Ask HN: Why is there some sort of a scam website being advertised on HN? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48506575 Clearly seems like something dodgy and most likely a scam, why would it be on the first page? |
Ask HN: Why is there some sort of a scam website being advertised on HN? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48506575 Clearly seems like something dodgy and most likely a scam, why would it be on the first page? |
Another kind of job ad is reserved for YC-funded startups. These appear on the front page, but are not stories: they have no vote arrows, points, or comments. They begin part-way down and fall steadily. Only one is on the front page at a time. The rest are listed at https://news.ycombinator.com/jobs.
Also, from https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html:
Please don't post on HN to ask or tell us something. Send it to hn@ycombinator.com.
I've deleted https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48506575 now because technically it wasn't a job ad. You can see from https://news.ycombinator.com/jobs the sort of thing that usually appears in this category.
Were steps taken to disincentivise Gauntlet AI from posting a similar not-a-job-ad again? If there's one company that will gladly exploit that gray area, it's them.
Thankfully, theres enough sites and accounts that scrape HN, that all new posts are immediately posted via @hackersnews@mastodon.cesium.pw
So damage control (ala deletion/hiding) can be found.
Now, YC should consider cleaning their ranks from companies that use their name for legitimacy in running scam operations.
Link to all job postings, the Gauntlet AI one is at the top of the list: https://news.ycombinator.com/jobs
It's not clear to me why he gets to post privileged ads on Hacker News. Is GauntletAI a division of BloomTech, and therefore considered a YC portfolio company?
These aren't even job ads. GauntletAI is a recruiting play. They make money by getting strong candidates to apply and then collecting recruiting fees from companies for placement. They really do have people travel to Austin for some disorganized vibecoding classes with their vibecoded output used for resume building to increase their odds of getting placed (and therefore GauntletAI getting paid).
It's just the evolution of their bootcamp model updated for AI and the fact that their founder was banned from participating in lending agreements due to their deceptive practices. Now they're trying to collect money from the companies instead.
So this isn't even a job ad. It's a recruiter soliciting candidates. I didn't think YC companies were allowed to use their postings to advertise services.
A few weeks later, wow, they’ve booked $1.2m of revenue! And then he never mentioned it again. Documentary never surfaced. Website doesn’t work.
https://xcancel.com/Austen/status/2001357051541491717
Austen is the perfect representation of the AI world. A grifter with zero substance and happy to lie.
Gauntlet AI was a mask of BloomTech initially at least.[1] BloomTech was a mask of Lambda School. Y Combinator funded Lambda School.
It looks like they might be using a loophole since their product is training for jobs they are using that as a substitute for, “we’re hiring.”
They claim that they do not charge you anything. So, how can they scam you? Of course, besides your hours and the potential outcome (code). Just curious.
Gauntlet AI is an intensive 12-week AI training - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42759459 - January 2025 (6 comments)
Gauntlet AI – An intensive 12-week AI training - Automatic $200k/yr job - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42410277 - December 2024 (2 comments)
https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...
(TLDR Gauntlet AI -> LambdaSchool & BloomTech | YC S17)
It's kind of upsetting, for me to see these, because they prey on folks that are out of work, or afraid they will be out of work.
I guess it makes money (from desperate people), so I guess that it's "legit," as far as this site goes?
I have a problem with folks that scam desperate people (because of the extracurricular work that I do), but hey, I guess I'm in the minority.
My guess is that they realized that was bad for conversion and just did a regular post
I think more interesting is that the product comes across like a scam and so all those things together make it look like a big scam
80–100 hrs / week of production building
I may be misremembering but I think it got positive comments from pg on X[1] which was disappointing.
This website and company seem dubious to be polite.
Ah, here you go:
[1]
...I've never seen a company with such dedicated haters. ...
https://x.com/paulg/status/2019770359830949961
https://xcancel.com/paulg/status/2019770359830949961
I have enough admiration for him to be willing to hear the argument and have my mind changed, but they clearly have friends at YC and on the surface it doesn't look good.
Alright, the post is down now.
PS: My wife joined their cohort an year back. Folks today may have different experiences.
We don't do things that aren't defensible to the community [1], unless we make a mistake, and in that case we acknowledge, correct it, and try not to make it again. As we've been at this for 15+ years, it happens more rarely than it used to.
There are a couple of reasons why we run HN this way. First, the only value HN has is the community, meaning community goodwill is our only real asset. Second, if we don't, we never hear the end of it until we do, and operant conditioning is a hell of a drug. [2]
[1] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
[2] https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
The proper way to deal with such issues is to email the mods at hn@ycombinator.com.
This is in the HN guidelines: "Please don't post on HN to ask or tell us something. Send it to hn@ycombinator.com."
<https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html>
The post yours linked to appears to have been removed, so the immediate problem has been resolved.
(Not a mod, just an active participant.)