What I Learned Going Through YC as a 17 Year Old • Hacker News Board

Re: What I Learned Going Through YC as a 17 Year Old

#151

Post by lhnz » Sun, Sep 06, 2020, 6:54 PM UTC

macspoofing wrote: post #43

lhnz wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You may be right, but do you have any evidence of > this, anecdotal or otherwise? It's true everywhere else in the world. I think the burder of proof should be the other way around, and instead you should provide evidence this isn't the case within the YC/VC system?

>It's true everywhere else in the world. Sure. It's true that your background matters in general . What's not clear, and does put the burden of proof on OP, that the specific background of FAANG experience matters. >and instead you should provide evidence this isn't the case within the YC/VC system? As a general rule, it's not easy to prove a negative. What kind of evidence would you expect for YC/VC system that woul…

  > What kind of evidence would you expect for YC/VC system
  > that would answer this for you??

I'm not asking for a negative to be proven. You could define a set of prestigious organisations (FANG, Oxbridge, Ivy League) and you could look at the rate at which investors invest into people from these institutions over people from other institutions.

Re: What I Learned Going Through YC as a 17 Year Old

#152

Post by troquerre » Sun, Sep 06, 2020, 9:33 PM UTC

aroundtown wrote: post #111

troquerre wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Author here. I completely agree that privilege opens doors not available to others. But my intention was that it’s possible to break into Silicon Valley and succeed (to the extent you can consider going through YC success...) even without privilege. I saw another comment saying that I went to MIT around the same time as YC. It was actually after — going through YC enabled me to apply to MIT and get in without a high…

I am curious, were these jobs actually internships? If so, were they unpaid? How were you able to support yourself so young and inexperienced in the Valley?

The summer job at Teespring was an internship — iirc around minimum wage. After my internship I became a fulltime employee and they put me on a normal salary which made SF more affordable.

Re: What I Learned Going Through YC as a 17 Year Old

#153

Post by mola » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 6:42 AM UTC

anonAndOn wrote: post #125

mola wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you get the notion that moonshots move forward the society? Heck large parts the US is 3rd world level I'm infrastructure and education. But US is really good with VC and such. Sorry, this assumption is just a pipe dream.

Re-usable rockets? Affordable & enjoyable electric cars? Or, perhaps an oldie, but goodie, “A computer on every desk, and in every home, running Microsoft software.” And believe it or not, there was a time when Bill G. was well on his way to realizing that vision.

How reusable rockets or silly fast 0-60 electric cars help the millions who get crappy education, savagely policed, or working 3 jobs to not starve?

Re: What I Learned Going Through YC as a 17 Year Old

#154

Post by manigandham » Sun, Sep 13, 2020, 8:41 AM UTC

gavinray wrote: post #96

jayparth wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, if you get into MIT, you can definitely get student loans... lenders agree that your MIT degree is proof that you'll make significant income later in life and pay off that debt. Your situation sucks. It's not really applicable for top schools though. With a combination of financial assistance and debt, it's possible for most people coming from bad financial situations.

> It's possible for most people coming from bad financial situations. I know this probably applies to almost nobody, but it's something I haven't seen discussed openly before: If you're a completely average person in the US. Not a minority, coming from a middleclass family. But your family doesn't want to just hand you money -- you're kind of fucked. There's something called "Expected Family Contribution". The countr…

This applies to a lot more people than you think, and regardless of whether they're a minority or not (whatever that even means anymore). Also even if your family does want to support you, the rates are far higher than what middle-class can realistically contribute. Ridiculous debt is the only option on the table for the majority of college students these days.

Re: What I Learned Going Through YC as a 17 Year Old

#155

Post by simonebrunozzi » Wed, Sep 16, 2020, 3:38 AM UTC

blocked_again wrote: post #18

> Silicon Valley doesn't care about your background This is BS. You have a much higher chance of rasing money for the same idea if you worked in FAANG than if you worked in Accenture. Same goes to someone who went to Harvard vs someone who went to University of Colorado.

Not to mention it's easier if you're American, rather than... Say... Italian.