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

Ask HN: Women who've applied to YC?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 102 posts

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

#41

Post by limedaring »

nkassis wrote: post #39
iamelgringo wrote: post #9

My wife and I are applying for this winter session. She's been co organizing the Hackers and Founders SV, SF and Berkeley meetups with me for the past 9 months. And, she's the primary reason that our membership has tripled in the last 9 months. She works quietly in the background and makes everything run like clockwork. I've recruited her as my co founder for several years. And, she just signed on three months ago. W…

That's pretty cool. If my current idea fails, I'd like to come with something me and my wife can do. It probably would have to be something related to books if someone has an idea ;p

I think my boyfriend and I would kill each other if we ever started a company together, even though we have really complimentary skill sets.

Oh well.

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

#42

Post by anigbrowl »

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…

You don't meet each other's needs and you both know it. Deal with it now, or deal with it later: no blame, that's just how it goes sometimes. If you would cheat on him, then you want something he doesn't provide, but just lack confidence in your ability to find what he does provide somewhere else. This sub-thread exists only because it's an issue persistent enough in your life that you need to get it off your chest somehow. Face up to it.

After a bad first experience I put off marrying again for a long time. When I did marry again, it was we were past those kind of trust questions. It's neither perfect nor predictable, but nor does it feel like a trade-off.

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

#43

Post by anigbrowl »

bkrausz wrote: post #29
sahillavingia wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 admitt…

consciously choose not to put yourself in those situations

What do you call this, if not flirting with the idea?

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

#44

Post by maggie »

gruseom wrote: post #30
Female wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Respect because she's a textbook-case of minority oppression?

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

#45

Post by aspir »

gruseom wrote: post #35
shelly wrote: post #11

I'm a girl (and an engineer), and I applied for the summer round this year with http://wordchuck.com . I never got a response from YC after submitting my application, which was a bit disappointing. I haven't had any trouble launching and getting traction on my own, so don't get discouraged, no matter what happens with YC :) That said, WeddingType looks like a terrific idea, and I hope you do get accepted!

I'm pretty sure YC make a point of responding to all the applications, so this was likely a technical glitch. For example, I distinctly recall that the response we got ended up in my Spam folder.

Because of this post I jumped to my spam filter immediately (applied this round).

No updates from YC, but I could have been a millionaire in Hong Kong, Nigeria, and Costa Rica :)

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

#46

Post by herdrick »

Mz wrote: post #4
limedaring wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I ultimately decided, no, that's not really the right path for me. Did you continue to start/continue a business, or was the path you decided on a non-entrepreneur path?

I still hope to figure out how to support myself via some kind of online income. I am 45, a lot older than most of the YC applicants as I understand it, I have a very serious medical condition and two grown sons who still live with me. I have lived in the SFBA previously, in Fairfield about 45 miles from San Francisco (halfway between SF and the state capital). My sons are very against returning to Cali. I liked it b…

That's a really good idea. What's the diagnosis and what is your view on it that you want to get across? (If you don't mind me asking.)

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

#48

Post by patio11 »

Not female and also not applying this go round, but congratulations on your launch. This and related spaces desperately need product innovation, while so much of our collective effort goes to creating an iPad-enabled FourSquare for dogs.

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

#50

Post by peteforde »

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.

Bullshit!

I support your right to portray yourself in whatever light you can muster, but there's no shortage of critical thinkers on Hacker News.

The phenomena that you're describing is often called "othering" and it generally sums up nicely as "a room full of dudes bending over backwards to be so accepting to a woman that it's creepy". It is a real problem.

However, I know I'm not the only person on here who couldn't care less what your gender is. I want to respect you for what you produce, and I'm not going to mince words if I think something is goofy.

Being a radical is tiring and it's not cool to put the onus for change on women, who I suspect get worn down demanding equality. I know that I would.

Yet, there are times and places where major gains come only from sticking your neck out once in a while. Being a woman on HN might be one of those places.

Post reply on HN