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

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

#231

Post by sama » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 5:15 PM UTC

spanacus wrote: post #217

Hey Sam, I am very interested in hearing more about the office hours initiative ran by Michael. Do you guys plan on scaling that up? I strongly believe in democratizing access to people and believe YC is doing this with all the effort it has put into Starup School , Fellowship and all these programs. We are actually building products towards the goal of democratizing access to people so very expected to hopefully wor…

Yes.

Though I'll remind everyone that literally anyone can apply to any YC program. One of our biggest differentiators is that you don't need an intro to talk to us.

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

#232

Post by mindcrime » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 5:16 PM UTC

berpasan wrote: post #192

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…

I'm from Brazil, my startup has 60 employees, and I would gladly stay in SV for 3 months if approved... If nothing else, it acts as a filter of "will power" and dedication for the selected startups... They give you the money and they are flexible (I've read a story of a guy who took the red eye flight every week to attend dinners because he couldn't stay away from his company all week). It's also a much richer experi…

If nothing else, it acts as a filter of "will power" and dedication for the selected startups...

I keep hearing that, and I have never agreed with that sentiment and doubt I ever will. There are lots of good reasons for people to not want to go to SV for 3 months that in no way reflect on their commitment / will.

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

#233

Post by rdl » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 5:16 PM UTC

Where outside-USA would make the most sense for YC NONUS 1.0? Or at least, what factors would go into the decision?

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

#234

Post by sama » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 5:16 PM UTC

firloop wrote: post #214

Does YC ever raise capital from outside investors like a traditional company, or is the equity you take from companies you fund liquid enough to sustain YC?

Sort of complicated. The short answer is yes, we do have some outside investors.

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

#235

Post by talles » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 5:17 PM UTC

berpasan wrote: post #7

Hi @sama, I'm From Brazil and CEO of an EdTech startup. We're profitable, with 60 employees and a lot consumer traction/revenue, but didn't raise a Series A yet. Questions: 1) What advice would you give to applicants from Brazil and other large countries (India, China, Russia), whose products initially target their local markets? 2) What advice would you give to post-Seed and pre-Series A applicants? When (if at all)…

Hey there. Do you mind if ask what's your startup?

Just out of curiosity; I'm Brazilian too :)

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

#236

Post by sama » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 5:18 PM UTC

suyash wrote: post #213

Hi Sam, Please list your 3 most favorite book for Entrepreneurship, business. I'm an software engineer but have very little entrepreneurship experience. Thanks

I don't really think you can learn this from books--you need to just jump in and do it.

You might find some of these videos helpful: http://startupclass.samaltman.com

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

#237

Post by rdl » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 5:18 PM UTC

Is there anything YC could do to help YC companies with housing? It's not trivial for teams during YC to get housing in SFBA, but they have enough upside to put up with a lot, and usually figure out something.

It's really hard for employees 1-N, especially at sub-market salaries, but without 10% equity stakes, to move to SFBA. It pretty much restricts you to people already-here, people who will live college dorm style, or people who are already well off. Too much of the money raised goes out the door in salary (taxed) to pay for housing.

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

#238

Post by sama » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 5:18 PM UTC

bnchrch wrote: post #12

Hey Sam, given your position I imagine you see numerous unique, novel ideas and the trends that drive them. Having said that is there any particular trend that you're seeing today that has you particularly intrigued or excited?

The relentless progress of domain-specific machine learning over the past year.

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

#239

Post by sama » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 5:18 PM UTC

thecosas wrote: post #224

Which came first: Hacker News or Reddit?

reddit by a lot.

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

#240

Post by sama » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 5:20 PM UTC

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #205

Hi Sam, thanks for your time with us today! How do you see an application from someone with clear track records in a field, but applying with an idea in a quite different field?

We like that.

We are looking for impressive people. I think intelligence is somewhat fungible--if you were great at one thing, you can probably learn another thing.