What Does Paul Graham Know That We Don't?

By Josh Bobrowsky

Paul Graham CoFounder of Y-Combinator Sends Out Cryptic Tweet

For those not familiar this is neither Paul’s normal style nor is this something you would expect from someone in his position.

To make things even a bit more weird he sends a follow up tweet claiming he didn’t send this cryptic tweet but a “friend” sent it.

Paul Graham @paulg

I didn't write that. He did. Since I don't know any details, I didn't feel I should edit it. And because I don't know any details, it's no use asking me what he means. If you've read the preceding tweet, you know as much as I do.

Vitalik (Founder of ETH) Responds

vitalik.eth @VitalikButerin

I'm hearing through the grapevine that something important is about to happen. Please recognize the fact that my elite social connections to people who are early to know things make me cool, and please help me validate my self-image of coolness.

Paul Fires Back

Paul Graham @paulg

@VitalikButerin That's an asshole thing to say. I didn't pass on that message to look cool. I passed it on, with some reluctance, because the guy who wrote it asked me to. He thought it might help people who were overexposed to risky assets.

Y-Combinator

For those not familiar, Y-Combinator (YC) is arguably the world’s most famous and possibly prestigious startup incubator. Based out of San Fransisco, YC has incubated many multi-billion dollar companies.

Companies launched by Y-Combinator

• Stripe

• Instacart

• Coinbase

• Cruise

• OpenSea

• AirBnB

• DoorDash

• GitLab

• DropBox

• Brex

Looking at the list of companies you have some of the top players in the world on the crypto and finance side of things.

My Thoughts

• Paul is deeply tied to top players in the world of crypto and tech

• Paul doesn’t appear to be clout chasing

• I don’t know why Paul sends this tweet if he doesn’t feel strongly about it

• Feeling strongly about this tweet doesn’t mean it is factually correct

• Not sure what it means but I’m not saying the sky is falling and I’m also not ignoring the tweet

Conclusion

These tweets are easy to write off as silly or inconsequential, which they may in fact be. That said, I personally think of these tweets as one more piece of information that is worth considering.

I’m not making any drastic changes in my day to day life based on the tweets but I do think Paul knows something interesting and its worth using caution moving forward.

Cheers

Josh Bobrowsky