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Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan launches dark-money group to influence CA politics
- johnea 7mo agoWell, this is helpful. Now I can refer to this list to let me know who, and what, to vote against...
- xmonkee 7mo ago[flagged]
- echelon 7mo ago> Garry Tan, the local venture capitalist who has for years railed against progressive politicians on social media You mean Garry, who has protested the dumbing down of schools? Garry, who protests removing math from the curriculum? He's "railed against progressive politicians" by supporting education and high achievement? You know China and Asia are laughing at us, right? They do schooling right. We are so backwards. I was bullied, beaten, sexually assaulted, name called, told to commit suicide, told I was a parentless bastard (I was adopted) in elementary and middle school by my peers. Yet the system did nothing to help me. I was the only one in my class that tested into early algebra, I led the theater team, I won my elementary school's geography bee, and very nearly won the spelling bee (except for a teacher that unfairly disqualified me) - yet I was the problem for being smart and over-performing. The system catered to my abusers. Do you know the amount of energy that was required to save me from the stupid public education system? It almost killed me, and it absolutely smothered my growth. I weep for what my younger ten year old self went through. Because I know there are thousands of kids going through the same experience. It's probably worse now. Any "progressive" that is pro-bully, anti-education is a problem. Garry's stance: https://x.com/garrytan/status/1650607982991011846 https://x.com/garrytan/status/1650607982991011846 https://x.com/garrytan/status/1978187709169401956 https://x.com/garrytan/status/1978187709169401956 https://fortune.com/2025/07/10/tech-ceo-garry-tan-y-combinator-slams-college-entrepreneurship-programs-teach-to-lie-disgraced-founders-sam-bankman-fried-elizabeth-holmes-gen-z-end-up-in-jail/ https://fortune.com/2025/07/10/tech-ceo-garry-tan-y-combinat... Garry is a stand-up guy. This is a hit piece. Edit: -2 within minutes of posting this. I don't even understand nerds anymore. You shouldn't embrace anti-education.
- hobs 7mo agoHe seems like a great guy https://missionlocal.org/2024/01/y-combinator-ceo-garry-tans-online-rant-spurs-threat-to-supe-police-reports/ https://missionlocal.org/2024/01/y-combinator-ceo-garry-tans...
- user_7832 7mo agoHave a look at this thread: https://x.com/decadimitry/status/2023652073905287207?s=20 https://x.com/decadimitry/status/2023652073905287207?s=20 He was recently calling philanthropies that get money from Scott McKenzie "ants rushing to get fallen sugar". Forget values, the guy has no tact or emotional intelligence.
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- nebezb 7mo agoI can appreciate you defending his character. The parent comment was not constructive. I’m no fan of Garry’s, but this doesn’t seem like a hit piece to me.
- josefresco 7mo agoSo are Elon, JPMorgan Chase and IBM "anti-education"? From the article you linked: “I think the value of a college education is somewhat overweighted,” Musk said in a video he later reposted on X. “Too many people spend four years, accumulate a ton of debt, and often don’t have useful skills that they can apply afterwards.” And because some young people have already caught on—and begun exploring alternative education pathways—many companies like JPMorgan Chase and IBM have scaled back their degree requirements on job postings. Michael Bush, the CEO of Great Place to Work, predicts this trend will only continue to grow. “Almost everyone is realizing that they’re missing out on great talent by having a degree requirement,” he previously told Fortune. “That snowball is just growing.”
- toraway 7mo agoIt's certainly ... convenient that any criticism of a wealthy tech oligarch can be dismissed as "anti-education" as a rhetorical cudgel. It's not like others may actually have problems with say, his actual beliefs, the specific methods Tan uses to "promote" education (attacking school teachers/etc), further concentration of power to SV billionaires, etc. And as you say, somewhat comical to lob that accusation given the current crop of tech oligarchs are firmly aligned with a overtly intellectual/anti-education movement on the right and are systematically working to dismantle higher education at this very moment. As an aside, there has been a crazy amount of (brigaded?) flagging/downvoting of comments critical of Tan in this thread. Each time I check back I see fairly anodyne comments go back and forth from grey, with a few eventually nuked by flagging). Can't think of a similar recent example of an HN thread with the same patterns even with highly charged/controversial topics.
- vincentjiang 7mo agohate to see that tech leaders getting into politics
- ajross 7mo agoI'd prefer to see more of them do so, personally. That said, to watch Tan wading into a local fistfight about school curriculum and housing zoning and whatnot in the age of ICE abduction, targetted political prosecution and wanton macroeconomic regulatory chaos seems... frustrating. I mean, I kinda agree with him about most of the centrist stuff. But really, Gary? This is what you need to be spending your money and time on?
- bhouston 7mo agoGarry seems motivated by being against a wealth tax and this is also likely the reason other ultra rich people will donate to his dark money fund: https://finviz.com/news/277038/y-combinators-garry-tan-warns-ro-khannas-policies-could-destroy-california-startups-set-back-us-innovation-by-decade https://finviz.com/news/277038/y-combinators-garry-tan-warns...
- awnird 7mo agoGarry is chummy with musk and trump. His motivation here is to protect the pedophile class.
- johnnyanmac 7mo agoI wouldn't even be surprised at this point. Seems like the files will unironically unravel 90% of the elite class at this rate. What an absolute pathetic hill to die on. You have the riches to fund entire industries, explore the whole world or even beyond, to please any hedonistic pleasure you have... but many chose to do one of the 3 unthinkable things in modern humanity.
- terminalshort 7mo agoWow. So it's not even good enough that he agrees with you. You demand that he also prioritizes in the same order as you?
- andy_ppp 7mo agoI think rich people have too much influence, I probably agree with Garry Tan on a lot but we need to get money out of politics. Let’s face it we’re all meant to get one vote but rich people spend money on this stuff so that they manipulate what and who can be voted for. I do think that if this current system is the result of democracy + the internet we need to seriously reconsider how democracy works because it’s currently failing everyone but the ultra wealthy.
- ralph84 7mo agoPolitics in the US is a $11 trillion per year business. Money is inherent.
- abtinf 7mo ago> we need to get money out of politics. We need to get the power out of politics.
- CodingJeebus 7mo agoWhat is money if not a proxy of power? If money didn't buy power, no one would be interested in attaining billions in wealth.
- limagnolia 7mo agoWhat is politics if not a means of exercising power? If there were no power in politics, no one would be interested in politics.
- RobotToaster 7mo agoThat power is supposed to be exercised to enact the will of the people, for the good of the people.
- limagnolia 7mo agoIs it? In the US, our constitution is setup to prevent absolute democracy from occurring. The idea of an absolute democracy where the government always acts on the will of the majority as an ideal is hardly a universal value.
- text0404 7mo ago"Garry's List" is just straight up AI slop. This is a window into the coming AI-enabled era of astroturfing from wealthy individuals for their pet causes.
- piker 7mo agoGuess we know where those 15KLOCs/day went.
- bhouston 7mo agoHe is probably going after Ro Khanna, who comes across as a pretty decent rep (he and Massie got the Epstein files released): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ro_Khanna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ro_Khanna Based on this warning from Garry to Ro re: wealth tax https://finviz.com/news/277038/y-combinators-garry-tan-warns-ro-khannas-policies-could-destroy-california-startups-set-back-us-innovation-by-decade https://finviz.com/news/277038/y-combinators-garry-tan-warns... So this appears to be all about the wealth tax and taken down anyone who supports it. AIPAC is also mad at Ro so it seems that Garry Tan can find common cause with them: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1GRXZqcQiU/?mibextid=wwXIfr https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1GRXZqcQiU/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- givemeethekeys 7mo agoWhere does the money go? Facebook and Google ads?
- bhouston 7mo agoA lot of it does. And it also goes to companies making inauthentic social media content. This is what modern election campaigns are.
- RobotToaster 7mo agoHow many AI deepfake companies has y-combinator invested in?
- rchaud 7mo ago- Pro-business think tanks to write "policy reports" with a predetermined outcome - PR firms that can get their policy mouthpieces on cable TV news - Police unions to get their endorsement (a favorite of "law and order" candidates) - TV and radio ads for preferred candidates - Online influencers and podcasters - Telemarketing campaigns - and of course, "campaign contributions"
- tw04 7mo agoWhich would be hilarious if it weren’t so infuriating. All they can talk about is how they’re all going to leave the state if it happens, but then are more than willing to try to spend more stopping it than they would just contributing their fair share in taxes. Don’t like it? Great, leave - but stop trying to buy elections.
- Spivak 7mo agoAt this point it's just boring to have another rich asshole using government to protect their own interests. There's no substance or principle to it, it's just whatever policies makes CA more favorable to other rich assholes.
- drcongo 7mo agoCool.
- rvz 7mo agoThis looks concerning but I'm withholding judgement for now so that he can clarify this first on his side instead of jumping into conclusions.
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- johnnyanmac 7mo agohe's been "clarfying his position" for a decade at this point. This isn't new behavior in the slightest, and it's only been more emboldened as of late.
- learingsci 7mo ago[flagged]
- driverdan 7mo agoEvery single article I looked at seems to be generated from a tweet. The latest is a blatant attempt at promoting one of YC's privacy invasive investments Flock: https://garryslist.org/posts/atlanta-solved-35-homicides-with-flock-a-good-detective-does-5-to-8-in-a-year-the-math-is-obvious https://garryslist.org/posts/atlanta-solved-35-homicides-wit... That tells you all you need to know about how trustworthy the site is.
- magicalist 7mo ago> The privacy absolutists will tell you that license plate cameras are “Orwellian.” But here’s what I know: unsolved crime means more innocent people get hurt and maimed and killed. Flock has audit trails. There’s accountability. The people who benefit from keeping murders unsolved aren’t victims—they’re criminals. jesus christ. assuming he's not going to start syndicating this, who is this even pandering to?
- toraway 7mo agoThe only question is whether your city has the courage to use it. Take Action Share this with your city officials—demand they adopt Flock Safety Unless I missed it they don't even bother with the pretense of disclosing his financial self-interest in promoting Flock anywhere on the site.
- diego_moita 7mo agoAmong the many weird things that the U.S. have but real democratic countries don't, the most promiscuous of them is this flow of private money into politics. Campaign financing, U.S. style, is just legalized bribing. In any healthy democracy it would be illegal. In the U.S. is just the way things are.
- mtrovo 7mo agoWatching things from outside, it feels like the US is a pay-to-win democracy. It's hard to say where exactly the line between lobbying vs. corruption is drawn.
- ergocoder 7mo agoBack in my country, the bribes are illegal and mostly untraceable. Money will go into politics. Nobody can stop this, and it should be out in the open and traceable. Obviously, no bribe at all is the best, but is this happening anywhere?
- its-summertime 7mo agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobbying#Lobbying_by_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lobbying#Lobbying_by_country
- xyst 7mo ago[flagged]
- sngltoon 7mo agoThe billionaire scum class really want to make guillotines great again. Keep pushing us.
- JuniperMesos 7mo ago[flagged]
- Computer0 7mo ago[flagged]
- techbro92 7mo agoThis reads as completely schizophrenic
- curiousgal 7mo agoI thought it was hilarious, a tongue in cheek
- hersko 7mo agoThere is a certain type of person whose brain is completely broken by the internet. Hope OP finds help.
- smashah 7mo agoYou must know nothing about Garry Tan. Actually OPs, rant is quite reasonable. Garry Tan aligns himself with Genociders and genocide supporters.
- Computer0 7mo agoName one reasonable figure that made the world what it is today.
- draygonia 7mo ago[flagged]
- zthrowaway 7mo ago[flagged]
- phendrenad2 7mo agoIt's way too early to fix California. The average California voter, which HN is a good sampling of by the way, really believes that California is fine, and that there's no corruption or grift, and that they can tax billionaires more without them simply leaving the state (because CA is magical and unique (it's the 4th largest economy in the world, don't you know!) and they'll come crawling back to be a part of it). It's going to take awhile for people to change. As the saying goes "science progresses one funeral at a time". People put ideology above the evidence in front of their eyes. (That "The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command" Orwell quote is making the rounds, which is ironic because most people don't need a party to tell them to disbelieve uncomfortable facts!) We have to wait for a new generation to grow up with the visible corruption to fully internalize it. Then it can be fixed. I can't help but think that Tan's efforts would be better spent trying to get a startup scene going somewhere where you can park your car without getting the windows smashed.
- johnnyanmac 7mo ago>and that they can tax billionaires more without them simply leaving the state (because CA is magical and unique (it's the 4th largest economy in the world, don't you know!) and they'll come crawling back to be a part of it) more like because data from other wealth taxes has shown that millionaires don't leave that easily. If they are, they are replaced by others https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DXZMXZCY0I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DXZMXZCY0I >People put ideology above the evidence in front of their eyes. It's funny that you're saying this while providing no proof that rich people leave from wealth taxes.
- kadabra9 7mo agoIn 2022 Norway increased wealth tax to 1.1%, expected to bring in an additional $146M tax revenue. Individuals with a net worth of $54B left the country, led to a $594M loss in tax revenue. https://citizenx.com/insights/norway-wealth-exodus/ https://citizenx.com/insights/norway-wealth-exodus/
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- hisfraudulency 7mo ago[dead]
- 0gs 7mo agoshouldn't we call this bright money
- brianbest101 7mo ago[dead]
- woah 7mo agoThe Mission Local is a good source for hyperlocal Bay Area news, but it does have a strong SF leftist/progressive political tilt in most of its articles, and Gary Tan is a favorite boogieman for these types. Here's what they have to say about his malign influence in the article: > But the operation is also a media venture: Garry’s List started with a blog pillorying public-sector unions as “special interests,” attacking the ongoing teachers’ strike, and denouncing the proposed billionaire tax. - Public sector unions are special interests. This is a plain fact. - The current teacher's strike in San Francisco, even if it succeeds, will only push the district into insolvency, prompting a state takeover. The state will then cut much more aggressively. Maybe this would be a good thing though, although probably not what the union intended. Advocates of the strike are literally demanding the district spend its reserves on a couple years of raises. - I'm certainly no billionaire, but the proposed tax will do nothing more than push the extremely small and mobile group of billionaires to take their business elsewhere. It's unlikely to raise tax revenues over the long run.
- biophysboy 7mo agoThe last two points might happen - how do you know? I often see "it will backfire" as a counterpoint w/o any evidence.
- BugsJustFindMe 7mo ago> the proposed tax will do nothing more than push the extremely small and mobile group of billionaires to take their business elsewhere This is often claimed but has yet to be shown to actually be true. Billionaires want to live in the nicest places with the best amenities just like everyone else. But let's pretend for the moment that it is true. Good. Billionaires are not a net positive influence anywhere.
- rasengan 7mo agoI don't know if I agree or not with his views, but the fact that he's moving from complaining about something, to doing something about his beliefs, has convinced me to move from a negative to a significantly positive view of him, as a person; to reiterate, regardless of whether I agree with said views. The will to fight for what one believes in - I think we can all agree that is an admirable human trait that would result, for those who do follow his views, in him being labeled as a hero and defender of people's rights. Bravo, Garry.
- amarcheschi 7mo ago[flagged]
- mhitza 7mo agoYou know it just polarizes, and nothing more, when bringing up fascists as a counter argument when it is not punctually relevant.
- amarcheschi 7mo agoI'm not making a comparison, the opposite. Saying that "somebody doing something for its beliefs is good period" means nothing
- johnnyanmac 7mo ago> He once tweeted that seven of the city’s supervisors — all progressives — should “die slow, motherfuckers” in a late-night polemic. The tweet, which Tan said was a joke, prompted hateful mail and police reports. Yeah, my benefit of the doubt (which was already zero for a rich person in politics) is negative.
- elliotto 7mo agoBravo Garry, net worth $x00m, having the integrity to go after public school teachers.
- jkubicek 7mo ago
- rrkajh 7mo agoIt won't work. The Trump admin has so thoroughly betrayed its voters that independent voters no longer want anything to do with billionaires like the all-in people lying to them for 4 years before an election. You had your chance, it is gone now.
- hisfraudulency 7mo ago[dead]
- niggernagger 7mo ago[dead]
- catlover76 7mo ago[dead]
- seattle_spring 7mo agoHe's been posting extremely stilted political content lately, in addition to unchecked AI evangelism. I really, really hate that our future has ended up in the hands of people like him, Andreessen, Thiel, Musk, etc.
- SirensOfTitan 7mo agoTo me, tech entrepreneurship looks more like some form of "lemon socialism." It feels more centrally planned than ever, and a company's success has much more to do with your relationships with capital than anything else. It's why we're seeing so much money invested into a bunch of similar takes on AI. Founders with a real vision of the future aren't really accepted into VC that has almost wholly accepted the FOMO strategy of investment. I used to hold a lot of respect for Paul Graham and his essays, but I've realized his stances on things are pretty elementary, and largely come back to his ego or wealth management. People like Graham and Tan don't seem to really care about human flourishing, and they certainly don't seem to have any coherent vision of the future. Graham, like Andreessen, was technically good enough during a veritable tech gold rush, and Graham's lieutenants like Tan and Altman were lucky more than anything--just in the right place at the right time versus having started anything of value. I am *absolutely* cynical and jaded when it comes to tech nowadays, so no need to call me out there. These people remind me of the high modernists, that tech will solve all problems, and we don't have to care too much as to how we solve those problems. Just handwave, and AI will solve all problems. But I think how we solve problems matters, and the entrepreneurship meritocracy that Tan and Graham allude to does not exist, and it never did. I just find it abhorrent that while 15% of American households are food insecure, a company like Anthropic spent millions on a superbowl ad just lamenting OpenAI's ad strategy. Or that the Trump administration dropped a FTC case against Pepsi and Walmart for colluding to price out grocery competition. Or that Facebook and Google have been shown to have pushed for apps to addict people to their slop content. Or that tech capex this year alone rivals the Louisiana Purchase or the amount America spent on building out the railroads[1]. We're not solving the right problems because capital is entirely disconnected from the every day reality of Americans in this country. But by all means, let's aim to replace 50% of white collar workers with AI and handwave that prices will come down. [1]: https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-spending-tech-companies-compared-02b90046?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=AWEtsqcjPNeToxIn6_4Nitvse0HT2ZIuU1-oDnjx7pi75cgbJ1vrZHb1nSuW&gaa_ts=698cf6e0&gaa_sig=HqmdqBNUjwNX6SipVrXlQlAjo_a_eW44Hu3RMloO0ADkazloLuPESFjLE6rXI7ffRBtKRCSntj23aop1ajKM1w%3D%3D https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-spending-tech-companies-compa...
- jacquesm 7mo agoIt's pretty simple: you don't get to that kind of wealth without having a few screws loose in the ethics department. There are some exceptions but they are just there to confirm the rule.
- touwer 7mo agoMoney is like poison in politics
- saubeidl 7mo agoThis won't end well for the oligarchs. Just ask the Ancien Regime or the Zar what happens if you keep pushing too hard.
- niggernagger 7mo ago[dead]
- diggyhole 7mo agoGarry has tweeted about the violence his peers have had to endure in SF so I don't blame him for putting his money where is mouth is.
- CyLith 7mo agoPerhaps he should reflect on why they deserve this violence, instead of giving people more reason for violence against him.
- diggyhole 7mo agoAn Indian American man deserved to be smashed in the back of the head with a hammer?
- nektro 7mo ago> “I want to work to ensure Californians know the importance of investment and entrepreneurship to our state’s current and future economy,” Tan wrote. I know a dog whistle when i see one, didn't have to read much further but did anyway.
- davidw 7mo agoSetting aside the merits of this, complaining about big money in politics while your site proudly displays a Twitter link is a bit of a face-palm.
- theideaofcoffee 7mo agoYet another terrible step toward total oligarchy. Get the fuck out of politics, tech ghouls.
- piskov 7mo ago> dark-money group to influence California politics Does this mean what I think it means: basically legalized bribery? US: %country% has corrupt political system Also US: it’s not bribes if we call it PACs, lobbying, and what have you
- fff_123l 7mo agoThe title was changed, but "dark money" has a specific meaning in US politics that is now lost: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_money https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_money Such a group is not a PAC or a Super PAC, but anonymizes donors. It can be used as a vehicle to transfer money to a Super PAC while only naming the dark money group and keeping the donors secret.
- palmaltd 7mo agoThis is exactly what the linked article said: > Garry’s List is structured as a 501(c)4 nonprofit, a tax designation that lets the group bankroll campaigns while affording donors a measure of secrecy they would not enjoy if giving directly. They are traditionally known as “dark-money” groups because they can spend on elections without revealing all their donors.
- ChicagoDave 7mo agoThis is one of the guys that thinks we should eliminate voting because he thinks him, Thiel, Zuckerberg, Bezos all know "better" than the people.
- johnsmith1840 7mo agoI don't think the elite think all voters are dumb more like they think they're easy to manipulate to vote for something (which is largely true). Anecdotally I easily get manipulated by the type of information I consume. I occassionally catch it after the fact or a conversation with others but there's no telling how much I've just accepted that's manipulated. From that angle it's a game of who has the money, power, and diatribution to enact this manipulation. Twitter being a prime example. Is Elon "right"? Maybe but the main point is it doesn't matter as he has the distribution. If you have money but low to no distribution -> you do what gary is doing. Maybe he'd be interested in removing rights to vote but someone like Zuck would NOT because he has outsized ability to influence as he sees fit.
- dramm 7mo agoGood. I'll take Gary Tan and his demonstrated efforts to clean up a corrupt dysfunctional San Francisco over any opponent. Oh yes and fuck the Nimbys.
- archagon 7mo agoNope. Anyone who stans for Musk should be run out of town at this point.
- deleted 7mo ago[deleted]
- k310 7mo agoGet money out of politics. Period.
- GeorgeOldfield 7mo agonot this grifter again