Y Combinator has lost its soul: A YC founder's perspective • Hacker News Board

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

#111

Post by Blake_Emigro » Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 4:07 PM UTC

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…

My understanding of it is that much of the money is supposed to be for Google and Facebook ads - something which I would never want to have to pay out of pocket for in the US market. So it's not just that the founders can pay themselves a ramen salary or better, but that there's a big early marketing budget built-in.

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

#112

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 4:08 PM UTC

polk wrote: post #104

djsumdog wrote: post #95

> You're going to end up with a bunch of rich white dudes as founders Why not just say "rich dudes" ? That is the qualifier. The race might be true too, but it's not what defines the argument.

I'm surprised you find the race unnecessary, but continue to include the gender. "Rich people" would be all that's required.

[deleted]

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

#113

Post by softawre » Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 4:09 PM UTC

ryguytilidie wrote: post #87

sushshshsh wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

You're mocking the OP, saying he doesn't understand humans or have any empathy, based on a single statement you disagree with.

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

#114

Post by site-packages1 » Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 4:09 PM UTC

jfengel wrote: post #45

site-packages1 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The solution may be wrong, but the idea is right. If people can just casually come into YC with no particular consequences for failure, that greatly reduced drive to succeed. "I'll just go back to FAMGAN after" or "I'll be able to transition from MBA grad + YC to something high paying" I don't think is great for success drive.

I take it FAMGAN is FAANG+Microsoft? Googling failed to turn up any other usages of this term.

I always hated that Microsoft wasn’t represented.

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

#115

Post by _curious_ » Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 4:09 PM UTC

kemayo wrote: post #6

He lost me with the whole "make founders take on massive personal debt to survive" tweet. Removing that particular stressor, particularly from people from poorer backgrounds who lack the access to that kind of credit is how we get a better sampling of ideas.

It's the right idea but the wrong tool. Debt is actually the enemy of the founder/entrepreneur IMO...but building equity in yourself through moonlighting, side hustle, etc - is a better pathway. This is known as hard work = 60-80 hrs/week combined type of stuff.

Debt will creep up and crush you eventually, do not go into debt to "fund" your startup.

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

#116

Post by site-packages1 » Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 4:09 PM UTC

disgruntledphd2 wrote: post #105

nindalf wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But in an hour Google will return this thread as a result. Be The Change You Want To See.

I don't really understand why Netflix is in there, they seem to be a content production business funded (poorly) by debt.

Super high salaries + recognizable company.

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

#117

Post by Nasrudith » Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 4:10 PM UTC

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…

Technically that constraint only applies to rational actors. There are plenty of reckless actors who risk it all on a longshot without anything to fall back on and enough survivor bias to make others think it is a good idea in general.

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

#118

Post by _jal » Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 4:12 PM UTC

Jommi wrote: post #93

doorstar wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 suc…

I don't know of any research, but personally know people who looked for ways to start their company while hedging various risks[1], couldn't find a way, and never tried.

I started a company after the first dot.com bust, because I had almost nothing to lose. But I also had no dependents to hurt. So it can cut both ways, but I don't think many folks take the path I did by choice.

[1] One had a spouse with a chronic medical condition, losing insurance was not an option; one had a large student loan debt and didn't want to risk defaulting. I've heard other stories.

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

#119

Post by GCA10 » Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 4:12 PM UTC

There's a Burning Man analogy in the Twitter comments that struck me as quite apt. In fact, it holds for everything from vacation destinations to multi-decade music acts.

People who were there at the beginning feel that something magical has slowly been corrupted by success and all the bigness issues that come with it. They aren't totally wrong. But people who get there later still find something of value, and everything is now sturdy enough to support wider participation.

I'm okay with seeing it both ways.

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

#120

Post by mytailorisrich » Wed, Jul 22, 2020, 4:13 PM UTC

Pelic4n wrote: post #110

mytailorisrich wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Sorry that hurts your feelings but white households are much more rich than black households. According to the federal reserve, both mean and median net worth of black families are under 15% of the mean and median net worth of white families: https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/rece... If you force start ups founders into dire financials situations, those who can afford it are way more likely to b…

It's not a childish question of hurt feelings.

This is bringing race into a discussion where it does not belong, this is perpetuating racial bias and racial discrimination. Your comment does the same.

I have flagged the original comment because I think this has no place on HN or anywhere.