The New Deal • Hacker News Board

Re: The New Deal

#191

Post by morgante » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 2:53 PM UTC

acjohnson55 wrote: post #190

morgante wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Get the best of both worlds and do a master's at a top notch school. Glad that worked out for you. To be clear, my school is actually extraordinarily good academically (we're privately funded by an oil fortune)—it's just that the prestige of the name and student's isn't quite at Ivy quality. > Point being, everywhere you are has something to offer. Make the most of your situation! I'm doing my best, and doing prett…

Though sometimes I wonder if YC would have accepted me if I had advertised my Ivy League stamps of approval (acceptance letters)... Be glad you didn't. I don't think it would have sent a positive sign. Frankly, no one wants to hear about the things you didn't do, and things like acceptance letters and SAT scores don't matter going forward. Life is going to be filled with tough calls. Sometimes, you may have 5 promisi…

> Be glad you didn't. I don't think it would have sent a positive sign. Frankly, no one wants to hear about the things you didn't do, and things like acceptance letters and SAT scores don't matter going forward.

I know (it's why I don't usually go around talking about how I could have gone to Harvard). Though it does sadden me that the VC and tech ecosystem is almost as prestige-focused as Wall Street.

> You said elsewhere you go to NYU -- what's stopping you from maximizing your social and intellectual opportunities?

Mostly that I don't have much commonality with those around me. Everyone seems to be focused on getting the "right" internship and studying, while I'd like to have meaningful conversations about intellectually intriguing topics. Plus, my general lack of social skills and nerdiness at a school which is decidedly not nerdy.

Re: The New Deal

#192

Post by IgorPartola » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 3:18 PM UTC

eloff wrote: post #153

IgorPartola wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would a company like that approach YC and not raise a round on their own? Or better yet, reinvest every penny back into the business without giving up any equity? Won't these companies just self filter?

Well maybe my example is unlikely, although one could argue that the YC brand is worth something in that it will let you raise more from other investors. However, it doesn't need to be so extreme, just that companies that are further along are less risky to YC and it seems strange for YC to artificially offer higher than market prices to said company thus lowering demand. Why would YC want fewer lower risk companies…

I see this often, but I am starting to think this is a fallacy. A company can be further along down the wrong path, making it harder to undo the bad things it had done up to that point. A company can be based on an unsustainable idea and no amount of work put into it will ever make it viable. I have a feeling that real-world data is much more interesting than this. I imagine the risk curves are not strictly decreasing with progress from idea to product with users, and I bet YC could shed some light on this by showing when companies actually close down vs when they start at YC.

Re: The New Deal

#193

Post by jlevy » Wed, Apr 23, 2014, 5:43 PM UTC

ycaspirant wrote: post #186

Upon getting accepted to YC, your company is promised $120K for 7%. Does this imply that if your company is accepted to YC, then it is worth $1.7M (because 7% of $1.7M is $120K)? Or is this not the right way to look at it? Why / why not?

There are two chunks (as Sam mentions in his post) -- one chunk is for common stock and the other is in the form of a Safe that converts to Preferred stock.

Re: The New Deal

#194

Post by acjohnson55 » Thu, Apr 24, 2014, 11:09 AM UTC

morgante wrote: post #191

acjohnson55 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Though sometimes I wonder if YC would have accepted me if I had advertised my Ivy League stamps of approval (acceptance letters)... Be glad you didn't. I don't think it would have sent a positive sign. Frankly, no one wants to hear about the things you didn't do, and things like acceptance letters and SAT scores don't matter going forward. Life is going to be filled with tough calls. Sometimes, you may have 5 promisi…

> Be glad you didn't. I don't think it would have sent a positive sign. Frankly, no one wants to hear about the things you didn't do, and things like acceptance letters and SAT scores don't matter going forward. I know (it's why I don't usually go around talking about how I could have gone to Harvard). Though it does sadden me that the VC and tech ecosystem is almost as prestige-focused as Wall Street. > You said els…

Mostly that I don't have much commonality with those around me. Everyone seems to be focused on getting the "right" internship and studying, while I'd like to have meaningful conversations about intellectually intriguing topics. Plus, my general lack of social skills and nerdiness at a school which is decidedly not nerdy.

What you describe socially/environmentally sounds a lot like the typical Ivy League experience. Gossip, politics, inner circles within inner circles, who-you-know, etc.

Fortunately, social skills are something you can improve, if you set your mind to it. That's one reason I'm really glad I did my college experience in the order I did. I don't think I could have truly taken advantage of my grad school experience if not for going to undergrad someplace where everyone wasn't constantly jockeying to get ahead.

I'm sure you have more commonality with people than you think. Being adept socially is all about finding those commonalities. Usually, that means being able to step out of your own head to empathize with what other people's social needs are. The most social people I know have a way of making other people feel like the most interesting person in the world.

It sounds like you've got a lot going for you, and if you're a sophomore now, you've got a lot of time to figure everything out. Best of luck. Drop me a line if you want to grab a coffee or something. I went to NYU for my second grad school experience :)