Last March, you mentioned on twitter that you are a customer of/financially support Shanley Kane's organization, Model View Culture. Since since then (and before then too), she has made a variety of racially and sexually charged statements, such as, "fire some fuckin white guys to get it done" ( https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:KtAdEv... ). Do you or Y-Combinator still patronize or support Model View Code after these statements? (A pure yes or no is fine, I don't need a big discussion, I just want to know where you and YCombinator stand.)
I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
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Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#192How does applying with a spouse impact an application?
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
We looked at our data here last year--we fund founders from a very wide variety of schools, and no school at all, but many of our most successful founders went to 'top schools' and thus it's easy to get the mistaken impression we select for that.
If your most successful founders did go to top schools, why don't you select for that?
Bad PR
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#194[deleted]
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#195This is going to sound crass, but if a founder can't make the sacrifice to spend 3 months in SV for YC, are they really prepared to build the next billion dollar company?
I see where you're coming from, but environment has many subtle factors that lead to, I believe, missed opportunities if they aren't taken advantage of. For example, what would a Houston Oil startup gain from spending a few months of critical startup time in a city with high rent, drastically different driving culture, little access to oil companies, services, equipment, fields and etc, and a completely different set of laws regarding their practice? Better to be spending their after-hours times mingling with the oil folks in Houston bars than the tech folks in SF bars.
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#196Why didn't you do this AMA on /r/programming?
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#197From your experience, which personality traits are the highest predictors of success or failure in startup people?
• Determination
• Unstoppability
• Ambition
• Clarity of vision/communication
• Intelligence
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#198This is going to sound crass, but if a founder can't make the sacrifice to spend 3 months in SV for YC, are they really prepared to build the next billion dollar company?
Are you prepared to miss out on the next billion dollar company because they happen to have a family and a job while they're hacking away on a revolutionary project?
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#199Hi Sam
How do you decide between putting a company in the fellowship vs YC core?
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#200Sam, thank you for taking some time to answer our questions. Mark Suster and other VCs have recently expressed distaste for convertible notes and SAFEs. Are you still in favor of SAFEs? In general, what are your thoughts on seeking seed funding for super early stage startups when determining a valuation might be problematic?