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Y Combinator’s New Head

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Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#11

Post by todd3834 »

reason wrote: post #2

No disrespect to Sam in any way -- he truly seems like a brilliant guy with a chorus of influential people behind him -- but I've been on a successful-person wikipedia binge as of late, and it's become very, very clear that a person's upbringing almost determines whether or not they're going to be successfull, which saddens me. I grew up to some very close-minded parents who severely limited my growth, forced me to f…

I tend to believe that the desire to be great is what drives successful people. A person's upbringing can often result in their desire to be great but it is not always the active ingredient. There are many people in the world who have had amazing upbringings and more opportunities than anyone else just to end up doing nothing significant in their life. Don't sell yourself short, be great.

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#13

Post by avenger123 »

reason wrote: post #2

No disrespect to Sam in any way -- he truly seems like a brilliant guy with a chorus of influential people behind him -- but I've been on a successful-person wikipedia binge as of late, and it's become very, very clear that a person's upbringing almost determines whether or not they're going to be successfull, which saddens me. I grew up to some very close-minded parents who severely limited my growth, forced me to f…

Everything you are saying about the parents and the upbringing is true. We always need to put anyone's success in context. It's easy to compare myself and feel less accomplished when just looking superficially at someone's success. When I dig deeper into their history and life circumstances the comparison gets muddier and muddier until it really doesn't make sense.

But.. here is a big but. So what. We don't choose our parents, we don't choose where we are born and we certainly don't choose our innate capabilities.

But we do choose how we live our life and what goals we want to accomplish. I've settled for myself that the chance of me becoming a billionaire or having a net worth of millions is unlikely due to my life circumstances and the things you've described. But the chance of me building a sustainable company that can make me financially independent and give me autonomy is doable. Not easy. Not impossible but in the realm of doable. I'll take doable and work on that. So, I agree with your sentiments but its dangerous as it can become toxic and stop us from doing the best we can, given what we have.

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#14

Post by [deleted] »

soneca wrote: post #8

“You know how when you hit a tennis ball, it bounces back up and then simultaneously you swing the racket? YC is just getting to this point,” he added. “If you think [my role] is an influential position now, just wait a couple years and see what Sam does.” No, i don't know. Actually I have no idea what this analogy was supposed to mean, but I am very optimistic about how YC can innovate itself with Sam as president.…

[deleted]

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#15

Post by lauradhamilton »

reason wrote: post #2

No disrespect to Sam in any way -- he truly seems like a brilliant guy with a chorus of influential people behind him -- but I've been on a successful-person wikipedia binge as of late, and it's become very, very clear that a person's upbringing almost determines whether or not they're going to be successfull, which saddens me. I grew up to some very close-minded parents who severely limited my growth, forced me to f…

I think there's an element of bias here. A successful person with unhelpful parents isn't going to go around complaining about how unhelpful her parents were.

There are a lot of successful people with poor/tough/gritty childhoods if you dig a little deeper.

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#16

Post by Mz »

reason wrote: post #2

No disrespect to Sam in any way -- he truly seems like a brilliant guy with a chorus of influential people behind him -- but I've been on a successful-person wikipedia binge as of late, and it's become very, very clear that a person's upbringing almost determines whether or not they're going to be successfull, which saddens me. I grew up to some very close-minded parents who severely limited my growth, forced me to f…

I suggest you start looking for people you can identify with better who met some standard of success you admire. Madonna is a collage drop out. So is Bill Gates. Altough Gates came from money, Madonna came from a middle class background. There are plenty of people out there who came from "nothing."

I was one of the top 3 students of my high school graduating class -- STAR student, national merit scholarship winner, state alternate for the governor's honor's program, inducted into Mu Alpha Theta in 11th grade (the earliest you can be), etc. I walked away from all that, gave up my scholarship, dropped out of college, did the homemaker thing for a long time. The odds are super high I would have died young had I not made the choices I made. I think I have a bright future but not all of us are best served by big success at an early age.

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#17

Post by jason_wang »

reason wrote: post #2

No disrespect to Sam in any way -- he truly seems like a brilliant guy with a chorus of influential people behind him -- but I've been on a successful-person wikipedia binge as of late, and it's become very, very clear that a person's upbringing almost determines whether or not they're going to be successfull, which saddens me. I grew up to some very close-minded parents who severely limited my growth, forced me to f…

You should read the book: The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight by Winston Groom.

All three extraordinary individuals grew up in near poverty conditions with conservative minded parents. They turned out alright.

Don't dispare. Nothing is futile. You control your own destiny now.

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#18

Post by Denzel »

soneca wrote: post #8

“You know how when you hit a tennis ball, it bounces back up and then simultaneously you swing the racket? YC is just getting to this point,” he added. “If you think [my role] is an influential position now, just wait a couple years and see what Sam does.” No, i don't know. Actually I have no idea what this analogy was supposed to mean, but I am very optimistic about how YC can innovate itself with Sam as president.…

I think, this is just a guess, he's referring to when a person lobs the ball over the net to you and it hits the ground first before coming back up; you have to time your stroke perfectly to hit it back or risk missing the ball on the come-up. [1] So it's my belief that he's saying YC has been rising all this time, and with the right swing of the racket, they will hit it out of the park (tennis court?). Needless to say it's a confusing analogy. :)

Anywho congratulations to Sam, I can't wait to see what he does!

[1] http://youtu.be/MaN98ZkGXSs?t=4s : The first few seconds of this video might help visualize it.

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#19

Post by larrys »

brown9-2 wrote: post #10
reason wrote: post #2

No disrespect to Sam in any way -- he truly seems like a brilliant guy with a chorus of influential people behind him -- but I've been on a successful-person wikipedia binge as of late, and it's become very, very clear that a person's upbringing almost determines whether or not they're going to be successfull, which saddens me. I grew up to some very close-minded parents who severely limited my growth, forced me to f…

Look at the current President of the United States. Did he have the type of upbringing you are envisioning here?

Well fwiw Obama's father did go to Harvard:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama,_Sr.

I'm sure that factored somewhat in Obama getting into Harvard which of course led to a world of opportunities.

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#20

Post by chollida1 »

> “It’s remarkable when somebody is both extroverted and smart,”

> “Picture a smart person,” said Graham. “You don’t imagine somebody who is really good at talking to people, you picture someone really awkward.”

This statement seems really weird to me. Looking at all the people I've known in my life the smartest people, at least in in terms of academic and financial achievements, are the extroverts.

Extroverted and smart seems to be a very common trait. Hell I'd say that its much easier to be smart if you are extroverted as learning from other peoples experiences is a great way to learn more.

Who is Paul hanging around with that smart is paired with awkward more than outgoing?

I'd have to go to Hollywood movies to find the stereotypical nerd profile.

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