Being full of value‑added shit

Morals, Money, and Capitalism

• One comment extends the post’s “morals vs money” idea into a four‑quadrant diagram (moral/immoral x rich/poor).
• Another disputes the “almost no rich moral people” claim, saying there are many high‑net‑worth owner‑operators with strong ethics and arguing capitalism is “virtuous by default” because it ties wealth to providing value or capital.
• Others push back: capitalism is said to incentivize selfishness, hoarding, and anti‑competitive behavior, with “providing value” often a side effect rather than the goal.
• One person notes Berkson’s paradox is misapplied if you’re only sampling “rich people” and observing low morals; that would indicate a real correlation, not a selection artifact.

Usefulness of Finance and Stock Trading

• Some argue certain financial activities (like stock trading or especially shorting) don’t “produce anything useful.”
• Others counter that stock ownership is useful as a vehicle for retirement income and capital allocation.
• Short selling is defended as risky, information‑driven, and often aimed at exposing fraud, not inherently greedier than “long” investing.

Reactions to the Blog Post and VC Culture

• Several readers find the post unhelpful “blind item gossip”: hinting about a “psychopathic VC” without naming names.
• There’s criticism of the VC industry’s norm of vaguely acknowledging “bad actors” without identifying them; some see this as self‑protective and partly marketing (“we’re the good ones”).
• Others argue naming names has serious downside risk (retaliation, reputation for airing dirty laundry) and little personal upside.

Signaling vs Reality: Honesty, Virtue, Identity

• Strong agreement with the article’s suspicion of self‑applied labels (“I’m honest,” “I’m generous,” “I’m value‑add”). Honest people and true experts are said to “just do it,” not announce it.
• Examples include “Honest” car dealers, heavily moralistic religious people, and political or ideological virtue signaling; many see a gap between professed values and actual behavior.
• There’s side debate over identity itself: some call the modern “I identify as X” framing empty or postmodern; others reply that abstract constructs like identity are real and useful even if not physically measurable.

Marketing, Guarantees, and Over‑Promotion

• Multiple analogies:
  • Movies with huge ad spends are perceived as likelier to be mediocre; word‑of‑mouth hits (e.g., The Matrix) are contrasted.
  • Food and consumer products with loud “healthy,” “green,” “patriot,” or similar branding are suspected of compensating for weak underlying value.
  • Guarantees and “no‑questions‑asked refunds” are framed as emotional manipulation; most people won’t actually claim the refund.
• Counter‑examples: a story about Leatherman replacing a completely destroyed tool with a new one, and early Apple Genius Bar experiences, are cited as real “deeds, not words” that build trust without heavy virtue‑signaling copy.

Self‑Promotion and Introductions

• Some ask whether blatant self‑promotion is simply necessary now, since doing great work “in the dark” rarely brings recognition.
• Others maintain that historically, self‑promotion has always worked; what’s changed is the volume and channels.
• A dissenting view argues the blog’s heuristic (“don’t trust people who self‑describe with virtues”) is too rigid. Self‑descriptors in introductions are seen as useful signals of priorities and operating principles, not guarantees of truth.
• How someone introduces themselves—titles, achievements, values, or vulnerabilities—is considered revealing. Phrases like “How may I help you?” are suggested as low‑ego, service‑oriented alternatives.

Anecdotes of Hypocrisy and “Value-Add Shit”

• Several anecdotes mirror the post’s theme:
  • A founder who lectured on ethics and wrote a “little red book” about behavior later fled securities‑fraud charges.
  • Heavy religious or moral posturing is associated, by some commenters, with particularly bad behavior; others generalize this to secular “progressive” signaling as well.
• Many conclude that words—especially self‑praising, buzzword‑laden ones like “value‑add”—are the cheapest, least reliable signals. Observable behavior over time is framed as the only real test.