Being at the edge of your field seems important if you want to succeed at a startup. How much time spent developing skills should someone spend before starting a startup?
Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA
221–230 of 317 posts
Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA
#222[deleted]
Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA
#223Earlier quoted context omitted.
> after running YC for 10+ years they deserve a little break no? With all due respect what is so special about running YC that means you deserve a sabbatical? They are taking a sabbatical not because they deserve it but because they can afford to do so financially and have left their organization in what they feel are very capable hands. It is actually atypical in most professions in the US (at least outside of teach…
>what is so special about running YC that means you deserve a sabbatical? I missed where this was claimed to be "deserved"? >It is actually atypical in most professions in the US (at least outside of teaching or academics) to be able to step away other than for a somewhat short vacations[...]but most people can't do something like this. I'm trying to figure out how this is relevant? Would you elaborate? I don't care…
> I'm trying to figure out how this is relevant? Would you elaborate?
Well to restate my original comment was based on the use of the word "deserve" not the re-edited version. Apparently it was thought that that wasn't well put. And it's unclear to me why I was jumped on other than the obvious reason of this being HN. To your question the relevance of stating what is typical in other professions is because the vast majority of people can't simply take a sabbatical even if they have the money to do so. It's not unusual to make a comparison and the comparison once again had to use of the word 'deserve'. So many people 'deserve' was my point. However by the nature of what they do they simply can't just go away and come back and have everything be the same. Once again this has little to do with whether they can afford to do that or not. You don't want what you have created and worked for to be damaged and often by leaving it in the hands of others (w/o your oversight) that can happen. If you were an architect that was wealthy but had a various projects in play you are not going to go away like this. If you are an attorney with multiple cases in play you are not going to go away like this. If you own a small bodega you are not going to go away like this. If you are Tim Cook you are probably not either or Marissa Mayer (a few years ago). If you are a family practice doctor ditto. That's in addition to (in some businesses or professions) losing important clients that you have worked hard for many years. Or in a small business (or even medium business) where you have clients and customers that could easily leave for a competitor if you are not there personally to clean up and address any problems.
Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA
#224you stole my name! bastard! ...also I have the same question edit: sort of forgot to abide by community norms here and keep my comments on-topic. apologies
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13896017 and marked it off-topic.
Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA
#225Can you provide some info on how does YC support hardware startups? More specifically, what is a good stage to apply? We are working on building a demo-quality HW prototype, with the ETA of ~6months. That means we will not be focused on growth, but on tech development. Should we wait until we have a working system and apply to YC when we are ready to scale and grow it (this is our current thought).
Obviously you should listen to Michael over me, but as a former YC founder with a robotics startup I agree that you should probably wait until you're more focused on growth than prototyping.
Thank you, this lines up with our thoughts. We were invited for an interview in November (did not get funded as a too early stage) but just got an encouragement to reapply email, so need to decide what to do.
We see no need for funding (at least today) to finish our HW prototype; in fact if funded I am afraid a sizeable chunk of those 120k would be spent (wasted?) on moving to SV, getting some lab access, etc. The flip side is getting help earlier to shape the end product.
Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA
#226I don't know all the YC startups so this might have an obvious answer, but would YC consider a video game company for a batch, rather than software or tech? Like a company trying to make something as disruptive as Pokemon Go, which required quick scale and reached a massive audience in a very short time.
There have been multiple video game and video game related companies in YC. Examples include Machine Zone(one of the more successful YC companies afaik), OMGPOP, Minomonsters and A Thinking Ape. Game related startups that did YC include Twitch and Humble Bundle, who are now both game publishers, even if they don't directly develop games themselves.
I think if you're doing something interesting in mobile, AR or VR, YC will definitely be interested in your application as long as you can demonstrate the potential for massive growth, probably a game as service product that is free to play. I don't see them funding indie game studios or traditional console game developers that are unlikely to scale.
Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA
#227Has YC thought about doing a campus per batch and would it allow a startup to do this for YC as launching point for further growth both inside and outside of YC?
Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA
#228Should companies apply if they haven't coded their product yet?
Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA
#229I've once heard PG say that if you are an international startup, an important question is who will stay with the company back in your home country in your absence during the YC period. My founder and I would obviously both love to be there and we don't have a good answer for that. Any tips?
Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA
#230Does YC typically invest on startups that may possibly have overlapping market segments? For example Boom Aero focused on supersonic and another startup applies to YC with subsonic aircraft. From what I read typically VC firms usually don't fund two companies as such example.
What is the name of the company doing subsonic aircraft?