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Delve removed from Y Combinator

ycombinator.com

181–190 of 344 posts

Re: Delve removed from Y Combinator

#181
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YC has no problem with morally questionable behavior, many YC startups do things that are just as shady. YC is, ultimately, not responsible for what these startups choose to do. Delve’s problem is that they betrayed so many other YC companies in the process. An important value of being in YC is access to a ready-made customer base. The licensing issue is nothing compared to their fake audits but it is an affront to t…

> YC is, ultimately, not responsible for what these startups choose to do. Of course they're responsible for their investments; they're just not liable. YC has a lot to answer for in the damage it's wreaked over the years.

> YC has a lot to answer for in the damage it's wreaked over the years.

What damage is that? (excluding the present case)

Re: Delve removed from Y Combinator

#182
post #34

I'm getting the impression that a lot of people in this thread think this is because they violated an open-source license and saying things to the effect of, "they're just the ones who got caught". I also thought that was the scandal initially. (And when it comes to license violations, yes, there's absolutely more where that came from.) But that's just the cherry on top. I don't think they're being thrown out because…

All LLMs do this, yet nobody bats an eye.

[deleted]

Re: Delve removed from Y Combinator

#183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you care about this stuff you need to in-house auditing and do your own audits with people who care. Then get certified by an external auditor for the paper. You can start very lightweight with doing spec driven development with the help of AI if you're at a size where you can't afford that. It's better than nothing. But the important part is you, as a company, should inherently care. If you rely on an auditor fee…

This function exists in every publicly traded public company, and is called internal audit. It has the potential to be incredibly impactful, but often devolves into box ticking (like many compliance functions). And it's really hard to find technical people to do the work, as it's generally perceived as a cost centre so tends not to get budget.

Nobody really tries to get technical people to do the work.

Like cool, it's a great idea and would potentially produce positive results if done well, but the roles pay half the engineering roles, and the interviews are stacked towards compliance frameworks.

There's very little ability to fix a large public company when HR is involved

Re: Delve removed from Y Combinator

#184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was half-joking, but if YC has a legal issue resulting from the alleged fraud (unclear currently), kicking out the company for the lesser infraction would make more sense.

Investors aren't on the hook for the bad behavior of companies they invest in. Quite the opposite: Defrauding investors (and acquirers, and creditors) is commonly the thing that lands people like Elizabeth Holmes in prison.

Ycombinator may have financially benefited from the scam operations since the company subsequently raised funds.

Considering they do due diligence before investment and are experts in IT and legal, how could they not know what is the business model when it was the unique selling point ?

Re: Delve removed from Y Combinator

#186

Someone leaked an internal Bookface chat from Garry Tan (YC CEO) saying: We have asked Delve to leave YC. YC is a community, not just an accelerator. The founders in our community have to trust each other, and we have to trust them. When that trust breaks down, there's really only one thing to do. We're not going to get into the details publicly. We wish them well. https://x.com/___4o____/status/2040271468874076380 I…

"They've betrayed my trust but I wish them well" is an interesting statement.

Someone doing harm to you doesn't automatically mean you wish harm to them. Not that I necessarily take what Garry says at face value but it's definitely possible to unironically take this viewpoint.

Re: Delve removed from Y Combinator

#187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"They've betrayed my trust but I wish them well" is an interesting statement.

"they can fuck off from where they came" would be a bit too intense even for Gary

I guess if he told them "die slow motherfuckers" as he's told others that wouldn't be too intense for him.

Re: Delve removed from Y Combinator

#188
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s not how words work. This sentence > I ignore the law every day when I jaywalk. Means the exact same thing as “I intentionally break jaywalking laws every day”. They are equivalent sentences.

I agreed with you; that is why I said I wasn’t being careful with my language.

What does that mean

Re: Delve removed from Y Combinator

#189
post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Investors aren't on the hook for the bad behavior of companies they invest in. Quite the opposite: Defrauding investors (and acquirers, and creditors) is commonly the thing that lands people like Elizabeth Holmes in prison.

Ycombinator may have financially benefited from the scam operations since the company subsequently raised funds. Considering they do due diligence before investment and are experts in IT and legal, how could they not know what is the business model when it was the unique selling point ?

Because Delve defrauded them.

Re: Delve removed from Y Combinator

#190
post #98
post #34

I'm getting the impression that a lot of people in this thread think this is because they violated an open-source license and saying things to the effect of, "they're just the ones who got caught". I also thought that was the scandal initially. (And when it comes to license violations, yes, there's absolutely more where that came from.) But that's just the cherry on top. I don't think they're being thrown out because…

YC has no problem with morally questionable behavior, many YC startups do things that are just as shady. YC is, ultimately, not responsible for what these startups choose to do. Delve’s problem is that they betrayed so many other YC companies in the process. An important value of being in YC is access to a ready-made customer base. The licensing issue is nothing compared to their fake audits but it is an affront to t…

Of course, giving money to terrorists also doesn't make the side giving money responsible /s

The delusions people establish to feel better about their or someone else they like mistakes...

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