Silicon Valley Techno-Utopianism

i love those random word replacements, i have no idea where most of them came from or why

yeah, the dumps thing is a thing.

Also possible that they're picking it up for themselves, right?

Possible, but I don't think so.

Look up DUMPLINGS! (film) wiki entry

I try to order ahead from Brandy Ho's so I don't have to stand around

I like how the recent trajectory of the “Silicon Valley Techno-Utopianism” thread has been “Holy crap the unicorns are self immolating!!! ... ... I do like being able to order a taxi from my phone on occasion ... ... DUMPLINGS! are pretty good”

Uh not sure why DUMPLINGS! wound up all caps with an exclamation point kind of kills the tone I was going for.

Oh, lol

i first discovered this feature while posting about winston churchill swimming

New story about the scooter companies: They Pay their workers less than half of minimal wage, no benefits, and they can get fined hundreds of dollars for calling in sick too late.

Burn the whole thing down.

link?

https://ekstrabladet.dk/nyheder/samfund/indsamlere-af-el-loebehjul-faar-timeloen-ned-til-58-kroner/7864178

That's from an untrustworthy tabloid, but they are referencing a real story, which is beyond a paywall. So, you know...

Thanks!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EIxuYNtWkAE9--n?format=png&name=large

does B*tch Don't Grill My Cheese sell cold cheese sandwiches?

that would also work in the extreme bacon thread

IDG what phrases the second and third ones are even playing on -- Wig the Fuck Out? Peace the Fuck Out? I guess the third one is Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe but it barely even works.

they actually sell grilled cheeses for $7-11.25

adding jalapeno is $2 more

xxp
Get the Fuck Out?

i just looked at their website -- "turn key solutions" is like code for "we are exploitative douchebags"

And from someone that loathes AirBnB more than I do -- link via the SF Tenants Union

https://www.theinformation.com/articles/airbnbs-q1-loss-more-than-doubled-new-data-shows

"turnkey solutions" is a term with a definite meaning in the construction/engineering world, they're just repurposing it into a different context where it's basically meaningless

Bill & Melinda for President. Benioff, VP. Warren Buffett, Treasury. Rabois, FCC. Thiel, Chief Justice. Ken Howery, Secretary of State. Joe Lonsdale, CIA Director. Emil Michael, Defense. Reid Hoffman, Commerce. David Sacks, SBA. Marvin Ammori, AG. Elon, NASA. Travis, Transport.

— shervin pishevar (@shervin) November 7, 2019

xp - I have seen it for years in real estate investment land

I am opening a delivery-only restaurant in some rundown real estate (cashing in on the US Thanksgiving boomlet) called Turkey ******* Solutions

take a dumpling

I don't know if this is accurate, but it's definitely scary: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/nov/08/how-big-tech-is-dragging-us-towards-the-next-financial-crash

I don't know if this is accurate, but it's definitely scary

― Frederik B

ladies and gentlemen - THE INTERNET!

wooooow

https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/5/20995453/away-luggage-ceo-steph-korey-toxic-work-environment-travel-inclusion

every single one of these places is a shitshow I swear to fucking god

the thing that struck me by the end of this particular story was that... they just needed more customer support people. it sounds like they did have supply and demand issues and some logistics problems, but everyone involved in this shitshow... they were just way overtasked and it sounds like they didn't have a way to have, say, contractors do first-level triage during peak periods

What's it called when you have zero sympathy for anyone involved in a story?

disgust?

I didn't realize Away was so popular. I skimmed over them once but thought they were too pricey for what they were. Does anyone have one?

Yeah, everyone in that story sucks beside Montell Williams.

I struggle to understand why someone would aspire to work for a company that sold luggage. Like this seems like the type of job that would only be appealing if it was something stable, paid well, didn't require much emotional energy, and had "normal" hours -- like repairing appliances or being a low-level civil servant

I take that back -- both appliance repair and many low-level civil service jobs seem more inherently psychologically rewarding than selling luggage.

agree with mh and obv it was the cx people who they got to talk but it’s weird none of this was falling on ops.

that said, speaking as someone who’s been working in an around various startups for like oh god 20 years now this article could have come with a trigger warning.

ah but the aspiration is to disrupt!

I've worked in and around arts non-profits for about 20 years now and the workload and under-resourced problems seem not that problematic ... this only seems nightmarish because 1. it's a dumb luggage company and 2. people treat each other like shit (granted arts non-profits tend to involve mastery of passive-aggressive tactics).

OMG Ms. Korey is so amazingly bitchy, it's perversely entertaining -- like some Glenn Close character (what was that show she was in, Damages? That character.) -- way less painful that the awful WeWork bro

I am going to help you learn the career skill of accountability. To hold you accountable...no more [paid time off] or [work from home] requests will be considered from the 6 of you...I hope everyone in this group appreciates the thoughtfulness I’ve put into creating this career development opportunity and that you’re all excited to operate consistently with our core values.

my god

seriously that one!! also:

Williams tried to smooth things over, explaining that some team members were missing calls simply when they stepped away to use the bathroom. “We all always assumed people went to the bathroom,” she responded. “Let’s please stop talking about that as if it’s a surprising Friday update.”

I get exactly what they were going for — it’s basically Warby Parker for luggage. And the framing as it being not a luggage company but a “travel lifestyle” company is very on-point for a lot of startups, because instead of selling the product, you sell this jet setting/weekend trip-taking ideal. people working there get the spillover of that image and the social cachet of working for a “cool” company, even if that means nothing in reality

hope I never work for a cool company

well, the model is maybe less warby parker than that implies, because afaik they’re mostly aiming at stylish/less expansive product

I keep thinking back to these overpriced house slippers I impulse bought from an ad. They came with some sort of branded lifestyle magazine because, while their only extant product was slippers, you were really buying the uh, home lounge experience?

I definitely felt bad for the low-level employees in this story! I've mentioned working for shitty startups before, that bit about "oh you don't have to work late but I will be doing it..." manipulative bullshit is very familiar to me

tbf away is also aiming for stylish/less expensive... but with absurd cx overhead