I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA • Hacker News Board

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#141

Post by arjunnarayan » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:44 PM UTC

karlosferra wrote: post #135

Hi Sam, Have YC considered doing a lower tier of funding? Funding 120k is good for early startups, but I think YC could have far more reach and impact if it had an option to provide less capital to a greater number of startups. The purpose being to allow founders to support themselves and fully focus on their startup without having to worry about daily jobs. I see two major benefits: 1) YC would have greater and broa…

This is the entire point of the YC Fellowships, and their plan for that is to scale it to an order of magnitude plus beyond normal YC. They're doing a trial run this year of YCF, and it sounds like that's going well.

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#142

Post by giarc » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:44 PM UTC

DanBlake wrote: post #60

Is there any intention of adding a new type of incubator that isnt so location specific? For instance, I would love to be in YC- But just like many older (30+) folks, I have a family and simply cannot move to SF. The 'move to SF' restriction is the one thing I hate about YC- Its also why I think some competing incubators are picking up steam, who focus on global teams. This may be disagreed upon- But I truly feel the…

You may be interested in the YC Fellowship.

https://fellowship.ycombinator.com/

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#143

Post by sarciszewski » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:45 PM UTC

What is the weirdest or most outlandish application you've seen to date?

Did you accept it?

Was it successful?

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#144

Post by 6thSigma » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:45 PM UTC

Will there be a Startup School this year?

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#145

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:45 PM UTC

karlosferra wrote: post #135

Hi Sam, Have YC considered doing a lower tier of funding? Funding 120k is good for early startups, but I think YC could have far more reach and impact if it had an option to provide less capital to a greater number of startups. The purpose being to allow founders to support themselves and fully focus on their startup without having to worry about daily jobs. I see two major benefits: 1) YC would have greater and broa…

[deleted]

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#146

Post by v-java88 » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:46 PM UTC

Hi Sam,

Thanks for engaging with the HN crowd :) I have spoken to Jessica (Livingston) about this, but wanted to get your thoughts as well.

My question is simple, yet complex at its nature:

How important is the relationship of the founders? (For simplicity let's assume there are two of them).

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#147

Post by sama » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:46 PM UTC

karlosferra wrote: post #135

Hi Sam, Have YC considered doing a lower tier of funding? Funding 120k is good for early startups, but I think YC could have far more reach and impact if it had an option to provide less capital to a greater number of startups. The purpose being to allow founders to support themselves and fully focus on their startup without having to worry about daily jobs. I see two major benefits: 1) YC would have greater and broa…

We have this: http://fellowship.ycombinator.com

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#148

Post by bennalle » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:46 PM UTC

As a student I feel my interests are outside the traditional lines of what is taught in the classroom so was wondering what you thought the best way to bring entrepreneurship to schools was, particularly middle and high schools?

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#149

Post by runesoerensen » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:46 PM UTC

steven2012 wrote: post #114

sama wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe any of us could do it.

Thanks for the response. I'm just curious about what process pg went through to choose you, if you're privy to that. Obviously, he spent many years doing a lot of experimenting to get to his "finished product". And when he decided to leave, he chose you. Do you have any insight as to what in particular he felt you had that felt you would be the best choice?

Maybe there's more to add, but pg did explain why they felt Sam was the best choice: http://blog.ycombinator.com/sam-altman-for-president

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#150

Post by zcdziura » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 4:47 PM UTC

mindcrime wrote: post #121

1. Would / will you ever consider opening an East Coast branch? I understand all the "stuff" about why SV is great for startups, but there will always be people who can't /won't get up and travel completely to the other side of the country for an extended period of time. And while the EC might not be the startup hotbed that SV area is, it's quite clear that there is a LOT of startup activity and some great startups b…

Especially in Boston. Boston has a TON of startups in the area.