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I got into YC Startup School by hacking it

obaid.wtf

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Re: I got into YC Startup School by hacking it

#31

Post by jedberg »

nhumrich wrote: post #28
jedberg wrote: post #12

For the longest time, the YC application included the question "What was your greatest (non-computer) hack?". They have always liked people who think of ways to work around existing systems. So it's no surprise that their response was positive. Also, all the principals are ex-founders, mostly engineers, who totally understand hacking culture. Sadly, it looks like they took that question off the application though.

Except this was a computer hack. So technically wouldn't qualify.

Sure, I wasn't saying it would. I was saying that the question on the application demonstrates YC's acceptance of this type of creativity.

Re: I got into YC Startup School by hacking it

#33

Post by tomhow »

TZubiri wrote: post #29
tomhow wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn’t upload code (it’s not meant to, anyway); it uploads coding agent transcripts. It’s meant to be a fun app like Spotify wrapped - that’s how it was described when presented internally.

It's very common nowadays to claim that something doesn't have access to X when it does in fact have system level access to X, but the application code just doesn't use X (or a prompt is being asked not to use X). >curl -fsSL https://paxel.ycombinator.com/upload.sh | bash Point in case. Trustworthy people will ask you to give them the right amount of access, they won't ask you for infinite access and ask you to trust…

Sure - and people are able to audit what the software is doing and call it out if it’s operating in a way that’s unintended or inappropriate, just as has happened here.

Edit:

I’ll add this point as people always seem to want to raise the spectre of YC or the AI platforms stealing people’s code or ideas via these sorts of tools.

The value of any code or ideas is immaterial compared to the value of identifying talented people who can then be offered opportunities such as attending Startup School, being funded by YC, getting jobs at YC-funded companies or YC itself.

It’s one of pg’s oldest dictums, that ideas alone are worthless, and only working products and the people that build them are worth anything. Nobody at YC thinks any differently about that these days.

Re: I got into YC Startup School by hacking it

#34

Post by TZubiri »

siva7 wrote: post #2

> I uncovered Y Combinator was scoring 100k+ founders around the world through Paxel Alright, my ears are wide open. Tell us more, how did YC use the private submission data from thousands of founders to score them? They fed some 3rd-Party AI all personal data to score who should get an interview? I can't be the only one here seeing a bad news story unfolding in real time...

YC is currently polarizing against companies that are rejecting the philosophy of giving (a single user) AI full read access to company data. They find that resistance frustrating and the complain publicly about it, calling such an attitude outdated "so 2024".

https://youtu.be/B246K_G7mHU?si=UVJei9Jpk7ZvREnH&t=1483

https://youtu.be/B246K_G7mHU?si=ikHZD4MwxA5JtXLj&t=1716

I understand that YC and startups in general have less incentive to worry about security because they don't have much to lose. But I think the big winners will care about security from the start, because it's a bottleneck at the top, what would whatsapp be if they vibecoded security from day 1? It would never have been able to fix its reputation after the fact.

They then switch the topic and talk about token spend and how one can spend millions or billions of dollars in tokens, so it's a bit clearer what their incentives are.

I don't want to be negative and personal, but this is business, I listen to CEOs like Garry Tan and Satya Nadella, and I feel that I'm on an opposing team, my personal bet is to skip this cycle and wait for the next cycle of CEOs. I'm focusing a lot on security on this cycle, hopefully that will pay off.

Re: I got into YC Startup School by hacking it

#36

Post by r_lee »

prerok wrote: post #19
moomoo11 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

most VCs aren’t founders and those who are ex-founders usually made pretty terrible companies. very few exceptions. actually i can think of only one. but once you have some money (like >5m which is achievable), you can throw it around a bit and you just need a handful of success stories built by someone actually talented. then you take credit for it and craft a narrative instead, which is easier just like collecting…

How is 5m easy to achieve? Asking for a friend.

I don't think he ever said it was "easy"

Re: I got into YC Startup School by hacking it

#37

Post by a_t48 »

jedberg wrote: post #12

For the longest time, the YC application included the question "What was your greatest (non-computer) hack?". They have always liked people who think of ways to work around existing systems. So it's no surprise that their response was positive. Also, all the principals are ex-founders, mostly engineers, who totally understand hacking culture. Sadly, it looks like they took that question off the application though.

That question is still there, it lives in the founder profile.

Re: I got into YC Startup School by hacking it

#39

Post by throwa356262 »

tomhow wrote: post #23
OtherShrezzing wrote: post #18

Am I misreading this, or is ycombinator running a tool that transfers IP from an applicant’s machine to OpenAI and then transfers the generated summaries into their own servers. And that tool has some “webapp security 101” level vulnerability in it. Feels like a disaster waiting to happen.

It doesn’t upload code (it’s not meant to, anyway); it uploads coding agent transcripts. It’s meant to be a fun app like Spotify wrapped - that’s how it was described when presented internally.

But to generate those transcripts the tool does upload your code to an LLM of its choosing

;)

Re: I got into YC Startup School by hacking it

#40

Post by tomhow »

throwa356262 wrote: post #39
tomhow wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn’t upload code (it’s not meant to, anyway); it uploads coding agent transcripts. It’s meant to be a fun app like Spotify wrapped - that’s how it was described when presented internally.

But to generate those transcripts the tool does upload your code to an LLM of its choosing ;)

Right, and you have to pay for the privilege :)
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