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Ask HN: Women who've applied to YC?

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Re: Ask HN: Women who've applied to YC?

#21

Post by ramidarigaz »

sahillavingia wrote: post #18
Female wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and this is why I created an alt account, so I could answer honestly. I would cheat on him. I was dating two other guys when we met, and we agreed when we became serious that our relationship would be exclusive. It was worth it to me. However, I'm not terribly good at resisting temptation. Add to the fire that my type (surprise!) is geeky males, and there's no way I could resist. A Y combinator class for me would…

I don't really have the experience to comment, but if that would destroy your marriage, are you sure your marriage isn't destroyed already...?

I think it's good to recognize that every relationship has limits. It's incredibly idealistic/naive to assume otherwise (I wish life worked that way though).

Re: Ask HN: Women who've applied to YC?

#22

Post by Female »

sahillavingia wrote: post #18
Female wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and this is why I created an alt account, so I could answer honestly. I would cheat on him. I was dating two other guys when we met, and we agreed when we became serious that our relationship would be exclusive. It was worth it to me. However, I'm not terribly good at resisting temptation. Add to the fire that my type (surprise!) is geeky males, and there's no way I could resist. A Y combinator class for me would…

I don't really have the experience to comment, but if that would destroy your marriage, are you sure your marriage isn't destroyed already...?

We both entered into this relationship with a full understanding of our proclivities. I knew that he couldn't stand to see me with another man; he knew that I have the impulse control of flea. Marriage isn't about being perfect for each other, it's about making a commitment to make it work. This is how we make it work.

This is just like using StayFocusd or maxvisit; you know you don't have the willpower, so you use other means to keep yourself productive (or faithful, in this case.)

Re: Ask HN: Women who've applied to YC?

#23

Post by sp4rki »

Female wrote: post #16
vietor wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you go into more detail about what the reasons given were? My initial reactions on reading that was ... unreservedly hostile. Given the likely upside of going through YC if accepted, 12 weeks of separation seems insignificant. (On topic: I applied this year and one of my two co-founders is female.)

...and this is why I created an alt account, so I could answer honestly. I would cheat on him. I was dating two other guys when we met, and we agreed when we became serious that our relationship would be exclusive. It was worth it to me. However, I'm not terribly good at resisting temptation. Add to the fire that my type (surprise!) is geeky males, and there's no way I could resist. A Y combinator class for me would…

If you would cheat on him that easily I'd argue you're with him for convenience or because you settled. In any case, I'd hate distrusting my significant other to that point. I would really not be able to have a relationship like that. YMMV though.

Re: Ask HN: Women who've applied to YC?

#24

Post by elbenshira »

Female wrote: post #20
bkrausz wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask why you're hiding your gender on HN? I know of many potential reasons, just curious what yours is.

Honestly? You're all so anti-sexist it sickens me. Whenever a female posts, you put away the boxing gloves and take out the kid skin gloves. The only people that actually say negative things are the unapologetic sexists, and no, I don't like that either. But it doesn't bother me as much. So it might just be my imagination, but just to be safe I prefer to be one of the guys for my recreational forum activities.

This is really unfortunate. Can you point to threads that you thought were sexist? I'm really curious because it's sometimes hard for a guy to empathize.

Re: Ask HN: Women who've applied to YC?

#25

Post by sbowles »

I am a woman and I applied for this round along with my male co-founder. I'm moving back to SF from LA at the end of this year, specifically because I recognize it is a better location for my startup. Although I still have a decent network in the Bay Area to tap back into, I do value the mentorship and camaraderie a program like YC could offer an early stage venture. When I described my startup or did a demo of my app for other people at Startup School, I was impressed by the intellectual generosity. People gave a lot of great feedback, freely. Acceptance by YC won’t make or break my startup, but it would make networking and fundraising a little easier as it implies a certain ‘quality’ stamp.

FYI, if you haven’t read it, Illuminate Ventures’ whitepaper on the performance of female founders in tech relative to male founders, it is an interesting read: http://www.illuminate.com/whitepaper/. You’ll have to request the whitepaper via email, but they respond quickly.

Re: Ask HN: Women who've applied to YC?

#26

Post by bkrausz »

Female wrote: post #20
bkrausz wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask why you're hiding your gender on HN? I know of many potential reasons, just curious what yours is.

Honestly? You're all so anti-sexist it sickens me. Whenever a female posts, you put away the boxing gloves and take out the kid skin gloves. The only people that actually say negative things are the unapologetic sexists, and no, I don't like that either. But it doesn't bother me as much. So it might just be my imagination, but just to be safe I prefer to be one of the guys for my recreational forum activities.

I can see that. The problem I see is that everyone gets labeled as one extreme or the other. As much as I hate sugar-coating what I say to someone because of their gender or other quality, I'd rather get labeled as an anti-sexist than a sexist.

Also, I see that happen a lot more not because of gender, but because we're discussing gender issues. Anytime someone brings up a sensitive issue people are going to tip-toe more, regardless of the attributes of anyone actually bringing it up.

Re: Ask HN: Women who've applied to YC?

#28

Post by Female »

sp4rki wrote: post #23
Female wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and this is why I created an alt account, so I could answer honestly. I would cheat on him. I was dating two other guys when we met, and we agreed when we became serious that our relationship would be exclusive. It was worth it to me. However, I'm not terribly good at resisting temptation. Add to the fire that my type (surprise!) is geeky males, and there's no way I could resist. A Y combinator class for me would…

If you would cheat on him that easily I'd argue you're with him for convenience or because you settled. In any case, I'd hate distrusting my significant other to that point. I would really not be able to have a relationship like that. YMMV though.

Yeah, I can see how some people would mind having to keep tabs on their partner. It's not for everyone. He doesn't seem to mind.

But it really has nothing to do with settling; some people are just not monogamous by nature. I'm sure you can understand, since people sometimes make that generalization about the entire male sex :).

Re: Ask HN: Women who've applied to YC?

#29

Post by bkrausz »

sahillavingia wrote: post #18
Female wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...and this is why I created an alt account, so I could answer honestly. I would cheat on him. I was dating two other guys when we met, and we agreed when we became serious that our relationship would be exclusive. It was worth it to me. However, I'm not terribly good at resisting temptation. Add to the fire that my type (surprise!) is geeky males, and there's no way I could resist. A Y combinator class for me would…

I don't really have the experience to comment, but if that would destroy your marriage, are you sure your marriage isn't destroyed already...?

Were someone to ignore their issues or hide them from their partner, I would claim it destroys the relationship more than anything else. But admitting one's flaws? As much as you may judge someone for a lack of self-control, you have a respect the honesty it takes to admit to your S.O. that you lack that self control.

Even moreso, it's a very strong indication of your commitment to the other person when, after admitting your lack of self-control, you consciously choose not to put yourself in those situations because you know how much it would hurt your S.O.

tl;dr; - A relationship where both parties are honest with each other and ok with the situation after being fully informed is the strongest possible relationship.

Re: Ask HN: Women who've applied to YC?

#30

Post by gruseom »

Female wrote: post #20
bkrausz wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

May I ask why you're hiding your gender on HN? I know of many potential reasons, just curious what yours is.

Honestly? You're all so anti-sexist it sickens me. Whenever a female posts, you put away the boxing gloves and take out the kid skin gloves. The only people that actually say negative things are the unapologetic sexists, and no, I don't like that either. But it doesn't bother me as much. So it might just be my imagination, but just to be safe I prefer to be one of the guys for my recreational forum activities.

Wow. Full respect.
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