Shaan-Lorenz Twitter Clash

A story about how Shaan got into a Twitter argument with a New York Times journalist over his comments about Jake Paul's marketing tactics.

"I tweeted that Elon is pumping Dogecoin on SNL and the Paul brothers are making millions just by stealing Floyd Mayweather's hat, saying 'the greatest marketers don't spend a dime.'

A bunch of people agreed, but then some started commenting that Jake Paul's an asshole. A New York Times writer started criticizing my take, talking about me as if I wasn't in the room. So I replied with 'you are the Jake Paul of journalism.'

She blocked me instantly. I thought this was the perfect kill shot because it was actually true - her brand of self-promoting as a journalist is confrontation. She gets in fights on Twitter with Balaji, Naval, Marc Andreessen, and others. She picks fights with big names, creates controversy, and when they attack back, turns it into a story about 'big bad tech bullying me.'

I was pointing out that her form of self-promotion is the same as Jake Paul's - he went to Floyd Mayweather, agitated him, stole his hat, and used that controversy to build his brand. I wasn't trying to insult her, but she took it as an insult. I got some DMs from people, and people at my company were like 'can you not pick fights with journalists?' I still have no problem with her - I actually think she's a really effective marketer of herself. I know her name when I don't know any other tech journalist's name."