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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

#221
post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also doesn't make any sense from an investment perspective. Reddit would have been one of the most successful YC companies of all time, except for that they basically had to shut down because they couldn't raise money. This happened to lots of early YC companies that could have otherwise been successful. Had Reddit not sold for pennies on the dollar to Conde Nast, that alone would have probably paid for the extra…

i had thought myself reasonably well informed on the Reddit story but this is surprising. you're saying if they had their 7% of the ~1-2b it wouldve paid for every YC startup since? but its not liquid...

It’s also, AFAIK, never turned a profit. So unless they sold their stake to someone willing to gamble further, they wouldn’t have anything to show for the increased investment.

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

#222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great point. People think a willingness to take extreme financial risks is somehow a useful personality trait when it comes to entrepreneurship because of selection bias. People who take that risk and make it tell that story. People who take that risk and don't make it aren't heard from. People who don't take that risk also aren't heard from. There are lots of people with great ideas and the ability to execute on the…

And often, getting credit card debt is not a material risk, but a minor embarrassment when they ask their family to bail them out and/or move in the guest house for a few months, rent-free. When poorer folk take the "same" risk, they can be ruined for decades.

It's also a privilege to even have a significant amount of unsecured credit available to you in the first place.

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

#223

> 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.

Most of them will be white - basic statistics bear that out. Since my point was that it's incredibly detrimental to diversity, it's obviously relevant to it. If you want to make an argument for something, go nuts, but don't come tell me what defines my own argument.

Also, stuff like this is problematic for diversity - you're pretending that race is somehow irrelevant in discussions of socioeconomic status, when in fact it is very much so. "It doesn't matter that they're white, it just matters that they're rich" very much misses some highly relevant big picture info.

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

#224
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…

Completely agree with the point except the needless use of racial stereotyping on an economic issue.

The reality is that millions of white people come from impoverished backgrounds. And millions of Indian, Asian, and yes even Black and Latino people are from wealthy backgrounds.

Polices designed to help economic diversity will necessarily and disproportionately help certain racial minorities and that’s all for the good. If you want to actually help the world stop making it about race when it is not. And feel free to make it about race when it actually is.

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

#225

> 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.

Because intersectionality cuts both ways and we've only been talking about one of them.

By the new definition of 'middle class' (which now includes people up to their eyeballs in debt), the middle class would call me a 'rich dude' even though millionaires would tolerate my presence at an event but not be that happy about it. I see this every time I am given bad news about a large bill for the vet or repairs and they are visibly surprised when I just reach for the wallet instead of argue. You are a rich dude, dude.

But I've noticed that I am comfortable in other situations where my white dude peers are not and it's because I belong to other privilege groups that they don't. Like physicality. Which I think speaks to how people react when you point out their privileges, because there is always somebody who has it better off and if you are jealous of other people, it rots your brain. Sympathizing with people who are jealous of you while you are insanely jealous of others takes some internal work that people don't want to do.

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

#226
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…

I would imagine that even the check sizes they offer still don't solve this problem.

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

#227

Is anyone else unimpressed with the ideas being funded? I look at Work at a Startup and it is just new web frontends on existing industries. I'm sure that makes money but holy hell is it boring. Some are working on cool things, but the founder who has a PhD in that topic will be doing the interesting work and they are hiring for infra or interface. One company was a great match for my skill set but the equity was so…

>Is anyone else unimpressed with the ideas being funded? look at Work at a Startup and it is just new web frontends on existing industries. If there's money basically just lying all over the ground, why wouldn't you pick it up?

Sure but that's not addressing his point which is most of the ideas being funded are uninteresting and aren't really moving the ball forward. Instead they're doing some kind of rent seeking.

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

#228
post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It was that "consuming the risk" when you have no safety net (e.g. move back in with family etc.) is a much bigger issue than if you do. My point is these are the same. One individual has a different risk profile because (s)he made different choices and thats fine. If you have kids -- it will negatively affect your capacity to start a company. >Corollary: startups can only be started by people in a position to cons…

There are many people (the vast majority of people, in fact) who could not deal with risk for reasons entirely unrelated to having kids. A person's risk profile (particularly if they are young) has much more to with their family background than choices they made (or didn't make). I'd rather not have new ideas for businesses filtered through "can afford zero income for N months".

This all makes sense, but at some point you have to consider that startups are a privilege, not a right. Those that tailor their lives to be able to consume risk make tradeoffs like moving to a remote location, living single, minimizing expenses, forgoing healthcare, choosing to spend less time with friends, not getting that dog you always wanted, not having children, not getting married, not buying a house, etc. Narrowing your life for success takes tremendous sacrifices. It sounds like you want the benefits of having made those sacrifices without incurring any of their costs.

There's nothing wrong with choosing to have a family and raising kids, but that is a choice. No matter what conditions are set, the person who makes the necessary tradeoffs is going to be in a better position to succeed and YC as a business entity can do nothing to level the field for people who are willing to go all-in versus people who prioritize a comfortable home life.

Again, startups are privilege that form out of the security of societal infrastructure and excess of wealth. Nowhere in society is it prescribed that everyone should be able to forego having a job and drain their savings to gamble at a chance at massive wealth. How is it reasonable that we've come to expect this as some sort of entitlement?

The top comment makes a dismissive remark about "rich white men," and YC being against inclusivity and diversity. The natural response to this is that YC is not racially exclusive, but that they exclude based on those who can assume risk. Yes, but white people are rich so they can consume risk and black people are poor, therefore YC is in reality discriminative against blacks. The simplification of this kind of argument and its decontextualization from reality should be self-evident. Unfortunately, it's emblematic of the kind of emotionally reflexive and broadly appealing arguments we see thrown around instead of practicing any form of intellectual sophistication or nuance. It's far easier to make a glib side-remark suggestive of racial privilege. It's even easier when this is politically and socially trendy, even expected, and the individual making the remarks is protected from backlash by the insulation of a particular ideology.

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

#229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No parent wants to support their adult child indefinitely. The whole point of raising a child is to raise them to be self sufficient as adults. There's quite a difference between a parent offering their child a place to stay while they get back on their feet and supporting them "indefinitely". 33 percent of 25-29 year olds live with their parents today: https://qz.com/1248081/the-share-of-americans-age-25-29-livi...…

First generation immigrants were my point in B. Please note that this includes many of your university classmates and current colleagues. They may even come from well-off families who can support them, but they would have to move back to their country of origin and because of the way US immigration works, that would most probably be a one-way trip.

First gen immigrants have it more difficult. No doubt, but at the same time, they start businesses more often than their own children and multi-generation natives do in the US: https://www.forbes.com/sites/elainepofeldt/2013/06/26/first-... . But yes, many first gen immigrants are from relatively well off families in their respective countries. Chances are the immigration policies in the US are more favorable than whatever country they emigrated from. It's perfectly fine that we expect people who come here to work and support themselves otherwise our social programs would get burdened with taking care of anyone who could hop a flight.

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

#230
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…

If you have no capital to bring, then you will have no equity either unless you provide labor for free. Labor compensated with equity is capital, since you have to pay your living expenses out of savings or loans that you are liable for. And you'll just be an employee of sorts, except with less pay and more risk. Why bother? If you're unsure where your next meal is coming from, then you probably aren't currently a go…

And labor is to be exploited, so you're already put into a different class concerning "what can this person do for me?"
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