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Y Combinator and Power in Silicon Valley

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Re: Y Combinator and Power in Silicon Valley

#111

Post by JoshTriplett »

worksonmymach wrote: post #17
cj wrote: post #6

If you’re wondering what to take away from this article: the simple take away is that YC has the power to get what it wants, for the companies it wants. If you happen to be in YC’s good graces, they will reward you in ways described in the article. If you’re not, they won’t take the time. I was in YC in 2012 (2 yrs after the founder writing this article, and one of the last years PG was directly involved). By that ti…

I'd love to know who "wins" in a scaled YC vs. the oceanic tide that is the SP500 and it's capital sucking and brain sucking ways. A Google can stop 10000 potential startups simply with RSUs and cap another 10000 by buying them out (which is kinda good for YC but not really... they'd rather own a chunk of a Google).

If you make buyout offers to 10000 startups, how many of those say "no" to those offers? Not everybody is willing to send an "our incredible journey" post to all their users.

Re: Y Combinator and Power in Silicon Valley

#112

Post by JoshTriplett »

tomhoward wrote: post #73
adastra22 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the point. One should be allowed to be critical of the institutions of the valley without getting their name written down in a secret blacklist.

YC will fund anyone who is building a company that looks like it could be highly successful. There's one case I'm thinking of now where someone was as critical of YC (both the org and individual leaders) as anyone could possibly be, in a highly public and sustained way, and their startup later got funded by YC.

Which case was that?

Re: Y Combinator and Power in Silicon Valley

#113

Post by pjmorris »

jonstewart wrote: post #92
pjmorris wrote: post #55

I recently read 'The Power Broker', Robert Caro, which describes how Robert Moses came to acquire power over park, road, bridge, and tunnel construction in New York City and State for over 40 years. There are strong parallels with the story here.

The Power Broker is supposed to be a story of moral failure and how power corrupts, and it is, but it’s also the absolute best how-to guide.

In an interview, Michael Lewis has said that he wrote 'Liar's Poker' as a cautionary tale, but it was taken as a 'How To' manual. Robert Caro has said (e.g. in 'Working') that he writes to expose how power is acquired and used in the US... which, as you say, also cuts both ways.

Re: Y Combinator and Power in Silicon Valley

#114

Post by klooney »

worksonmymach wrote: post #17
cj wrote: post #6

If you’re wondering what to take away from this article: the simple take away is that YC has the power to get what it wants, for the companies it wants. If you happen to be in YC’s good graces, they will reward you in ways described in the article. If you’re not, they won’t take the time. I was in YC in 2012 (2 yrs after the founder writing this article, and one of the last years PG was directly involved). By that ti…

I'd love to know who "wins" in a scaled YC vs. the oceanic tide that is the SP500 and it's capital sucking and brain sucking ways. A Google can stop 10000 potential startups simply with RSUs and cap another 10000 by buying them out (which is kinda good for YC but not really... they'd rather own a chunk of a Google).

> A Google can stop 10000 potential startups simply with RSUs

The real killer here is the Bay Area housing market. You need those RSUs to pay for a place to stay.

Re: Y Combinator and Power in Silicon Valley

#115

Post by elktown »

tim333 wrote: post #101
elktown wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only consistency you'll find in business and politics is self-interest - perceived or real.

I think that's a bit of an oversimplification. A lot of people are well meaning.

It's a matter of proportionality in power and influence. E.g: Yes, most football fans are likely well meaning folks, but the World Cup is still ending up in absolute monarchies with all excuses under the sun suddenly appearing to defend it, not rarely from the same influential people that would scoff at the idea a short while earlier.

Re: Y Combinator and Power in Silicon Valley

#117

Post by fullshark »

tim333 wrote: post #101
elktown wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only consistency you'll find in business and politics is self-interest - perceived or real.

I think that's a bit of an oversimplification. A lot of people are well meaning.

Those are the useful idiots, the chess pieces on the board to work with.

Re: Y Combinator and Power in Silicon Valley

#118

Post by pjmorris »

throw4847285 wrote: post #100
pjmorris wrote: post #55

I recently read 'The Power Broker', Robert Caro, which describes how Robert Moses came to acquire power over park, road, bridge, and tunnel construction in New York City and State for over 40 years. There are strong parallels with the story here.

Oh man, glad I'm not the only person who won't shut up about the Power Broker. I think the best takeaway is that a bubble forms around the powerful where they cease to have to engage with the world as it is.

Hear, hear.

It's interesting to me how Moses, per Caro, moved from being idealistic to being pragmatic in ways that look like corruption to those outside the 'bubble' but look like appropriate means and measures for accomplishing one's goals if you're inside the bubble.

He came to be in possession of a great many opportunities to build, and so, to spend money, and he, using these opportunities and the money flow, over time, built a political machine for doing so in a way that benefited those who helped him, and punished those who didn't.

Re: Y Combinator and Power in Silicon Valley

#119

Post by foobarian »

klooney wrote: post #114
worksonmymach wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to know who "wins" in a scaled YC vs. the oceanic tide that is the SP500 and it's capital sucking and brain sucking ways. A Google can stop 10000 potential startups simply with RSUs and cap another 10000 by buying them out (which is kinda good for YC but not really... they'd rather own a chunk of a Google).

> A Google can stop 10000 potential startups simply with RSUs The real killer here is the Bay Area housing market. You need those RSUs to pay for a place to stay.

If the engineers are just middlemen for plumbing that money to property owners, seems like owning property in the Bay Area might be a good idea.

Re: Y Combinator and Power in Silicon Valley

#120

Post by breck »

neilv wrote: post #5

> > Y Combinator was the sort of unforgiving power player that remembered the names of investors who had crossed portfolio companies in the past, or who had disseminated unflattering portraits of YC, and blacklisted them from any YC dealings, or from the minds of YC founders. Do we have to be careful what we say on HN?

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