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Y Combinator has lost its soul: A YC founder's perspective

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Re: Y Combinator has lost its soul: A YC founder's perspective

#81

Post by pal_9000 »

doorstar wrote: post #62
awillen wrote: post #9

The idea that check sizes should be small so people should be forced into dire financial situations is a terrible one, and one that would absolutely hurt diversity. You're going to end up with a bunch of rich white dudes as founders (because very, very obviously the other way that people can afford to take smaller checks is if they have a lot of money in the bank). The smaller class size issue is probably fair, but r…

We have a silicon valley success story in our family. His parents were telling me how he built everything up out of nothing, clearly unaware of their own contribution. He could pour all his money into his start-up because if he'd lost every dime he could have moved back in with them. He'd have his own bedroom, bathroom, and a fresh-cooked meal every night. He could have stayed with them as long has he wanted. Very fe…

Exactly what i wanted to post. Also excludes everyone who is married or has to feed their family.

Re: Y Combinator has lost its soul: A YC founder's perspective

#82

Post by lisper »

I find it disturbing that this is getting so much attention. The argument (such as it is) is utterly without merit, unsupported by anything other than the tweeter's personal opinion. It is, quite simply, a troll. And it seems to be working.

In fact, the whole cultural phenomenon of paying attention to what people tweet is deeply disturbing. Twitter is not designed to support rational argument supported by data, it's designed to be a morphine drip of novelty, a machine that dispenses mental M&Ms. People who follow twitter are like lab rats pressing a lever in exchange for a drop of sugar water. It's troubling to see this phenomenon invading HN.

Re: Y Combinator has lost its soul: A YC founder's perspective

#83

Post by s_dev »

solumos wrote: post #77
s_dev wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely agree with the OP of the twitter thread. pg once coined the phrase .. ramen profitable. I deeply agree with that concept. Cover bills but all those frills and cushy "living wage" nonense needs to go while the startup is finding its feet.

I'd be willing to bet that a clear majority of the most successful startups from the past 20 years were founded by people who were otherwise independently financially stable. It's very hard to focus on building a successful business when the cost of failure is potentially life-ruining.

Then don't start one if you can't consume the risk.

I'm not sure what your point is -- that people who have kids should be given special exemption where they make more money from sales and inventment oportunties to compensate for choices they made?

Re: Y Combinator has lost its soul: A YC founder's perspective

#84

Post by mytailorisrich »

awillen wrote: post #9

The idea that check sizes should be small so people should be forced into dire financial situations is a terrible one, and one that would absolutely hurt diversity. You're going to end up with a bunch of rich white dudes as founders (because very, very obviously the other way that people can afford to take smaller checks is if they have a lot of money in the bank). The smaller class size issue is probably fair, but r…

> white dudes

Not sure what skin colour has to do with the topic.

Could we stop assigning racial etiquettes and discriminating based on skin colour? Not to mention racial stereotypes in this case.

Re: Y Combinator has lost its soul: A YC founder's perspective

#85

Post by pyb »

forbiddenvoid wrote: post #66

I'm curious if the author has data that the 'free sabbatical' folks are less successful as founders than others. If YC is selecting the wrong types of people/companies for their batches, I think they'll figure it out pretty quick when those companies fail to pan out and their fund suffers as a result. Is the author's YC company's success somehow contingent on YC not having these types of founders?. If so, I have grav…

It does, in so far as you are more likely to be successful if your batchmates are a source of inspiration and motivation.

Re: Y Combinator has lost its soul: A YC founder's perspective

#86

Post by CalChris »

klyrs wrote: post #58
seertaak wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yeah I noped out of this as soon as I saw it. I must be misunderstanding you; I read that as you stopped reading the entire thread because there was a single point you disagree with. Is that what you mean?

Suppose the first slide of my 10 minute sales deck described building a house out of literal waffles, and letting customers eat those waffles. Would you actually pay attention to the other 9 minutes? Overlooking the fact that if I attempted such a thing it would be amusing as hell. Imagine somebody taking that idea very seriously.

Waffle House exists [1] and so this sounds likes like a buried lede which is way better than most pitches. I've heard worse, much worse.

[1] https://www.wafflehouse.com/

Re: Y Combinator has lost its soul: A YC founder's perspective

#87

Post by ryguytilidie »

sushshshsh wrote: post #64
seertaak wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yeah I noped out of this as soon as I saw it. I must be misunderstanding you; I read that as you stopped reading the entire thread because there was a single point you disagree with. Is that what you mean?

Yeah people who use this phrase "noped out of it" usually have little tolerance for things they disagree with and won't continue diving deeper for nuance or any redeeming thoughts present in the article (which may or may not be there)

I get that awkwardly (and disingenuously) mocking strangers on the internet for perceived hypocrisy is the new hotness, but why would anyone keep reading an article where the author IMMEDIATELY makes it clear he doesn't understand human beings, economics or has a base level of empathy?

Eh, who cares, mocking strangers it is!

Re: Y Combinator has lost its soul: A YC founder's perspective

#88

Post by reedwolf »

An article [0] that takes a critical stance on Paul Graham/Y Combinator, specifically Graham's advice that you should stop focussing on passing tests, despite Y Combinator being entirely built around passing tests.

[0] http://benjaminrosshoffman.com/approval-extraction-advertise...

Re: Y Combinator has lost its soul: A YC founder's perspective

#89

Post by felipellrocha »

> 3. When i went through YC (recently), we had a "masterclass" of sorts on growth with @patrickc & @collision . Once of the first questions they asked the group was "how many of you are consumer companies?"

> Like... 2 people raised their hands and everyone else laughed hysterically.

Are B2C inherently better than B2Bs? What's his argument here?

I, for one, was never one to enjoy B2C products (matter of fact, I think most of them are stupid), so I don't understand his disdain for everything not B2C

Re: Y Combinator has lost its soul: A YC founder's perspective

#90

Post by MattGaiser »

felipellrocha wrote: post #89

> 3. When i went through YC (recently), we had a "masterclass" of sorts on growth with @patrickc & @collision . Once of the first questions they asked the group was "how many of you are consumer companies?" > Like... 2 people raised their hands and everyone else laughed hysterically. Are B2C inherently better than B2Bs? What's his argument here? I, for one, was never one to enjoy B2C products (matter of fact, I think…

Some people perceive them as "corporate" instead of "disruptive."
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