My Notes on How to Start a Startup by YC • Hacker News Board

Re: My Notes on How to Start a Startup by YC

#51

Post by estsauver » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:32 PM UTC

reikonomusha wrote: post #48

aaavl2821 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starting a company requires a tolerance for ambiguity. If there were a rules based system for how to start a startup, then startups wouldn't exist: they'd be "innovation processes" at big companies, and your advisors would be your bosses The existence of counterexamples and conflicting advice doesn't mean that advice isn't useful, conflicting advice is just a symptom of startups being uncertain. With a large enough s…

Then instead of saying “start simple” and “be difficult to replicate”, why not suggest something more like “your goal might be to build something as quickly as possible, but must be sufficiently non-trivial to build. Time to build isn’t always an indicator of simplicity, [blah blah blah].” I guess what I’m saying is embrace ambiguity in the advice more clearly. Don’t say “Do X” and “Do the opposite of X”, which toget…

Another way to read "Difficult to replicate" would be "Use a skill most of the market doesn't have or doesn't have the tolerance/patience to use." Simple doesn't mean trivial.

Re: My Notes on How to Start a Startup by YC

#52

Post by nyrulez » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:42 PM UTC

I recently started out on this road as a solo founder [0], and out of all the given pieces of advice that YC gives, two things are the most conflicting for me:

- This pressure to have a co-founder. I see that quoted as a major reasons for why startups go bust but also necessary for doing anything meaningful. I can imagine there being truth to both statements. I've seen startups go bust in my own network on both sides of the divide. But I feel there isn't enough advice out there for folks who are doing it Solo - that's still a valid design pattern for many startups in the past or present.

- The whole idea of go big or go home - lot of the advice seems to assume you want to be really big one day. There doesn't seem to be enough advice for someone wanting to be a 10M-100M dollar business as their main milestone, not as a path to hit a billion dollar valuation. That kind of assumption results in very different kinds of design patterns, often borrowed from other billion dollar startups that may not make sense to your own little venture in the beginning.

I wish startup advice wasn't universal as every author or speaker would like you to believe - there could be a system where it was doled out based on the current phase and situation, or at least recognizing the fact that there isn't one size fits all for something as varied as starting your own venture.

[0] https://stockquanta.com

Re: My Notes on How to Start a Startup by YC

#53

Post by ryanwaggoner » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:49 PM UTC

ummonk wrote: post #50

muzani wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that is true. But so far this one has done a good job at that. The first thing they do is even try to convince you that entrepreneurship isn't the most profitable path. The statistically best path is to work at an early stage company. But if you have a certain kind of insane resolve, then they'll guide you down it. I think 'partial' success does get celebrated though, sort of like Reddit. Again, this is somethin…

> The first thing they do is even try to convince you that entrepreneurship isn't the most profitable path. The statistically best path is to work at an early stage company. That's just them, being self-interested since they need employees for their founders' startups more than they need new founders. Realistically, the most profitable path statistically is to work at a FLNG or decacorn.

Agreed. I'm completely skeptical that the expected return is higher for "early stage startup" vs large tech co or "decacorn" (love that term, btw) and investing in index funds and maybe some real estate.

Re: My Notes on How to Start a Startup by YC

#54

Post by vertex-four » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:55 PM UTC

midway wrote: post #26

paintbox wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is possible that an admin changed the title. Folks probably downvoted you because they deemed your tone unwelcome here.

> It is possible that an admin changed the title Still strange. Why should an admin change the submission of a random user if it doesn't breach any of HN's rules? Maybe because it's not a random submission by a random user? Guess I must be wrong but would love to hear what that admin who did the change has to say.

Admins change the title and even the link of a great many posts on HN, breaking rules or not, to “clarify” the topic.

Re: My Notes on How to Start a Startup by YC

#55

Post by scottlocklin » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 4:58 PM UTC

nyrulez wrote: post #52

I recently started out on this road as a solo founder [0], and out of all the given pieces of advice that YC gives, two things are the most conflicting for me: - This pressure to have a co-founder. I see that quoted as a major reasons for why startups go bust but also necessary for doing anything meaningful. I can imagine there being truth to both statements. I've seen startups go bust in my own network on both sides…

YC advice isn't optimizing to help founders at all. It's optimizing for their business model.

I don't know why people think otherwise. Do you think venture capitalists are your friends? Pretty sure they're not!

Re: My Notes on How to Start a Startup by YC

#56

Post by charleswzx » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 5:18 PM UTC

midway wrote: post #19

Interesting: The title was changed ('57-Page' was removed) while the comment which classified the prior title as close to click-bait was downvoted. I didn't know that users could change the title of their submission. How is this possible or is this actually a post by YC? If latter, a hint would be great that this might be YC promoted content and not actual user content.

Hi there! I'm the OP. I'm not affiliated to YC, and I didn't even notice the change till you pointed it out. I haven't been contacted by an admin, so I'm just as in the dark as you are.

Re: My Notes on How to Start a Startup by YC

#57

Post by nyrulez » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 5:19 PM UTC

scottlocklin wrote: post #55

nyrulez wrote: post #52

I recently started out on this road as a solo founder [0], and out of all the given pieces of advice that YC gives, two things are the most conflicting for me: - This pressure to have a co-founder. I see that quoted as a major reasons for why startups go bust but also necessary for doing anything meaningful. I can imagine there being truth to both statements. I've seen startups go bust in my own network on both sides…

YC advice isn't optimizing to help founders at all. It's optimizing for their business model. I don't know why people think otherwise. Do you think venture capitalists are your friends? Pretty sure they're not!

That's fascinating for me. It certainly comes across like "best for all parties" kind of advice, but only magnifies the need for clear separation of business advice that is fully aligned towards founders.

Re: My Notes on How to Start a Startup by YC

#58

Post by charleswzx » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 5:22 PM UTC

cmogni1 wrote: post #14

I haven’t finished reading this, but what strikes me about the advice in the notes is that much of it is either contradictory or there exist counterexamples to the claims. For example, the reader is encouraged to start building, but is told you also need a good idea and that you can pivot but most good companies don’t start with a pivot. Counterexample: Slack was a pivot. We’re also instructed that you should build s…

This is definitely something I was thinking about a lot of as I compiled these notes. To be fair, each lecture was a standalone by a different speaker, with different backgrounds, experiences and skills. I'm not surprised that there are some contradictions. Like other commenters have pointed out, YMMV depending on a gazillion unknown factors.

Re: My Notes on How to Start a Startup by YC

#59

Post by charleswzx » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 5:24 PM UTC

trampi wrote: post #11

charleswzx wrote: post #2

Just sharing the notes I compiled while watching the online sessions @ https://startupclass.samaltman.com/ . I've been sitting on this for about half a year, and almost forgot I'd compiled it. I hope some of you find this useful (:

Thanks a lot, I find it very interesting!

Very welcome!

Re: My Notes on How to Start a Startup by YC

#60

Post by charleswzx » Thu, Feb 21, 2019, 5:26 PM UTC

tomglynch wrote: post #3

charleswzx wrote: post #2

Just sharing the notes I compiled while watching the online sessions @ https://startupclass.samaltman.com/ . I've been sitting on this for about half a year, and almost forgot I'd compiled it. I hope some of you find this useful (:

Thanks for this. How has it worked for you?

I'm still early days with my startup, but some of the stuff on here has come in useful. It's a document that attempts to span the whole lifecycle of a startup, and some parts don't apply right now. Definitely something to refer back to now and again.