I oppose the authors assertions because
1. PG wrote a lisp book, practically invented Bayesian spam filtering, and is working on a new programming language. How much more hacker cred does he need?
2. Unlike record companies YC doesn't own the IP of the companies they fund, as far as I know. In the music biz it's common place for the record company to own publishing rights to your material.
Paul Graham - The Record Label Executive
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Re: Paul Graham - The Record Label Executive
#12I do agree that the technology startup biz is a lot like music biz where startups have to impress VCs in order to become super-companies. Some startups prefer to do it on their own, much akin to independent labels. Comparing PG to a label boss however is a far stretch.
I think the top post on this thread makes it more balanced. Think of pg as an independent label(like sub-pop or Dischord) founder and it all fits well.
Re: Paul Graham - The Record Label Executive
#13I oppose the authors assertions because 1. PG wrote a lisp book, practically invented Bayesian spam filtering, and is working on a new programming language. How much more hacker cred does he need? 2. Unlike record companies YC doesn't own the IP of the companies they fund, as far as I know. In the music biz it's common place for the record company to own publishing rights to your material.
Totally agree - also I am not aware of any essays written by music industry bosses encouraging you to start a band. They would be more likely to tell you that you don't compare to mainstream act xyz, so you better get lost.
In fact I suppose PGs essays would make good reading for forming bands, too - isn't a band a kind of startup as well?
Re: Paul Graham - The Record Label Executive
#14The odd thing about this post is that it's not merely mistaken, but diametrically opposite from the truth. The thesis seems to be that because of my "position as a partner in an investment portfolio" (what?) I'm forced to choose bland, unimaginative startups that will turn a quick profit. In fact one of the defining differences of YC is that we don't have to do this. Because we make a large number of small investment…
After all this time, this is the first I've thought of the slashdot/digg and reddit/delicious comparison. Unfortunately, reddit is more digg and less 'delicious-like' nowadays.
Re: Paul Graham - The Record Label Executive
#15The odd thing about this post is that it's not merely mistaken, but diametrically opposite from the truth. The thesis seems to be that because of my "position as a partner in an investment portfolio" (what?) I'm forced to choose bland, unimaginative startups that will turn a quick profit. In fact one of the defining differences of YC is that we don't have to do this. Because we make a large number of small investment…
After all this time, this is the first I've thought of the slashdot/digg and reddit/delicious comparison. Unfortunately, reddit is more digg and less 'delicious-like' nowadays.
I agree, I can't remember the last time I actually looked at the reddit homepage, but I still read programming.reddit quite often.
Re: Paul Graham - The Record Label Executive
#16Paul has learned to reduce his risk by now rarely funding undergraduates and teams without demos.
I dunno about the undergraduates thing; if they have a killer demo, I think they'd still get in (though they'd probably need to be willing to take a leave of absence if the company has the capacity to succeed at the end of the program). But it also reduces the frustration that everyone feels (including other groups) when one group fails to launch due to lack of commitment to building a company.
Besides that, the number of applicants has sky-rocketed, and they can't take everyone. Having a demo just makes it clear what you're trying to build and that you have the capacity to build it.
Re: Paul Graham - The Record Label Executive
#17Re: Paul Graham - The Record Label Executive
#18The odd thing about this post is that it's not merely mistaken, but diametrically opposite from the truth. The thesis seems to be that because of my "position as a partner in an investment portfolio" (what?) I'm forced to choose bland, unimaginative startups that will turn a quick profit. In fact one of the defining differences of YC is that we don't have to do this. Because we make a large number of small investment…
As I said in the guy's comments, if he saw the stuff you guys chose this summer, he'd realize how wrong he is. I can't wait until people start launching. I'm almost as excited about some of the other startups I saw out there in Mountain View as I am about ours.
Re: Paul Graham - The Record Label Executive
#19I oppose the authors assertions because 1. PG wrote a lisp book, practically invented Bayesian spam filtering, and is working on a new programming language. How much more hacker cred does he need? 2. Unlike record companies YC doesn't own the IP of the companies they fund, as far as I know. In the music biz it's common place for the record company to own publishing rights to your material.
Also YC does not have a history of ripping off both its "musicians" and its customers. And as far as I know, they've never sued anyone who used any product they've launched.
Re: Paul Graham - The Record Label Executive
#20Paul has learned to reduce his risk by now rarely funding undergraduates and teams without demos.
We had two undergrads and one guy who never even graduated. And a demo but we didn't get to show it at all.Must have been lucky.