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Why Y Combinator Made All the Difference

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Re: Why Y Combinator Made All the Difference

#51

Post by [deleted] »

wslh wrote: post #47
koolba wrote: post #5

> We convinced our friends in the current Y Combinator batch to let us stay in a closet at their East Palo Alto home office for $600 per month. If we spent $1,000 a month we would have 25 months of runway, which seems infinite. I'm all for frugality and cost controls, but this is ridiculous. It's things like this that brainwash a generation of fools into throwing their lives away at nonsensical ideas. I'm not saying…

> ... let us stay in a closet at their East Palo Alto home office for $600 per month. If we spent $1,000 a month we would have 25 months of runway, which seems infinite. I don't believe these guys couldn't ask their parents, or an uncle, for some extra money, and I also don't believe that this attitude has any relationship with their success.

[deleted]

Re: Why Y Combinator Made All the Difference

#52

Post by prawn »

koolba wrote: post #5

> We convinced our friends in the current Y Combinator batch to let us stay in a closet at their East Palo Alto home office for $600 per month. If we spent $1,000 a month we would have 25 months of runway, which seems infinite. I'm all for frugality and cost controls, but this is ridiculous. It's things like this that brainwash a generation of fools into throwing their lives away at nonsensical ideas. I'm not saying…

"I'm all for frugality and cost controls, but this is ridiculous. It's things like this that brainwash a generation of fools into throwing their lives away at nonsensical ideas."

I wish I'd thrown a year or two of my younger life (hell, older, pre-kids life) into something crazy like that, trying to build something with friends under pressure and in testing circumstances. I think I'd prefer that situation to the typical work environment I had at the time then or even now.

Re: Why Y Combinator Made All the Difference

#53

Post by koolba »

jacquesm wrote: post #49
koolba wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm assuming you're referring to the classic tale of sama: http://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-gave-himself-scurv... Moving fast and breaking things should not require sacrificing your health. Living a healthy lifestyle and putting it front and center in your plans, for whatever you're doing, will more than pay for themselves down the road. To phrase it a bit more poetically, it's hard to type on a laptop with…

> it's hard to type on a laptop with an IV line going into your arm :D It's doable, personal experience.

> It's doable, personal experience.

You must have had a better placement of the needle.

The one time I had an IV the nurse "missed" inserting it into my forearm, pinched a muscle or some such, and then had to fall back to attaching it to my wrist. I couldn't use my left hand the entire time it was attached and for a few days afterwards.

Also, doable aside, I'm guessing you'd agree it's not recommended.

Re: Why Y Combinator Made All the Difference

#54

Post by jacquesm »

koolba wrote: post #53
jacquesm wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's hard to type on a laptop with an IV line going into your arm :D It's doable, personal experience.

> It's doable, personal experience. You must have had a better placement of the needle. The one time I had an IV the nurse "missed" inserting it into my forearm, pinched a muscle or some such, and then had to fall back to attaching it to my wrist. I couldn't use my left hand the entire time it was attached and for a few days afterwards. Also, doable aside, I'm guessing you'd agree it's not recommended.

> Also, doable aside, I'm guessing you'd agree it's not recommended.

Let's just say it wasn't an entirely free choice, and half a hardware store in my right leg agrees with that.

Re: Why Y Combinator Made All the Difference

#56

Post by good_vibes »

This is a life-changing read for me. I was debating if I should move to Seattle or Bay area to pursue my 'science project' or not. My current job is going to give me 7 weeks of severance starting in late April and I think it will be enough to at least make the leap and cross my fingers. What I am working on will change the course of history if I even get close to succeeding.

I was wondering if YC or TechStars would be more ideal for me to start, I do not want to go to a major investment firm that will see $$$ instead of the value my invention has for science and human progress. I know it is possible to build a company and advance science but I have to be VERY careful about who is involved at the early stages. I think the only place for something as 'crazy' as my project and as 'crazy' as myself to be taken seriously is SF.

Re: Why Y Combinator Made All the Difference

#57

Post by bhalperin »

good_vibes wrote: post #56

This is a life-changing read for me. I was debating if I should move to Seattle or Bay area to pursue my 'science project' or not. My current job is going to give me 7 weeks of severance starting in late April and I think it will be enough to at least make the leap and cross my fingers. What I am working on will change the course of history if I even get close to succeeding. I was wondering if YC or TechStars would b…

Best of luck :)

Re: Why Y Combinator Made All the Difference

#58

Post by mgkimsal »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #7
koolba wrote: post #5

> We convinced our friends in the current Y Combinator batch to let us stay in a closet at their East Palo Alto home office for $600 per month. If we spent $1,000 a month we would have 25 months of runway, which seems infinite. I'm all for frugality and cost controls, but this is ridiculous. It's things like this that brainwash a generation of fools into throwing their lives away at nonsensical ideas. I'm not saying…

> We convinced our friends in the current Y Combinator batch to let us stay in a closet at their East Palo Alto home office for $600 per month. If we spent $1,000 a month we would have 25 months of runway, which seems infinite. I'm all for frugality and cost controls, but this is ridiculous. It's things like this that brainwash a generation of fools into throwing their lives away at nonsensical ideas. I'm not saying…

> Who wouldn't want to work on something awesome

There's "working on something awesome" and there's "working on something (I think is) awesome". I see a lot more of the latter, and much less of the former, and it's hard to tell the difference. But... when it's easy to tell the difference... it's hard to accept if you're in the latter camp.

Re: Why Y Combinator Made All the Difference

#59

Post by garry »

DanBC wrote: post #8
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We convinced our friends in the current Y Combinator batch to let us stay in a closet at their East Palo Alto home office for $600 per month. If we spent $1,000 a month we would have 25 months of runway, which seems infinite. I'm all for frugality and cost controls, but this is ridiculous. It's things like this that brainwash a generation of fools into throwing their lives away at nonsensical ideas. I'm not saying…

To me it just sounds like actors in Hollywood, not doing the acting they want to do, but doing a lot of waiter work.

People do this because they want to earn equity and build a business from scratch. That's how wealth is built from nothing in a capitalist society.

The situation is that YC helps engineers and designers and product people build something from scratch and own it, instead of working for other people. The correct analogy would be actors who own the studio who are trying to make the next Disney. They get to act and own the means of production at the same time.

Re: Why Y Combinator Made All the Difference

#60

Post by levthedev »

Great read. I'm dissappointing that this thread has devolved to HN cliches (arguing about Kool Aid and pg's essays) and isn't focussing on the very well written and inter sting content of this piece. Also, I wish there was a way to subscribe to a writer on Bold - it seems that I can't, unlike Medium.
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