I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA • Hacker News Board

Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA

#551

Post by graycat » Sat, Mar 19, 2016, 1:52 AM UTC

sama wrote: post #351

rsp1984 wrote: post #328

Obviously YC can't enter into NDAs with applicants but can you shed a little bit of light on what YC does to protect the applicants' business ideas? Some might be discouraged from applying because they fear if the idea is interesting (but not the team or there's another reason it's not accepted) that someone from within YC or a related ecosystem might just take the idea and look at the product so far and decide to ju…

Honestly, we are so busy, there are so many companies, and ideas are worth so little, that most of us don't think twice about a specific company once we move on to the next applications. The very best ideas usually don't seem worth stealing.

Sam, this conception of an "idea" is in astoundingly strong conflict with the conceptions of ideas elsewhere in business and national security that are commonly strongly and seriously protected as classified national security secrets (e.g., how stealth works, how the engines on the SR-71 worked, the details of the Navy's version of GPS), intellectual property, trade secrets, patents, how academic honors are awarded, e.g., the Abel prize, the Nobel science prizes, the Fields Medal, the Clay Math prizes, and more.

"The very best ideas usually don't seem worth stealing."

is an astounding statement.

Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA

#552

Post by lancewiggs » Sat, Mar 19, 2016, 1:53 AM UTC

vonklaus wrote: post #506

nikkwong wrote: post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can second this. I worked for a similar unnamed incubator company in the Bay Area and a vast majority of the ideas sent to us were from good-hearted people, but absolutely ludicrous and—at least from our opinion—would never be able to become successful businesses. Some people just really seem to have problems understanding product-market fit. My guess would be that applicants to Y-Combinator are probably along the…

If possible to ethically disclose this, what was the craziest thing you think could have worked, amd the outright craziest.

There are plenty around - one example where I live is a very persistent chap with some sort of mystical flying machine based on garbage physics and a track record including fraud by scamming investors.

Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA

#553

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Mar 19, 2016, 1:54 AM UTC

Xeoncross wrote: post #518

errantspark wrote: post #515

Hey Sam, where do I apply for YC basic income? : ) Many people have no problems in life except those related to not having enough dough. I know a number of really creative/talented individuals who would be a lot better off if they didn't struggle to feed/house themselves. People who contribute to open source, build art projects and love to share knowledge. Definite contributors to society and the betterment of their…

Even more than basic income in the west. Basic income in developing countries could go farther for less. It's pretty easy to work a job and still have time to develop if you want to here in the states. It's really hard to starve doing what you love here.

[deleted]

Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA

#554

Post by roymurdock » Sat, Mar 19, 2016, 1:57 AM UTC

jonstokes wrote: post #313

I'm working on a piece about universal basic income, and I have the following summary of the how I think that many tech people like yourself believe UBI is going to work: 1. Companies innovate by doing things more cheaply with automation than human workers can do them. 2. As a result of automation, the more efficient companies reap all the profits in a market as they drive the less efficient companies out of business…

> This bonanza of profits that automation yields is taxed.

Optimizing companies will do everything possible to avoid the corporate taxes (>60%) required to make universal basic income a reality. If you are assuming that winning companies are the best at implementing automation and reducing cost, it is a fatal mistake to assume that they will suddenly become charitable when it comes to wealth redistribution - no, they will "win" because they optimize every single aspect of their balance sheets. They'll move their capital offshore where it will be taxed at a fraction of the US rate. They'll pay lobbyists to make sure tax loopholes stay open, and that the wealth accretes to the few at the top of the company who run the business. This is simply the nature of capitalism. If you allow a few companies to gain too much power, they will abuse that power. That is why we have a government that does an OK job of breaking up monopolies, creating anti-trust laws, regulating risk-taking, etc.

> taxes from the accumulated wealth of the winners...go toward paying the laid-off laborers a basic income

What about the people who never had a job? Those born into a society where they are not needed for labor? UBI for everyone creates a large misdirection of resources that perpetuates the problem of too many people, too few jobs, social unrest. We have solved this problem in the past through war, which stimulates the economy through government spending, reduces excess labor (especially young, angry, dangerous men), reignites nationalism and social cohesion (against a common and clearly evil enemy such as Hitler), and realigns national incentives towards R&D and infrastructure investment. I am not advocating for war, merely making an observation. Does UBI get distributed to everyone who is unemployed, or only those who are laid off from jobs?

I encourage you to examine the concept of "helicopter money" and study the incentive structures it creates and why we haven't truly implemented it before during tough economic times.

Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA

#555

Post by hkiely » Sat, Mar 19, 2016, 1:58 AM UTC

Hi Sam,

What do you think is the best way for someone to express the challenges and circumstances in life they deal with and work to overcome. These typically aren't things one would list on a resume.

Thanks

Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA

#556

Post by financedfuture » Sat, Mar 19, 2016, 2:04 AM UTC

sama wrote: post #265

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #221

Hey Sam, Any comment regarding Jason Calacanis being banned from YC's upcoming demo day? Jason tweeted[1] his side but didn't know what the YC side of it was and was curious. [1] https://twitter.com/Jason/status/710176806184349696

To be clear, it has nothing to do with all the shit he talks about YC. Though that's annoying, it's fine. We collect feedback from YC founders on investors (we have a giant database of this). If you mistreat founders, we don't invite you to Demo Day. This isn't permanent--if you stop mistreating founders we start inviting you again. Also, it's possible that our founders are wrong in their assessment of how a particul…

Does YC take Jason and other early-stage investors as direct competitors?

Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA

#557

Post by baron816 » Sat, Mar 19, 2016, 2:11 AM UTC

throw420 wrote: post #535

baron816 wrote: post #225

My company Krewe ( https://www.gokrewe.com ) is aimed at helping people make a new group of close friends in their neighborhood that they can see every day and build a strong local community. I only have a couple hundred sign ups (after about three weeks) so I don't know for sure that the concept will work. I also don't have a cofounder. Should I apply to YC now, or potentially wait for the next batch when I would (h…

Just stop working on this idea. The main problem, imho, with the current model of startup creation, is that it heavily selects for young technical people with little in the way of other commitments to take chances on new ideas. Many young technical people are hard-working and driven and that's wonderful, but (1) they form a narrow demographic [if you hang out at too many hacker cons you'll wildly overestimate the pop…

Thanks for trying to talk me out of this. No one has done that before despite me trying to get them to, so I really appreciate the feedback.

None of your points causes any concern for me though. I have lot of ideas on how to retain users--it's not simply a single use product. Krewe is not a "Tinder for friends," it's completely different and actually tries to mimic the way people naturally form and maintain friendships.

I am very certain that there is huge demand for a way to comfortably and conveniently make friends. Anyone who's ever moved to a new city, or had friends move away, knows how hard and how awful it is to not have anyone you're close with nearby. 20% of Americans say they're lonely, and people generally have fewer close friends than they used to. Depression, addiction, and suicide rates have been rising for years as a result. No one has tried to argue with me that making friends as an adult is hard. Consider yourself very lucky to not know that is a problem.

Do I have the right solution? I'm not 100% sure, but I know that I'm at least very near it, and I will find it or die trying.

Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA

#558

Post by elliotec » Sat, Mar 19, 2016, 2:15 AM UTC

Xeoncross wrote: post #518

errantspark wrote: post #515

Hey Sam, where do I apply for YC basic income? : ) Many people have no problems in life except those related to not having enough dough. I know a number of really creative/talented individuals who would be a lot better off if they didn't struggle to feed/house themselves. People who contribute to open source, build art projects and love to share knowledge. Definite contributors to society and the betterment of their…

Even more than basic income in the west. Basic income in developing countries could go farther for less. It's pretty easy to work a job and still have time to develop if you want to here in the states. It's really hard to starve doing what you love here.

Assuming doing what you love is software development.

Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA

#559

Post by 11thEarlOfMar » Sat, Mar 19, 2016, 2:15 AM UTC

jonstokes wrote: post #313

I'm working on a piece about universal basic income, and I have the following summary of the how I think that many tech people like yourself believe UBI is going to work: 1. Companies innovate by doing things more cheaply with automation than human workers can do them. 2. As a result of automation, the more efficient companies reap all the profits in a market as they drive the less efficient companies out of business…

It's likely that any cost advantage that the innovators have will be short lived as competitors follow suit or one-up them. Competition will erode the profit advantage and in the end, the consumers will benefit.

It would be interesting to see an analysis not just of automation and robotics putting pressure on employment, but the effect of same on consumer prices and cost of living.

Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA

#560

Post by nikcub » Sat, Mar 19, 2016, 2:22 AM UTC

redtri wrote: post #399

BinaryIdiot wrote: post #221

Hey Sam, Any comment regarding Jason Calacanis being banned from YC's upcoming demo day? Jason tweeted[1] his side but didn't know what the YC side of it was and was curious. [1] https://twitter.com/Jason/status/710176806184349696

Jason is the only investor I've worked with that treated me simply as a founder, not a "female founder." This alone is a reason that new YC entrepreneurs should have access to working with him. He sets an example of how entrepreneurs should be treated. Jason has seen me at my worst, when I was ready to throw in the towel and battling with my board and generally having a tough, tough time, and I left the meeting with…