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Early Photos of Y Combinator
61–70 of 73 posts
Re: Early Photos of Y Combinator
#62Where are the black people?
They are out eating fried chicken.
Seriously, ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.
Re: Early Photos of Y Combinator
#63I want to know who the "VoIP Offensive Linemen" are. Actually, a lot of the nicknames on that board are pretty funny, and for the most part would make great band names.
Haha one of the lineman is me, although I was only 6' 250 lbs at the time. A co-founder also was one. He was about 6'3 280 lbs. The third co-founder was actually a running back and wrestler, so he was only 5'8 165 lbs or so.
Wait, so you guys actually were linemen? That's even better!
Re: Early Photos of Y Combinator
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Haha one of the lineman is me, although I was only 6' 250 lbs at the time. A co-founder also was one. He was about 6'3 280 lbs. The third co-founder was actually a running back and wrestler, so he was only 5'8 165 lbs or so.
Wait, so you guys actually were linemen? That's even better!
Yup :)
I didn't play in college, though. Just old man flag leagues during the fall and winter. angilly did and #3 wrestled but no football.
But by the time interviews rolled around we were all close to finishing grad school, so our glory days were in the rearview.
Re: Early Photos of Y Combinator
#65Does anyone know the people in the last picture? Would be cool to match the people to products still up and running
Re: Early Photos of Y Combinator
#66It is unbelievably amazing that YC went from literally a gleam in jl's (and pg's) eye to something that is a clear leader in not only incubators but entrepreneurial thought as well. A case of clearly superior vision getting its due. Such vision to success proportionality is not so common, I think.
> Such vision to success proportionality is not so common, I think
I'm not sure of what you mean, but I would argue that vision is everything, and that vision well executed has to bring success.
When we say that execution is hard, we really mean that execution that implements a vision is hard. Execution without vision is really easy (it's entropy).
Vision is harder, because it's not just an idea (a wish), but a deep insight into the future and how to get there.
Those pictures of young YC remind me of Burano — an island next to Venice that stayed in a kind of "pristine" state: Venice before Venice.
Re: Early Photos of Y Combinator
#67Thank you, Paul. I love this trip down memory lane.
Re: Early Photos of Y Combinator
#68It is unbelievably amazing that YC went from literally a gleam in jl's (and pg's) eye to something that is a clear leader in not only incubators but entrepreneurial thought as well. A case of clearly superior vision getting its due. Such vision to success proportionality is not so common, I think.
> A case of clearly superior vision getting its due
PG & Company have clearly done a "bang up job", as they say in the UK, but... is it genuinely a 'vision'? I don't know them and their plans well enough to say, but it seems that there is some hill climbing going on there too. "Of course what we decided to start was a lot less ambitious than YC is now."
Re: Early Photos of Y Combinator
#69It is unbelievably amazing that YC went from literally a gleam in jl's (and pg's) eye to something that is a clear leader in not only incubators but entrepreneurial thought as well. A case of clearly superior vision getting its due. Such vision to success proportionality is not so common, I think.
> Such vision to success proportionality is not so common, I think I'm not sure of what you mean, but I would argue that vision is everything, and that vision well executed has to bring success. When we say that execution is hard, we really mean that execution that implements a vision is hard. Execution without vision is really easy (it's entropy). Vision is harder, because it's not just an idea (a wish), but a deep…
You're somewhat right, vision is crucial. However, it is a necessary but not sufficient condition for success, that's what I meant. Classic (somewhat cliche) example is the early Xerox vision, but I see this everyday youthful energy and vision (and I'm not talking about myself :-) being squashed by various factors in large corporations. In startups the vision to success black box is simpler, but is by no means a linear relationship.
Re: Early Photos of Y Combinator
#70It is unbelievably amazing that YC went from literally a gleam in jl's (and pg's) eye to something that is a clear leader in not only incubators but entrepreneurial thought as well. A case of clearly superior vision getting its due. Such vision to success proportionality is not so common, I think.
> A case of clearly superior vision getting its due PG & Company have clearly done a "bang up job", as they say in the UK, but... is it genuinely a 'vision'? I don't know them and their plans well enough to say, but it seems that there is some hill climbing going on there too. "Of course what we decided to start was a lot less ambitious than YC is now."
I think the operational details naturally were arrived at by hill climbing (or descent), as you suggest. However, I suggest that you read pg's early essays, most of the basic vision that went into YC, the no-nonsense "make something that people want" approach is there. That's why YC was successful, if they didn't start from such an initial condition they would have been just another incubator and there are hundreds of them.