Ask HN: Pick startups for YC to fund • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Pick startups for YC to fund

#121

Post by zaguios » Wed, Apr 06, 2016, 8:40 PM UTC

I actually already wrote this as a reply to another comment, but I think it merits a comment of its own.

The best way to do the scoring for the applications is to actually make it into somewhat of a game. Each application should be given a starting elo of 1200. Every time a user wants to go and review applications they will be presented with two separate applications with a similar elo and then will be asked to vote on which one they think is better. Elo will then be added/subtracted with normal conditions based on the vote. This system would very quickly and accurately identify the best applications. I've seen this done before for other things and it's been proven to be very effective and prevent almost any sort of bias.

Re: Ask HN: Pick startups for YC to fund

#122

Post by manav » Wed, Apr 06, 2016, 8:41 PM UTC

Interesting idea, but I think the guidelines should be clarified.

Since it's under the umbrella of the Fellowship, is YC looking for anything well beyond the idea stage?

Also, it would be useful to have some kind of simple submission process after making a post on HN so its easier to track and view all of the applications.

Re: Ask HN: Pick startups for YC to fund

#123

Post by dcdevito » Wed, Apr 06, 2016, 8:43 PM UTC

Appmobi - all the way

They have a secure stack for mobile app devs that provides a fully encrypted stack with a great backend at a great price. Check them out

https://appmobi.com/

Re: Ask HN: Pick startups for YC to fund

#124

Post by jorgecastillo » Wed, Apr 06, 2016, 8:49 PM UTC

Y Combinator can't get more awesome than this! I hope something great comes out of this experiment.

Re: Ask HN: Pick startups for YC to fund

#125

Post by bit2general33 » Wed, Apr 06, 2016, 8:49 PM UTC

pcmaffey wrote: post #108

personjerry wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You look for grit. It always seems to me that "grit" and "stubbornness" are similar, and being stubborn to the degree of being unable to give up a hopeless dream seems to be a problem for startup founders. How do you distinguish between these very similar traits when you interview someone?

The difference is in adaptation: when challenged with new perspective / data, do they incorporate it into their vision or ignore the data?

Founders/management/whoever need to maintain the ability to vet the value of the new perspective / data.

To use a silly example: A flower buying website might do best to avoid spending time/money crafting promotions aimed at single biker dudes who live life off the grid. Even though there is possibly large group of folks that are under represented in the rebel luddite flower purchaser demographics.

Re: Ask HN: Pick startups for YC to fund

#126

Post by tclmeelmo » Wed, Apr 06, 2016, 8:54 PM UTC

To be frank, my first reaction on reading this idea was negative.

I think part of my reaction is because I'm not seeing a useful goal: "interesting things" is certainly a goal, but strikes me as being too vague from which to extract useful information. What are interesting things? If you don't know what they are, how will you know if they happened? Are you set up to measure interesting things? If so, can you quantify them, and what sort of sensitivity/specificity, dynamic range, etc. do you expect your instrumentation to provide? What is the duration/endpoints of the experiment? Does the experimental design support the objective, and with what power does the experiment have to inform?

I think that the other part of my reaction is that, as an experimental scientist, I am specifically trained against doing something so unstructured. Practical considerations like safety and budgetary waste aside, I am the person I trust least: it's very easy to fool oneself about the significance of a result with an ongoing experiment that one is conducting. Experimental discipline, like planning ahead (and preregistration) and blinding and good controls, serve to promote objectivity and help reduce bias.

I have no doubt that this experiment would produce "interesting things". I am very skeptical that, as presented, you would know why it produced interesting things.

Of course, I'm just a dog on the internet. Best of luck!

Re: Ask HN: Pick startups for YC to fund

#127

Post by n72 » Wed, Apr 06, 2016, 8:55 PM UTC

Given any consideration to giving some percentage of the profit YC makes to charity or something? After all, YC is benefiting from the wisdom of the crowd and the crowd gets nothing.

Re: Ask HN: Pick startups for YC to fund

#128

Post by vmorgulis » Wed, Apr 06, 2016, 8:59 PM UTC

dang wrote: post #98

rl3 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You can always set 'delay' in your profile to between 1 and 10 minutes to give yourself some editing time. I had always seen this, but never actually looked into what it did. For someone like me who typically makes a litany of edits immediately after posting, this is revelatory. Thanks! For whatever reason, the textbox just isn't as good of a preview when compared to viewing the actual post.

> For whatever reason, the textbox just isn't as good of a preview when compared to viewing the actual post. I know. Good lord do I know.

Is it possible to suggest existing projects (in which I do not participate) ?

I have few in mind like Unicorn engine (http://www.unicorn-engine.org/).

Re: Ask HN: Pick startups for YC to fund

#129

Post by pkfrank » Wed, Apr 06, 2016, 9:01 PM UTC

kevin wrote: post #21

Hey everyone! I manage and run the Fellowship program at YC. I just want to build on top of what Dan wrote about being nice. We’re not asking you to do this because we think it’s good manners. We actually believe it’s the right way to think and act like the best investors. It’s easy to form some really bad habits when you sit in a position of power to judge the potential of a person, a team, an idea and their executi…

Hi Kevin, we applied through the conventional application process for S2016 - would there be any merit to starting an "Apply HN" thread as a supplement and opportunity for public discussion?

Re: Ask HN: Pick startups for YC to fund

#130

Post by phillc73 » Wed, Apr 06, 2016, 9:02 PM UTC

I have a question about the YC Fellowship model.

If I had an idea, which I knew would never likely grow beyond $1M in revenue, just because the market is so niche. B2C, but the entire consumer group is probably only in the region of 10,000.

I'd imagine the company would probably max out at 4 or 5 employees.

I have little to no interest in building a product out to $100M or aiming at an IPO.

The YC Fellowship rules indicate that the $20k funding, for convertible security, at least assumes the goal is $100M or IPO.[0]

I'd very happily offer 1.5% right up front for $20k, no need to worry about convertible security, as long as it was clear my aim was never to hit $100M or IPO.

Would such a view exclude me from a YC Fellowship grant and thus Apply HN?

[0] https://blog.ycombinator.com/fellowship-v2