41–50 of 87 posts
"Y Combinator has funded 1,500 startups" Really? http://www.ycombinator.com/press/ quotes 1297 startups http://www.seed-db.com/accelerators/view?acceleratorid=1011 has 1069 companies (+ ~100 from the S16 class) for ~1200 in total Where do the extra companies come from?
Jessica is awesome. That said, this part near the beginning, where Sam says... >>Sometimes they create a small success, and sometimes they create these companies that really transform the world, and YC has been very fortunate to be involved in a lot of these, Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, the list goes on. I mean... really? OK, I'll grant you Airbnb, but Dropbox "transformed" the world?
AirBnB has the official policy that it's okay to lie about where listings are. I booked one that turned out to about about half a kilometer away from where is was marked on the map. I would never have rented it had it been correctly marked. When I complained I was told it's their policy. It's buried in their privacy policy in a paragraph aimed at hosts, not guests. Also, the law appears to say burying stuff in a policy is not a defense excusing deceptive practices.
I can list more AirBnB deceptive practices. I don't think the idea of AirBnB is bad but YC should not be associated with the kind of management that thinks deceptive practices are ok.
It was a great interview. The story about how Airbnb started is interesting. I'd have laughed at renting air beds during conferences, too. I'd see potential in it but not billions. The pivot and cereal gimmicks were excellent examples of her advice that determination is most important. Also, remember that most politicians or Fortune 100 CEO's didn't get there by being the smartest. They also got there with a combo of…
Huh, and here I thought it was access to family money and Ivy League elite connections. Who knew?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the message that I've gotten from that story is that you need to do whatever you can to afford you the means to focus on your business, no matter how un-scaleable it may seem. And that's the attitude we love here at YC. It's definitely one of my favorite stories, and really serves as a great testament to the idea that staying alive so you can keep working on your product is easily one of the most important th…
Would you have ever advocated that move to a portfolio company? I can't imagine any of the partners advocating that tactic during an office hours conversation... It only seems awesome after the fact.
There are way more reproducible methods of keeping your company above water, such as reducing burn or spending your time wisely and focusing on your core product (as opposed to adding more and more features no one really wants).
I've heard the Airbnb founders tell their story many times and even they acknowledge this was a last-ditch effort. They ate ramen and cereal for all their meals to extend their bank account and tracked it to the penny. I think that is the point that should be taken from the story; when it comes down to the end of the wire, you should be willing to do whatever you can to stay alive. All cliches aside, startups are hard.
The way she looks at Sam is the way a mother would look at their child. Jessica seems very endearing.
For both PG and JL, a big requirement is surely avoiding any of the possible and unappealing permutations of the phrase "if I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution". This is obviously really tough to do once you start tangling with big capital. Motherhood and apple pie is terrific but boy is it associated with social normativity.
Jessica is awesome. That said, this part near the beginning, where Sam says... >>Sometimes they create a small success, and sometimes they create these companies that really transform the world, and YC has been very fortunate to be involved in a lot of these, Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, the list goes on. I mean... really? OK, I'll grant you Airbnb, but Dropbox "transformed" the world?
Have you bought any flash drives recently?
AirBnB is an evil company and YC should be ashamed to be apart of it. AirBnB has the official policy that it's okay to lie about where listings are. I booked one that turned out to about about half a kilometer away from where is was marked on the map. I would never have rented it had it been correctly marked. When I complained I was told it's their policy. It's buried in their privacy policy in a paragraph aimed at h…
I agree that they should have a clear disclaimer on the exact location because it is very important in many areas. I think VRBO may be exact so you have another option.
AirBnB is an evil company and YC should be ashamed to be apart of it. AirBnB has the official policy that it's okay to lie about where listings are. I booked one that turned out to about about half a kilometer away from where is was marked on the map. I would never have rented it had it been correctly marked. When I complained I was told it's their policy. It's buried in their privacy policy in a paragraph aimed at h…
"Misrepresenting your spaces You should not provide inaccurate location information, have incorrect availability, mislead people about the type, nature, or details of your listing, substitute one listing for another, set up fake or fraudulent listings, leave fraudulent reviews, engage in deceptive pricing, or fail to disclose hazards and habitability issues."
From here:
https://www.airbnb.com/standards
In the privacy policy here...
https://www.airbnb.com/terms/privacy_policy
...I noticed they had permission to display location-related stuff, which should be affected by other policy, in your profile with an "approximate location" on a map. There could be problems if approximation was wrong due to crappy, mapping service but good ones are usually pretty good.
Which policy link and quotes do you have that lets them lie about what has to be honest in the above sections? Or another I haven't seen?
It was a great interview. The story about how Airbnb started is interesting. I'd have laughed at renting air beds during conferences, too. I'd see potential in it but not billions. The pivot and cereal gimmicks were excellent examples of her advice that determination is most important. Also, remember that most politicians or Fortune 100 CEO's didn't get there by being the smartest. They also got there with a combo of…
> Also, remember that most politicians or Fortune 100 CEO's didn't get there by being the smartest. They also got there with a combo of understanding people, focus and determination. Huh, and here I thought it was access to family money and Ivy League elite connections. Who knew?
That, too. There's many more who have access to those than who run Fortune 100 companies or the U.S. government. Additional traits factored in to filter the ones that made it. My reading on many of them led me to think a few were important. So, connections and starting point plus those traits.