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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

#91

Post by jasonwatkinspdx »

czbond wrote: post #26
dbbk wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I noped out of this as soon as I saw it. The guy is suggesting investing in startup founders but not giving them enough to live while they get that company off the ground. What is the point of that? Completely self-defeating.

It is not YC’s job to support the company. That is the founders job. I’d suggest money supporting the company at seed diverts from a focus on monetary fit asap. $25k is enough to scrap by for enough months which should be the initial goal

This is absolutely terrible advice. There are a few professional services that can have a dramatic impact on the early success of a startup. You need the best PR firm you can get to return your calls. That ain't cheap, but it has a rather huge impact if used properly.

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

#92

Post by noahlt »

FWIW, the vast majority of YC founders I've met have told me "It was good when I did it, but I don't know if I'd do it today. The batches are so big!"

I chalk it up to a pretty typical nostalgia. Everybody is biased towards thinking the experiences of their youth were perfect, and any change is detrimental.

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

#93

Post by Jommi »

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…

I don't know think this is as clear. Can you link me to some researcher where a stronger social net leads to better entrepreneur outcomes?

Because looking at country level data, USA, with it's terribly scary and risky path of entrepreneurship completely outperforms welfare state countries like the Nordics.

You could say the difference is from capital markets, but still even the difference in startups that are not successes is humongous.

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

#94

Post by jasonwatkinspdx »

forbiddenvoid wrote: post #59
TomMarius wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is there are many brilliant people that can't just scrap by - with a mortgage and family. But I respect the VC's right to choose the kind of people they sponsor.

Yeah, the idea of creating an environment that only favors young, privileged, unattached folks has always been pretty off-putting for me. Larger checks certainly attract the 'free sabbatical' folks that the author seems to dislike so much, but it also enables entire classes of potential founders to have access to capital that enables them to focus on their business rather than their kids' stomachs.

It's why we've had a glut of startups doing lifestyle products that appeal to mid/late 20's bros with lots of disposable income. These... haven't been great startups as a generalization.

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

#96

Post by adpirz »

s_dev wrote: post #83
solumos wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

This comment assumes a.) we're talking exclusively about parents and b.) about forces within a person's control. There are a lot of late-teens / early-20 year olds out there who have familial obligations to their parents, siblings, etc.

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

#97

Post by _curious_ »

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…

"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)."

There are many founders of various social identities who are not rich yet have managed to succeed with bootstrapping or small seed/accelerator investments because they are capable.

To assert that some people are inherently advantaged or disadvantaged as founders and/or entrepreneurs based on such factors as race and gender is the definition of prejudice.

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

#98

Post by peterwoerner »

forbiddenvoid wrote: post #59
TomMarius wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is there are many brilliant people that can't just scrap by - with a mortgage and family. But I respect the VC's right to choose the kind of people they sponsor.

Yeah, the idea of creating an environment that only favors young, privileged, unattached folks has always been pretty off-putting for me. Larger checks certainly attract the 'free sabbatical' folks that the author seems to dislike so much, but it also enables entire classes of potential founders to have access to capital that enables them to focus on their business rather than their kids' stomachs.

Counterpoint. As a father of a baby, I have significantly less energy and time for work. With starting a company you tend to have to plow a ton of hours and energy into the endeavor, especially if you want to move at bottleneck speed. With the baby there are many weeks where I have a difficulty working a mere 40 hours.

That being said, I have significantly more insight (due to experience) than I did when I was more free and willing to work 60+ hours a week and was willing to live off of 20k a year.

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

#99

Post by Jommi »

yters wrote: post #76
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…

Maybe the point of economic filtering is to only accept single young men, who can devote every waking moment to their startup without any concern for dependents and such. You can get great velocity from such a pool. Myself, with family, mortgage, etc. I would never be able to achieve that kind of velocity if I were accepted to YC. So, even if I had incredible ideas, as people around here keep saying, and PG makes cle…

I don't understand this point. Do you think anyone at any life situation should have equal opportunity of becoming a successful entrepreneur?

You do realize that by having a family and owning a house, you're pretty much on a completely different financial and stability level than a single young male.

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

#100

Post by djsumdog »

dbbk wrote: post #18
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…

Yeah I noped out of this as soon as I saw it. The guy is suggesting investing in startup founders but not giving them enough to live while they get that company off the ground. What is the point of that? Completely self-defeating.

I think back to Paul Graham's list of things that kill a startup:

http://paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html

He does list having both too little money and too much money.

I agree, maybe the $25k made sense back before life in California was more expensive than living in Manhattan, and it should be enough to cover more living expenses.

Maybe alternatively, YC could provide less money, but basic housing and needs so founders minimals could be met, while also providing them a collaborative environment?

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