How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014 • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#11

Post by untog » Tue, Sep 16, 2014, 5:36 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #6

Eduardo3rd wrote: post #2

"That’s why each lecture will be available via YouTube and iTunes Connect shortly after they happen, and associated reading materials and assignments will be linked to on the course site. To keep in touch with others following along with the lectures from afar, there will be a forum and Facebook group available to discuss their content and provide further opportunities to learn from those involved in startups." So, n…

The batches are the secret sauce. (Well, not that secret.) Doing YC without the batches would be a very impressive feat to pull off. It would turn the piston driven machine they have now into the equivalent of a turbine.

What does that even mean?

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#12

Post by TheMakeA » Tue, Sep 16, 2014, 5:37 PM UTC

cperciva wrote: post #10

Marginally related: Anyone know when startup school invitations go out? I believe the application deadline was last week.

Somewhere it was said that invitations would go out about a week after the deadline, so I would expect them by September 19th.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#13

Post by wudf » Tue, Sep 16, 2014, 5:38 PM UTC

Eduardo3rd wrote: post #2

"That’s why each lecture will be available via YouTube and iTunes Connect shortly after they happen, and associated reading materials and assignments will be linked to on the course site. To keep in touch with others following along with the lectures from afar, there will be a forum and Facebook group available to discuss their content and provide further opportunities to learn from those involved in startups." So, n…

HackReactor is doing it with great success, wouldn't be too surprised to see positive feedback for this course leading to something similar.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#14

Post by cmadan » Tue, Sep 16, 2014, 5:39 PM UTC

Eduardo3rd wrote: post #2

"That’s why each lecture will be available via YouTube and iTunes Connect shortly after they happen, and associated reading materials and assignments will be linked to on the course site. To keep in touch with others following along with the lectures from afar, there will be a forum and Facebook group available to discuss their content and provide further opportunities to learn from those involved in startups." So, n…

Hopefully, they'll also be captioned so that deaf entrepreneurs like me can also watch. They've set the standard by funding non-profits, hopefully they'll also set another standard by building an accessible lecture series.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#15

Post by bbrunner » Tue, Sep 16, 2014, 5:40 PM UTC

It's interesting that this is inside of the computer science department and is limited to engineering students considering YC has really been expanding the companies it's accepting. E145[0], an existing and highly sought after technology entrepreneurship course, is just a general engineering class and isn't limited to traditional engineering majors, as far as I'm aware.

Tons of great founders of tech companies come from disciplines outside of engineering and manage to learn enough on their own. I would wonder if it's a function of keeping it from getting oversubscribed or possibly a way to allow the curriculum to be narrowly focused towards how to build a scalable software business.

Exciting stuff regardless!

[0] http://e145.stanford.edu/

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#16

Post by rokhayakebe » Tue, Sep 16, 2014, 5:40 PM UTC

YC is on a tear.

I have a feeling these guys were testing a model up until this year, and now they are just ready to get started and blow things up.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#17

Post by dalek2point3 » Tue, Sep 16, 2014, 5:41 PM UTC

Let me also plug this short essay "Entrepreneurs Need Strategy" -- very helpful in thinking about startups. http://mbasys.lingnan.sysu.edu.cn/resource/upload/upkimg/201...

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#18

Post by mrdiran » Tue, Sep 16, 2014, 5:42 PM UTC

Thank you for doing this.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#19

Post by jacquesm » Tue, Sep 16, 2014, 5:42 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #11

jacquesm wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The batches are the secret sauce. (Well, not that secret.) Doing YC without the batches would be a very impressive feat to pull off. It would turn the piston driven machine they have now into the equivalent of a turbine.

What does that even mean?

Apologies for using a metaphor. Let me try to clarify. Batches allow you to look at a bunch of companies at roughly the same point in time. So you now get to look at the companies against the backdrop of all the other companies in the same batch. Rather than having to make a one-shot decision about a single start-up you make a decision about which N of the 100's of applicants you like best which will give you a statistical advantage.

But it is possible that YC now has crunched enough data and has enough people in the alumni network that they can abandon the batch model and get the same kind of quality without having to use the batch model.

The 'late' applications were a hint in this direction, if they get rid of the batch model entirely they will have potentially a huge benefit both in load (batches will create temporary overload) and in total throughput.

So instead of having two 'strokes' per year they'd be moving at an ever accelerating pace until they run at the maximum rate at which viable applicants can apply and be processed.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#20

Post by reledi » Tue, Sep 16, 2014, 5:44 PM UTC

andyidsinga wrote: post #7

i hope blake masters will take notes.

Context for those who don't get the reference:

Blake Masters took notes for Peter Thiel's Startup course at Stanford. [1] The notes quickly become popular.

He actually released a book on startups with Peter Thiel today. [2]

1: http://blakemasters.com/peter-thiels-cs183-startup

2: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804139296