Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

XX Combinator

terezan.tumblr.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 67 posts

Re: XX Combinator

#51

Post by todayiamme »

kaens wrote: post #48
todayiamme wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Look I am intersexed and I have dealt with such stuff all of my life. The one thing I have learnt is that we aren't blank slates, but we aren't mentally engineered either. It is true that environment plays a huge role in the development of a child, but please understand this. Gender is something that is innate to your mind. Be it through proprioception or something more complex than that. It is etched in you in the w…

I'm on the same page regarding gender and the need for an effort for "human friendly spaces". I've been phrasing things in a binary-gender manner because gender being a spectrum is a bit tangential and distracting to the point here, and is something that a much lower percentage of the population seems to have waken up to. FWIW, I've spent a fair amount of time explaining that it doesn't just suck to be a woman, or a…

Interesting. I really wish that more people like you existed in this world.

Can I ask you something? How did you get interested in this? If you don't mind can you please drop me a line at yesthisisananonymousid [at] google mail?

Thank you.

[edit: This might sound weird to you, but I would really love to talk to you. All of my life I have to fake being a boy for the benefit of my parents. I have to talk differently, walk differently, gesture differently, adjust my posture differently, look at things differently. The lines were drawn in my childhood; I was either a boy or it was the streets for me. Of course, I doubt it that my parents would have acted on that threat, but growing up with such stuff changed me. It's like someone stole my childhood from me. I don't know what it is like to have a normal life anymore. It's something really profound to meet someone who just gets it without saying. Please do indulge me with that.

Oh and my parents aren't monsters they just followed the status quo. I love them and I shall continue to love them no matter what.]

Re: XX Combinator

#52

Post by btilly »

Alex3917 wrote: post #40
btilly wrote: post #30

What I read is this, "I want a Y-combinator, except where I live, aimed at my gender and with a schedule I can accept. Oh, and please supply the tech talent I need. If things work out I can reward the coders with salary and possibly a CTO position down the road." Need I explain what is wrong with that picture? If you don't see the problems, you might start by reading http://blog.wepay.com/2010/03/5-things-i-%E2%80%9C…

I disagree, I think it's a perfectly legitimate request. I know Tereza personally, and I also went through YC, so trust me when I say that she is definitely more talented than the average YC founder. That being said, she would still benefit greatly from having some additional resources, a community, and a push in the right direction, but the resources and community that YC provides don't quite fit her needs. Don't ge…

I am not saying anything against Tereza personally, and she may be incredibly talented. But every single thing I said in my summary can be backed up with quotes from her article. Here is the summary I gave, with quotes from Tereza interspersed.

"I want a Y-combinator..." - I want a Y Combinator...

"...except where I live..." - I’d love to New York be home to the world’s first XX Combinator, and I’d love to be in it.

"...aimed at my gender..." - I want a Y Combinator for women. Let’s call it the XX Combinator.

"...and with a schedule I can accept." - It would be scheduled and located so that women with families could actively do it.

"Oh, and please supply the tech talent I need." - Benevolent hackers would work side-by-side with them to build it...

"If things work out I can reward the coders with salary and possibly a CTO position down the road." - ...for equity and possibly paid salaries by sponsors and can convert into CTO positions.

There is no part of that list which is likely to happen any time soon. Y-combinator itself found out the hard way that it is easier to get startups going in Silicon Valley. People who are investing money generally care more about return on investment than targeting women. Startups naturally don't stay within convenient schedules. The rate-limiting ingredient to starting tech startups is available good tech talent, so there is no supply of "benevolent hackers", particularly not ones who are willing to work the necessary hours with a random person they were partnered with. And given the amount of work it takes, plus the supply/demand issue, the reward the tech people need cannot be an afterthought "if things work out".

Oh, and I disagree with the claim that YC is just an existential solution to a monetary problem. If you're young, single, and capable, it isn't hard to save more money than YC offers. But that won't get you, for instance, the feedback and networking benefits that YC gives.

Re: XX Combinator

#53

Post by kaens »

Alex3917 wrote: post #49
dieterrams wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've got this wrong. kaens did not claim that men and women are "fundamentally the same". He's saying, don't assume there are fundamental (crippling) differences. All you've pointed out is that there are indeed fundamental differences of some kinds, but not of the sort kaens was talking about. The inconclusiveness you raise supports his point. Edit: Wow. Downvoted. What on earth for?

"Don't assume there are fundamental (crippling) differences." I think you should assume fundamental differences, because that's what both the research and experience show. Certainly more can be done for younger women, but if you don't think that businesswomen in their 40s are on average more capable than their younger counterparts then you probably haven't spent much time around businesswomen. (For reference, I took…

Does the research and experience show that businessmen in their 40s are on average more capable than their younger counterparts? I bet it does!

Re: XX Combinator

#54

Post by robotsari »

natgordon wrote: post #20
ryanelkins wrote: post #3

I don't think any of the reasons mentioned here for keeping women out is gender specific. It's more hacker vs "idea person" or how I prefer to think of it, those who can code vs those who can't code. This is more about "Y Combinator for non coders" than it is about "Y Combinator for women". This is something I see a lot of - people with some experience that want to start a tech startup but want to hire out some devel…

The 35-year old cut-off could be considered gender-specific. I'm a 30-year old female entrepreneur and software developer. I would love to do Y-combinator or other incubator program. I also want to start a family. If I wait for years to have kids, there is a statistically higher risk of infertility. This isn't the case for men. I think the author is correct that women may be more ready to launch a start-up when they'…

Completely agree. I'm only 24; I just finished my CS undergrad and masters' degrees. I'm getting married next year and just took a high-paying job as a software engineer at an established big corporation rather than taking up any of the start-up offers I got from friends. I really wanted to do the start up thing but my fiancée and I want kids; I want them sooner to reduce the risk of infertility as well as mental and health problems that are statistically more prevalent amongst older mothers. Along with that I grew up very poor, so I want to provide for them with a house, steady food and small comforts, things I lacked until I was able to work for myself at 16.

I think that other women may take different choices - if I didn't want to have kids, I would be all over working on a start up, but as it stands, I wouldn't think about it until I am older.

I think that the article has its plusses and minuses but one thing we should all agree on is that the YC model should be adopted for the needs of many different groups. I won't want to do anything risky until my kids are more independent and I've built a solid nest egg. But my fiancée feels the same way as me! So, I don't see why the article needs to be quite so gender-specific. I would like to see this idea come to fruition, with emphasis placed on attracting more women to the field but maybe geared more towards anyone 35-40+ who has a family and responsibilities but would like to take on a start up project.

Re: XX Combinator

#55

Post by kaens »

todayiamme wrote: post #51
kaens wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm on the same page regarding gender and the need for an effort for "human friendly spaces". I've been phrasing things in a binary-gender manner because gender being a spectrum is a bit tangential and distracting to the point here, and is something that a much lower percentage of the population seems to have waken up to. FWIW, I've spent a fair amount of time explaining that it doesn't just suck to be a woman, or a…

Interesting. I really wish that more people like you existed in this world. Can I ask you something? How did you get interested in this? If you don't mind can you please drop me a line at yesthisisananonymousid [at] google mail? Thank you. [edit: This might sound weird to you, but I would really love to talk to you. All of my life I have to fake being a boy for the benefit of my parents. I have to talk differently, w…

I'd be glad to. I'll email you either tonight or tomorrow, probably tonight.

Re: XX Combinator

#56

Post by kaens »

aidenn0 wrote: post #42
kaens wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fairly certain that the percentage of women in startups is much lower than can be explained by purely biological means.

I bet it can be completely explained by a combination of biological and environmental causes. Just because the claim is made that there are biological differences between men and women does not mean that the disparity of women vs. men in startups is entirely (or even mostly) due to biological causes. If you want more women in startups then you have to either change women or change startups.

I'm really starting to get the impression that people think that I've been arguing that there aren't any biological differences between males and females. I probably should have worded that sentence as "fundamentally different in regards to what they are capable of doing, minus some very obvious physical limitations like childbirth and ejaculation of semen"

Re: XX Combinator

#57

Post by robotsari »

seanalltogether wrote: post #24
natgordon wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 35-year old cut-off could be considered gender-specific. I'm a 30-year old female entrepreneur and software developer. I would love to do Y-combinator or other incubator program. I also want to start a family. If I wait for years to have kids, there is a statistically higher risk of infertility. This isn't the case for men. I think the author is correct that women may be more ready to launch a start-up when they'…

"I think the author is correct that women may be more ready to launch a start-up when they're 40" I think this is a valid statement. However, the argument then becomes, 'Is it a good business strategy to invest and nurture a pool of 40 year old entrepreneurs?'

That is a good question; but as the life expectency of our population increases while the prospect of any of us getting social security decreases, the fact is we may be at a point where retirement doesn't happen until one is at least 70 or even older. A 45-year old entrepreneur with, let's say, 20 years experience in the field who doesn't plan on retiring until 65 or 70 still has at least 20 years to invest in the company; additionally, think of what you at 18 or 20 could have learned from an internship with someone like that. I think our culture is continually redefining what is and isn't "old"; I for one don't think 40 is truly all that old.

Re: XX Combinator

#58

Post by istari »

The more I watched the Milan fashion show, the more troubled I became that 0% of the models on the catwalks were men. I realized that the men in the IT industry compose a vast, under-served market for high fashion that is being actively and sexually discriminated against by structural factors.

Factors which we can overcome with wishful thinking.

We need a fashion show. In Silicon Valley. For men. In their thirties and forties. Who can code. On nights and weekends so as not to disturb their working hours.

Benevolent designers and fashion models will work with the coders to make this happen in return for equity and possibly paid salaries by sponsors and can convert into CFO (Chief Fashion Officer) positions.

Re: XX Combinator

#59

Post by chrischen »

There is already a y combinator for your gender: y combinator. If the problem is that women don't know how to code, then we should start empowering them to code, not give them money to start a tech business despite that.
Post reply on HN