Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

seedlauncher.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

131–140 of 160 posts

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#131

Post by Steko »

forgottenpaswrd wrote: post #125

You speak desperation language. This is like a woman that rejects you on a date and you take it too seriously: " I will do whatever you wish to test my love". It does not work that way because you are putting her in a high pedestal and yourself in a lower status.(And you could be sorry for making commitments to people you don't really know yet, "may you get what you wish for" is a curse on China). Maybe it is not the…

I guess one man's "desperation" is another's marketing/self-promotion.

Maybe nothing comes of this directly but many more people are already talking about them then say 24 hours ago. In that it's already a huge success for a promotion that has cost them all of 15 min.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#133

Post by kappaknight »

javajosh wrote: post #46
jessedhillon wrote: post #37

Even if PG gave you such a task, how would that demonstrate anything relevant? You getting a task and a deadline is the opposite of being entrepreneurial; that's called having a job and a boss and showing that you are an adequate or better employee. Being entrepreneurial involves you 1) generating ideas, 2) using your intuition to pick a good one, 3) testing it out to see if your intuition is correct (iterate if not)…

Oh, I don't know. Having a team that can solve any arbitrary difficult problem in three days could be quite useful in a startup. The (technical) execution of a startup idea can be cast as a series of arbitrarily difficult problems, after all.

While I agree execution is important, so is the process of coming up with a good idea.

This post is essentially asking PG to come up with an idea for them.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#134

Post by RyanMcGreal »

kappaknight wrote: post #133
javajosh wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, I don't know. Having a team that can solve any arbitrary difficult problem in three days could be quite useful in a startup. The (technical) execution of a startup idea can be cast as a series of arbitrarily difficult problems, after all.

While I agree execution is important, so is the process of coming up with a good idea. This post is essentially asking PG to come up with an idea for them.

PG has argued repeatedly that the idea a startup comes up with is the least reliable and arguably least important factor in whether that startup will be successful.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#135

Post by DanBC »

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #134
kappaknight wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree execution is important, so is the process of coming up with a good idea. This post is essentially asking PG to come up with an idea for them.

PG has argued repeatedly that the idea a startup comes up with is the least reliable and arguably least important factor in whether that startup will be successful.

The idea doesn't matter - but the method of getting the idea? The way that idea is tackled?

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#136

Post by corkill »

littlegiantcap wrote: post #109
vm wrote: post #9

I love the creativity, though I have to admit, I'm a little confused. YC already does a great job of releasing great startup ideas (see links below in the off chance that you haven't read them already). And it seems like everyone I met who got in was accepted because of the awesome things they created. So if you're short on ideas, read the lists, and then get to work and have something to show for it by application t…

Our team has been talking, and we've decided that even if we don't hear back from anyone at Y Combinator we're doing a 72 hour hackathon sometime in the next week using something on one of those list. :)

Yep just do it. Everyone can talk a good game. Solve something then come back and show everyone.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#137

Post by RyanMcGreal »

DanBC wrote: post #135
RyanMcGreal wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PG has argued repeatedly that the idea a startup comes up with is the least reliable and arguably least important factor in whether that startup will be successful.

The idea doesn't matter - but the method of getting the idea? The way that idea is tackled?

If the idea doesn't matter, the method of getting the idea should matter even less. What's important is whether the team can a) respond to feedback on their idea and b) code quickly and effectively to put that response into action.

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#138

Post by noahc »

nostromo wrote: post #111
littlegiantcap wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

http://b.qr.ae/Hktlyv This explains our dilemma. Frankly, we are a bunch of "nobodies" in the middle of Iowa. We don't know any Y Combinator Alums, and even if we were to reach out the best we could hope for is a lukewarm they seemed "nice". We have a lot of drive and are trying to prove ourselves any way possible. That's what we're trying to do with this post.

Leave Iowa. I was born in Idaho. I've since lived in New York, Seattle, and San Francisco; have built a great network and resume and recently raised a round for my startup. ... but I didn't do it from Idaho and you won't from Iowa.

One word, Dwolla.

It depends on your startup and what it does if iowa is a good choice. Funding isnt easy no matter where you live,congrats!

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#139

Post by GFischer »

jerryji wrote: post #79
_delirium wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The flipside is that there are a surprising number of organizations with lots of money that haven't figured out a better way of distributing it, so applications can still be a good way of getting funds. One of my acquaintances, for example, just got $100k in seed funding (with no equity in return) entirely based on a 15-page application sent to a funding body, having had no previous contact with the funder.

Dear lord, I'd love to know who this funder is.

In the case of my country's government (or Chile's), you can get a grant for your startup without having prior contact.

However, in my country at least, I do know they give more weight to applications from people they know (I don't know how, the others might get processed later or whatever, or they skew in their favor).

So, you might get funded without contacts, but it's less likely (I guess you have to be outstanding in some sense, either killer business plan or credentials).

Re: Dear Y Combinator, we bet you we can solve a problem of yours in 72 hours.

#140

Post by MehdiEG »

jerryji wrote: post #79
_delirium wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The flipside is that there are a surprising number of organizations with lots of money that haven't figured out a better way of distributing it, so applications can still be a good way of getting funds. One of my acquaintances, for example, just got $100k in seed funding (with no equity in return) entirely based on a 15-page application sent to a funding body, having had no previous contact with the funder.

Dear lord, I'd love to know who this funder is.

The government most likely. There are several places in this world where startups, and businesses in general, almost drown in free money like this. The downside to this is that in order to get this free money, you first have to go through a senseless amount of paperwork, bureaucracy and bullshit. But, to be honest, it's a small price to pay for what you get.

Northern Ireland for example is a startup paradise. InvestNI, the government body in charge of giving away free money, recently had to give back a whooping £39m (that's $62m!) because it couldn't find enough businesses to give the money to quickly enough.

Sadly, many entrepreneurs in these places have never experienced what doing a startup in the "real-world" is like and they don't realise what an incredibly competitive advantage these grants give them. So instead of leveraging this opportunity, many spend most of their time whining and complaining about the paperwork and bureaucracy involved.

Post reply on HN