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Comment by dymk | Hacker News Reader

Are you worried y-combinator people might steal a phone…?

What makes YCombinator people special? Why should they be more trustworthy?

If you can easily afford the latest iPhone why bother stealing one? More to the point being part of the YC social circle is worth a lot more than a phone. Being known as a thief, untrustworthy , would either lead to being ejected from that group or render it much less valuable. People do stupid things all the time but they do them less when they’re clearly not in their self interest.

some third party might steal it. It might fall off the super safe bench they're storing it on and break. It might somehow get compromised by them or a third party.

Why would anyone with an ounce of sense give these people and their setup anything of value?

They are rich!

Many of them are not (yet?).

They all just got half a million in funding. That may not meet your definition of “rich”, but it at least makes the economics of stealing a $500 phone pretty silly

>the economics of stealing a $500 phone

OK. A typical key costs, what, $1? Would you hand me all your keys?

You can trust me. The economics of stealing some cheap pieces of metal are pretty silly.

their business got half a million in funding. I don't know what their bank account looks like.

Most of that is to pay employees. And to rent hardware, perhaps.

they're storing it on a bench behind them. it might fall on the floor and break. someone else could steal it. The fire alarm might go off and it might get destroyed or lost.

It's just a setup I'd expect from someone in grade 2, not people pretending to be professionals.

I also use my phone for all sorts of security authentication. I wouldn't volunteer it to anyone else for any reason that wasn't an absolute emergency. It's a needless risk without any benefit. I can just keep it in my pocket on silent.

So they're in public view. As long as there is a tablesitter...

At the rate this economy is headed, it wouldn't surprise me. "Y Combinator Apologizes For Funding White-Collar Smartphone Theft Ring, Refunds Victims*"

*obvious parody

Yes.

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