Y Combinator's Hardware Guy Leaves After 14 Months • Hacker News Board

Re: Y Combinator's Hardware Guy Leaves After 14 Months

#21

Post by exolymph » Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 10:47 PM UTC

samstave wrote: post #18

wheelerwj wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But just to be clear, hardware IS hard.

Aside: Shoot - this wants me to make a "front fell off" joke... but HN hates jokes.

As evidenced by you getting downvoted. Oh, HN, I would say "never change" but I already don't expect you to.

Re: Y Combinator's Hardware Guy Leaves After 14 Months

#22

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 10:48 PM UTC

sushid wrote: post #6

"Sam Altman, president and co-founder of Y Combinator." Uhh, they clearly didn't do their homework if they thought Altman co-founded YC.

[deleted]

Re: Y Combinator's Hardware Guy Leaves After 14 Months

#23

Post by psadri » Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 10:48 PM UTC

sushid wrote: post #6

"Sam Altman, president and co-founder of Y Combinator." Uhh, they clearly didn't do their homework if they thought Altman co-founded YC.

Sam can easily correct them.

Re: Y Combinator's Hardware Guy Leaves After 14 Months

#24

Post by analog31 » Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 10:51 PM UTC

samstave wrote: post #15

WRT goPro... (I do not know if they already do this); Should it not be a sound idea to work with companies that make the THINGS that your users would be on to bundle a device with the things... Rosignol branded gopro when you buy a pair of skis [SkateBoard] branded gopro bundle, or a tony hawk edition Water-proof versions bundled with every [insert water product] Specialized/Brooks branded versions... Try to get the…

A potential issue is that if someone wants a branded helmet-cam, they can apply their brand label to a knock-off model for a lot less coin. For the bundle to be attractive to the consumer, it has to be cheaper than the parts bought separately. These days, folks do extensive price research before spending more than a few bucks on anything.

Re: Y Combinator's Hardware Guy Leaves After 14 Months

#25

Post by the_watcher » Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 10:56 PM UTC

Cyph0n wrote: post #5

kenferry wrote: post #4

"Iseman says his departure was purely about his desire to get back into the founder's role and build something new. He's already been accepted into the winter 2017 YC cohort with his new housing startup." Doesn't sound very acrimonious.

Isn't that the definition of a conflict of interest? Or am I reading this wrong?

Why? YC partners go on to start companies. And it's not uncommon for a founder to raise money from a VC firm they worked at in the past.

Re: Y Combinator's Hardware Guy Leaves After 14 Months

#26

Post by Animats » Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 10:56 PM UTC

Hardware may be a bad fit for YC, with its low initial funding and short deadlines. If you're doing some me-too product, others can do it too, probably better. If you're doing something hard that takes R&D, it may take more time and resources than YC provides.

Re: Y Combinator's Hardware Guy Leaves After 14 Months

#27

Post by pavlov » Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 10:57 PM UTC

Cyph0n wrote: post #5

kenferry wrote: post #4

"Iseman says his departure was purely about his desire to get back into the founder's role and build something new. He's already been accepted into the winter 2017 YC cohort with his new housing startup." Doesn't sound very acrimonious.

Isn't that the definition of a conflict of interest? Or am I reading this wrong?

YC is a private corporation, they can fund anyone they want. It's not like a public office.

The mistake you're making is similar to the one where right-wing conspiracy theorists argue that getting censored by Twitter is a First Amendment violation. It isn't because Twitter is not part of the government.

Re: Y Combinator's Hardware Guy Leaves After 14 Months

#28

Post by the_watcher » Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 10:58 PM UTC

Cyph0n wrote: post #19

Mango_Diesel wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the conflict of interest? Being a partner at YC is certainly a unique qualifier that would basically guarantee acceptance. There is nothing wrong with that. It is awesome, in fact.

Well, it could also mean that someone else who isn't a YC partner was rejected to let him in. Of course, I don't know whether or not that is the case, but this is where a conflict of interest could potentially arise from.

He was a YC partner. He no longer is. And there's a difference between an equity partner and other types of partners. But again, YC is incentivized to let in companies they believe will deliver the most total value to the YC portfolio, so admitting Luke at the expense of another founder who was better qualified is directly contrary to their interests. Also, the YC batch sizes aren't fixed, and they have wiggle room. To avoid the conflict, they could just admit one additional startup who would have otherwise been cut.

Re: Y Combinator's Hardware Guy Leaves After 14 Months

#29

Post by the_watcher » Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 11:01 PM UTC

I met Luke while he was working on Edyn (pre-YC). He was really interesting, and clearly enjoys hacking and tinkering with hardware and physical things more than anything. It's not surprising to me that he'd get bored after a working process for supporting hardware startups was established. Interested to see what he's doing around housing, and somewhat hopeful it won't just be tiny homes (since while I think they're cool, living in one isn't for everyone).

Re: Y Combinator's Hardware Guy Leaves After 14 Months

#30

Post by drvdevd » Fri, Nov 04, 2016, 11:01 PM UTC

Mango_Diesel wrote: post #16

sushid wrote: post #6

"Sam Altman, president and co-founder of Y Combinator." Uhh, they clearly didn't do their homework if they thought Altman co-founded YC.

The entire article fails to be coherent.

The headline also implies that 14 months is a short amount of time, which in my book could be a long period if you're doing startup work. Perhaps just the right amount of time to spend with any one venture.