My question: Why does Paul Graham think you must be in silicon valley when doing an Internet startup? Living expenses there are expensive, broadband is available everywhere, and many people are outside the valley and successful.
Paul Graham on Mixergy, today 2pm EST/11am PST
31–40 of 84 posts
Re: Paul Graham on Mixergy, today 2pm EST/11am PST
#32From a Y Combinator's "customer's" standpoint, (the new companies applying) with all the iterations and increased class sizes, what's to keep the magic sauce from disappearing? Can larger class sizes get the same attention from you guys as founders did during the first session?
Re: Paul Graham on Mixergy, today 2pm EST/11am PST
#33I know YC recruits founders from all over. However as someone in Asia seeing more and more great Chinese web services, I'd love to know if any YC companies primarily serve a non-English speaking market.
Re: Paul Graham on Mixergy, today 2pm EST/11am PST
#34If you have any questions, add them here. I'll check these comments about 10 minutes before we go live. The focus is the biography of Y Combinator. Along the way I'd like to learn how pg gives the kind of insight that past Mixergy guests said turned their businesses around.
Is it possible to pitch to the YC team any time during the year, not just during the application seasons? What's the reasoning behind having the twice a year rounds, as opposed to open for investing at any time? EDIT to clarify: I understand why they have startups move to California for three months. I've simply never heard why that has to be done seasonally.
It's for economy of scale for presentations, demo day, etc. Also to make it easier for YC to keep track of what stage people are at - i.e. all 3 weeks in, etc. Having people start any time creates more administrative work.
Re: Paul Graham on Mixergy, today 2pm EST/11am PST
#35My question: Why does Paul Graham think you must be in silicon valley when doing an Internet startup? Living expenses there are expensive, broadband is available everywhere, and many people are outside the valley and successful.
Community, getting away from "home" helps with intense concentration, more access to mentorship, investors, partners, etc.
Re: Paul Graham on Mixergy, today 2pm EST/11am PST
#36can a mod edit out the title since the interview is over?
Re: Paul Graham on Mixergy, today 2pm EST/11am PST
#37How do you gauge how well founders gel/get along/chemistry/rapport? Is there hope for non-technical founders? How do you redefine failure?
RE non-technical founders: the first part of building a company is building a successful product/service, and technical founders can do that with sweat equity. Non-technical founders can still add value, but they need technical people to make the product. Spencer Fry of CarbonMade has written some great stuff about duties for non-technical founders: http://spencerfry.com/whats-a-non-programmer-to-do
Re: Paul Graham on Mixergy, today 2pm EST/11am PST
#38From the interview: Jessica Livingston is working on a second edition of Founders At Work.
Re: Paul Graham on Mixergy, today 2pm EST/11am PST
#39From a Y Combinator's "customer's" standpoint, (the new companies applying) with all the iterations and increased class sizes, what's to keep the magic sauce from disappearing? Can larger class sizes get the same attention from you guys as founders did during the first session?
We can measure that. Founders book office hours online. We know the founders are getting enough attention (by their standards) if not all office hour slots get taken.
Re: Paul Graham on Mixergy, today 2pm EST/11am PST
#40This was a great interview; I can't wait until it's available online to watch again. I had to take a few phone calls during it so I missed a few things.