YC is a cult

Post by dfranke » Tue, Jul 29, 2008, 10:09 PM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #139

dfranke wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think trying to resist the monoculture is a mistake. Your stated aim for the constituency of the news.yc community is "the 10,000 best hackers and nobody else". If you achieved that aim, you'd have a monoculture. It would be a slightly different monoculture than the current one and less in your image, but a monoculture nonetheless. If it's even possible to move away from monoculture without moving toward Digg, I do…

It could be that in order to get the 10,000 best hackers, he has to resist the monoculture. Good hackers usually get that way because they're curious and like to learn new things. It gets boring when the same few dozen people submit the same thousand articles.

Post by Xichekolas » Tue, Jul 29, 2008, 10:27 PM UTC

danielharan wrote: post #122

mattmaroon wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YC doesn't dictate how many hours you work. They aren't project managers or pointy haired bosses. They're investors. Your biggest mistake is taking the blog entry of one startup out of 100 or so that they've funded and assuming that what they do is typical and/or directed by YC.

I wish it were selection bias. Unfortunately, every time I hear about a YC company they seem to brag about the hours they work. Are there numbers about this? A survey of average hours worked in YC startups (ideally separating code / biz time) would be helpful to give people a realistic idea of what they're signing up for when they apply.

Post by Xichekolas » Tue, Jul 29, 2008, 10:36 PM UTC

stcredzero wrote: post #126

mattmaroon wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't like that formula, because in both cases the manipulator would think it's for their own good. It's too subjective.

Well, that's why there is no formula! It's a sticky wicket. In the case of the mother and child, in most cases, the mother is correct in thinking it's "for their own good." Also, in that case, there's good reason to believe that the child doesn't know what's best. So don't try to put any formula in my mouth. I explicitly said I had none! (It's like porn: "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it.")

Post by run4yourlives » Wed, Jul 30, 2008, 12:04 AM UTC

demandred wrote: post #140

pg wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's as bad as it might seem. I'd rather have this on the frontpage than lolcats or accident pictures. In fact, I think some of the people who upvote or submit things like this do it as a way of keeping News.YC good. They don't want the site to degenerate into an intellectual monoculture. That doesn't mean they necessarily agree with everything it says. Back in the 1960s, the Communists used to get so m…

I do wonder how many upvotes this got because people wanted to see a good discussion/ rebuttal.

Post by paul » Wed, Jul 30, 2008, 1:01 AM UTC

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #148

paul wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather see LOLCATs. I haven't quite figured out how to articulate what's wrong with this kind of thing, but it's somewhat similar to Fox news -- they're not simply useless, they're corrosive. I'm still trying to think of a better explanation. Disagreement is fine and good, but this kind of thing is something else. The 37signals posts do a good job of presenting an alternate perspective, but in a way that is gener…

I'd like to see you explain yourself better, Paul. How can free speech corrode anything? Is it like when you tell a kid there's no Santa Claus, then you've hurt his innocence with your cynicism? It sounds like you've got your thumb on a very specific feeling, and I'd be interested to hear about it, but heck if I can figure out where you're going. I'm a big free speech guy, and I love a good kick in the butt from time…