Gonna start using that one | |
| ▲ | toomuchtodo 10 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | I respect the bubble here for what it is. You've found your people, I hope it helps. I am a polite guest in this tribe's town square. Edit: I am not asking for anyone to be overly critical of those I mention. Facts and evidence are objective, feelings are subjective. Find Your People - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44074017 - May 2025 (283 comments) | | |
| ▲ | Karrot_Kream 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | FWIW I think you spend too long on this site. I'm not trying to be mean but I see you much too often here having strong opinions thinly sourced and think that perhaps your time would be better spent elsewhere. I, too, spend more time than is healthy for myself on this site but think I spend a fraction of what you do. I realize we've both been in this community for a long time but I think one of the things I find about participating in Reddit and HN communities over time is that, I stop both being able to separate the truth of a matter from the argument itself and I stop being able to conceptualize the people in the thread as people and not mouthpieces for argument. There's a special toxicity that arises on these sites, where the argument becomes the main issue at hand and I see a conversation as a large conflict between world views. I may be projecting my own feelings here, but think it's worth contemplating these hot button issues elsewhere and responding in a lower temperature forum more conducive to actual discourse. | | |
| ▲ | toomuchtodo 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | The concern is noted and appreciated. I am here (as you mention, likely too much) to learn, to grow, to share, and to be curious. I don't take this place too seriously, and I hope you don't either, it's not meant to be serious. Take value from what you can, discard that which you cannot. I have enough, and so have more free time than most. I am a scholar first now. > and think that perhaps your time would be better spent elsewhere Open to ideas, propose where. I have...looked extensively for work with meaning and am coming up short. Mods have my email if you want to reach out. I am always open to being proven wrong and/or updating my priors. What needs to be built that is also worth building? I am always happy to contribute my time, energy, and resources to meaningful causes and work. I have done my best to be interesting to people who can provide opportunity, and yet find opportunity in the scope of meaningful work in short supply. | | |
| ▲ | Karrot_Kream 7 hours ago | parent [-] | | > Open to ideas, propose where. I have...looked extensively for work with meaning and am coming up short. FWIW I've decided to view sites like HN and Reddit as "intellectual junk food." There's a feeling that one is engaging in intellectual betterment by using these sites, but in practice none of the outcomes valued in intellectual output fall out of reading and posting a lot on these sites. I can't tell you what you should work on; every human who wishes to be creative struggles with this problem. Ultimately very few problems can be solved by talking endlessly about them, whether that's online or in real life. I suggest just trying to actually make solutions to problems if you want to use your time that way. Talking with others can be a great way to get energized about solving problems, but doesn't take the place of actually solving them. |
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