Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Matthew Pierce


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   keep. ☺ ·  Salvidrim!   ·  &#9993;  14:52, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

Matthew Pierce

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Non-notable individual lacking non-trivial support. References are all minor in nature and include press releases, blogs, mention in lists and interviews. Lacks secondary references. Fails notability and associated guidelines. red dog six (talk) 13:34, 5 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep - As an athlete, he was an NCAA Champion (both individual and team), a member of the U.S. National Team, and a gold medalist at a major international competition. As an entrepreneur, he has founded/co-founded two multi-million dollar companies. OriginateX (talk) 16:06, 6 August 2014 (UTC)OriginateX
 * Comment - Please explain how does this meet the criteria in WP:NCOLLATH or WP:BIO? red dog six  (talk) 16:33, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Comment - The #1 criteria in WP:NCOLLATHis a notable national award. Pierce won the 200 butterfly at the NCAA National Swimming Championships (the highest individual award in that sport), as well as gold and bronze medals in the 1999 World University Games in Barcelona. These are individual awards that are independent of team success where his teams also won the highest awards (NCAA Division I National Title). To comply with #3, he was also mentioned by name in coverage of the 1998 NCAAs via multiple sources that he did not control. [],[],[] He was also named in multiple articles at the World University Games by SwimmingWorld (the largest publication for swimming and diving in the world) including a specific mention of how Pierce rallied from 2 seconds behind in the butterfly leg to guide the US to gold over Japan and Russia. [],[]TechCoast (talk) 18:49, 6 August 2014 (UTC)TechCoast
 * Comment - Winning an event is not the same as winning an award. (e.g., Cy Young Award or Heisman Trophy)  The coverage is routine in nature.  There is no compliance with #3, this is not "national media attention", there are no in-depth articles about him, just routine coverage.  The www.swimmingworldmagazine.com coverage are trivial mentions of the individual.  Far from in-depth coverage of the individual.   red dog six  (talk) 19:14, 6 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Comment - Added new article from "Built in LA" (another project emphasizing LA entrepreneurs) - a longer article with many quotes from Pierce about O Labs and Versus that's almost entirely about thought process and issues around entrepreneurship and company creation - not a press release. Also re-added article from Variety. Expecting an feature in Forbes later this month. The company, and Pierce's role in creating it, are becoming more notable.OriginateX (talk) 04:18, 8 August 2014 (UTC) OriginateX
 * Comment - Blogs are not considered to be independent sources.  red dog six  (talk) 05:13, 8 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep - To RedDogSix's point, it's possible that no single accomplishment passes the notability threshold, but taken together, a very successful college athlete (NCAA Champion) who has started two companies that have been written up in notable publications (LA Times, Hollywood Reporter, Reuters) seems to warrant inclusion. TechCoast (talk) 18:49, 6 August 2014 (UTC)TechCoast
 * Comment - Unforgettably, the coverage referenced by TechCoast is trivial in nature. Winning an event is not the same as winning an award. (e.g., Cy Young Award or Heisman Trophy)  The coverage is routine in nature.  There is no compliance with #3, this is not "national media attention", there are no in-depth articles about him, just routine coverage.  The www.swimmingworldmagazine.com coverage are trivial mentions of the individual.  Far from in-depth coverage of the individual.   red dog six  (talk) 19:14, 6 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions.  Rcsprinter123     (natter)  @ 13:41, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Businesspeople-related deletion discussions.  Rcsprinter123     (state the obvious)  @ 13:41, 5 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Sportspeople-related deletion discussions.  Rcsprinter123     (push)  @ 13:41, 5 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.


 * Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, NorthAmerica1000 05:57, 13 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep. I'm a bit surprised that WP:NSPORT doesn't include a specific guideline for swimming.  But the US colleges have long dominated competitive swimming, attracting the top athletes from around the world.  Winning an NCAA individual championship IMO clearly evidences a high level of notability.  By comparison, NSPORT does include a specific guideline for track and one of the inclusion criteria is: "Has won their country's senior national championship ..."  Can't imagine why an NCAA championship in track would suffice, but not in swimming.   Cbl62 (talk) 18:48, 13 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Given the absence of specific notability guidelines for swimmers, I've posted at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Swimming seeking input from those who deal with such issues more regularly. Cbl62 (talk) 19:00, 13 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep (although I voted above, so Keep Continued). A new article came out in Forbes today with a lengthy interview of Pierce regarding his "looking for ugly" theory on investing in/incubating startups. This is more interview/feature piece than press release and Forbes is a credible, non-trivial source. TechCoast (talk) 20:07, 15 August 2014 (UTC)TechCoast
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.