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Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

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Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#211

Post by YuriNiyazov »

cperciva wrote: post #185
CameronBanga wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Follow up. Kinda bummed you didn't submit Tarsnap. I understand why some believe that projects like Pinboard or Tarsnap don't "fit the spirit" of Apply HN, and that truly makes me sad. Software like Pinboard or Tarsnap should embody great "hacker" software, and the sort of software quality that YC companies aspire to build. The concept that these ideas are less "fund-able" because they don't have more attractive spla…

It all depends on what the purpose of YC Fellowships is. If the purpose is "get a direct return on investment", Tarsnap and Pinboard are probably not good companies to accept. If the purpose is "gain information to improve future YC Core admission decisions", likewise. If the purpose is "bring interesting people together who will contribute to the YC community and help other YC-funded companies", then I think they sh…

I went back and reviewed the YC Fellowship thread and sama's AMA thread because I got curious about this.

I would like to understand why you are reluctant to take investment. As I see it, there are two possible paths:

1) You take investment from YC, you become part of the community, you get advice, but your desire to remain King is respected. It seems to me that if this were the outcome, moving to the Bay Area for three months and incorporating in the US is a fair exchange.

2) You take investment from YC, you become part of the community, you get advice, AND there is now a perceptible push to make Tarsnap more like a "make-me-Rich" company rather than "keep-me-King" company: they keep on suggesting that you raise more money and start doing things that would increase the valuation of the company but that you would fundamentally disagree with, etc. etc. Certainly this would not seem like a fair exchange.

IOW, what I am trying to ask you is this: is the fundamental reason why you are reluctant to apply to YC Core is that you are concerned that your desire to remain King will be challenged? Or is it something else entirely that I am not seeing? Because certainly incorporating in the US is a schlep, and finding housing in the Bay Area is a schlep, but I can't imagine those being the fundamental reasons for not applying to YC considering the benefits of the community, and getting a bunch of money from YC, if it comes with no strings attached (aside from the moving and incorporation mentioned above), can't be a bad thing, even if you don't need it.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#212

Post by tptacek »

danieltillett wrote: post #173
tptacek wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Including a startup with a founder who happens to be popular on HN doesn't seem any less in the spirit of this exercise as including a startup with a problem domain that happens to be popular on HN --- which is something you could say about a "currency for basic income" or "anonymous social network" or "new kind of database". In fact, if part of the point of this exercise is legitimizing the use of HN as a sort of de…

>Since none of the other startup ideas posted to Apply HN have especially credible founding teams (not a ding!) How credible does the founding team have to be Thomas? While I might not be as well known here on HN as Maciej or yourself, I think I have more than enough of a track record to be credible.

Sorry, I wasn't very careful about how I worded that. I certainly wasn't trying to be predictive; I just flailed around for a word and landed on that one.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#213

Post by cperciva »

YuriNiyazov wrote: post #211
cperciva wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It all depends on what the purpose of YC Fellowships is. If the purpose is "get a direct return on investment", Tarsnap and Pinboard are probably not good companies to accept. If the purpose is "gain information to improve future YC Core admission decisions", likewise. If the purpose is "bring interesting people together who will contribute to the YC community and help other YC-funded companies", then I think they sh…

I went back and reviewed the YC Fellowship thread and sama's AMA thread because I got curious about this. I would like to understand why you are reluctant to take investment. As I see it, there are two possible paths: 1) You take investment from YC, you become part of the community, you get advice, but your desire to remain King is respected. It seems to me that if this were the outcome, moving to the Bay Area for th…

It's partly the king-not-rich bit; but it's also partly that I'm an irrationally patriotic Canadian. Canada is my home, and Canada is Tarsnap's home; my notion of success includes providing an example of a Canadian startup which was successful without moving to the bay area -- because Canada is sorely lacking such examples.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#214

Post by sandGorgon »

nhaliday wrote: post #207
sandGorgon wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

with all due respect - I understand what you are claiming. I am having doubts on how you are claiming you will do it. Unless you have a demo already - which would be awesome. The github analogy is not very accurate because github was built on git and ruby-git bindings. Its a product play that was clearly understood. What I'm not able to understand is how you are planning to execute your product. Please understand why…

One possibility would be to use http://www.openscad.org/ as some sort of intermediate language. edit: And there are apparently a few standardized, lower-level ASCII formats including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoCAD_DXF and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STL_(file_format) . Of course OP probably still has their work cut out for them as far as building something useful on top of these goes.

thanks for that useful input. That is exactly what my question is. If there is clarity around these aspects, what the founder would become undoubtedly awesome.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#215

Post by siscia »

I actually voted the startup that can actually change the world on a meaningful way: Feynman Nano e Gresham Money.

I found all the other companies "small thinking" that won't impact my life in a meaningful way, maybe perfect for YC and even a better fit than the one I voted.

However since are not my money, I don't actually care if the companies success or fail but I care of those companies can change the way I live.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#216

Post by Chronic51 »

zuzulo wrote: post #198
karmacondon wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why we can't have nice things. Protest votes are fun, but they also undermine the system. "If people don't take voting seriously, then what's the point of voting in the first place?", people in power will ask themselves. So yeah, it's cool to vote for Donald Trump or Boaty McBoatface or whatever other silly thing. But the protest itself isn't accomplishing anything. Choosing the silliest option available does…

Are you saying that a protest vote cannot be serious ? I also vote Pinboard, in a really serious protest vote.

I also voted for Pinboard. None of the other founders are credible...

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#217

Post by Suncho »

dzink wrote: post #190

Voting based on what can go right with these ideas + feedback. We can’t evaluate the team with this much information, but that’s what YC interviews are for - they can get grilled by the partners. YES Eat my Dust - there us a huge gap in the mindset of consumers here that can be filled lucratively. Products that keep my home and family safe from bad air, water, or particles in my house. If this team can execute, great…

Gresham Dollar - it’s a social experiment, not a startup.

Care to elaborate? It isn't designed to be a social experiment. It's designed to work even if people don't believe in it.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#218

Post by sharemywin »

argonaut wrote: post #79

A lot of people are evaluating too much based on the ideas, rather than the background of the founders and whether that background gives them the experience to execute the idea. For example, I liked the Cadwolf idea because the founder has worked as an engineer in the kinds of organizations he wants to sell to. Many of these applications had no info about the founders that I could find. All in all, the vast majority…

I would argue following conventional "bias" and "rules of thumb" is exactly the opposite from the goal. YC has already picked plenty of "great teams" with "lots of "experience in the field". I would see this as the 10% exploration of a multi-armed bandit problem. Not to say that is what they intended but exploring alternate theories could help the process.

Re: Poll: Apply HN Runoff – Which two startups should YCF fund?

#220

Post by david927 »

pedalpete wrote: post #199
david927 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 1998, Larry and Sergey took their Page Rank algorithm to the top minds of the big search engines at the time -- Yahoo, Alta Vista, and Excite -- where they tried to explain why Page Rank was better and offered it for one million dollars. They were turned down every time. They were told it was not a unicorn in the making. Don't be dismissive until you can see the future.

But to be a unicorn you have to be in a billion dollar market. How many of the start-ups listed can say that?

It doesn't work that way. Brodlist is not in its final market, for example -- it's in its first market.
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