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

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#91

Post by brianstorms » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 2:17 AM UTC

Nice, but, very few of those individuals have started a startup in the past five years, or even ten years. What exactly do they KNOW that is going to help you, the founder?

I don't think this is the ideal lineup for a day of talks about How to Start a Startup in the fall of 2014. The past few years have been particularly brutal for starting a startup. Mostly because there are so many others doing the same thing, and most of them are vying for the same funding dollars you're vying for.

Thousands upon thousands of people are trying and have tried, and most have failed, and all have stories to tell. That is the norm, that is the most likely outcome: failure. Instead, you'll hear from billionaires and superachievers and tech celebrities none of whom have been hungry, driven with a vision, struggling to build something new, fighting the good fight, any time recently. They're disconnected, imho.

Go ahead and downvote, I know, it's YC heresy, but so be it.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#92

Post by thisrod » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 2:25 AM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #78

michaelochurch wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to be much angrier about the non-meritocracy of the Valley, but in 2014, we're near the end of the bubble cycle anyway. I've decided to be forward-thinking and wait for the crash. After the crash hits and the carpetbaggers leave, it'll be up to people like me to rebuild the technology world. I hope that, when we do it, we create one in which engineers and scientists and makers matter again.

> I hope that, when we do it, we create one in which engineers and scientists and makers matter again. There has never in the history of mankind been a time when engineers, scientists and makers mattered more than they do today.

Our hosts are betting that Michael is right about part of this, the part that is far enough removed from their lives that they might be considering it objectively.

http://www.ycombinator.com/rfs/#science

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#93

Post by jackosutherland » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 2:31 AM UTC

I am very excited to have a chance to listen in on this course. I currently attend a state university in Illinois that has a small entrepreneurship program and I am working hard to get every student involved in the startup space in Chicago where I know they will gain the most knowledge and experience. This course that Sam and YC are making available will be a huge resource to myself and my fellow students this semester. Appreciate the hard work and thought. Can't wait!

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#94

Post by mindcrime » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 2:45 AM UTC

jarek wrote: post #41

frankdenbow wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very cool. Maybe a talk about bootstrapping as well in the TBA slots? There are many entrepreneurship paths.

> Maybe a talk about bootstrapping as well in the TBA slots? So the YC course would talk to people about advantages of not going into YC? Hm.

Why not? People aren't stupid, and I expect most people realize that some businesses aren't meant for YC for one reason or another. Trying to obscure that fact doesn't make YC better, or more appealing. I'd actually say that covering that material would make YC more appealing, because it would hammer home the point that the YC people are on-the-level, straight-shooters who don't try to distort the truth to favor themselves. Who wouldn't rather do business with somebody like that? It's basically about trust.

You could almost make a comparison by analogy the old saw about how "the best way to get customers to use your product is to make it easy for them to leave your product".

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#95

Post by muneeb » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 2:53 AM UTC

brianstorms wrote: post #91

Nice, but, very few of those individuals have started a startup in the past five years, or even ten years. What exactly do they KNOW that is going to help you, the founder? I don't think this is the ideal lineup for a day of talks about How to Start a Startup in the fall of 2014. The past few years have been particularly brutal for starting a startup. Mostly because there are so many others doing the same thing, and…

There is the argument that you can't learn much from failure. You could've failed for 6-7 reasons in reality and can have a theory about the 2-3 reasons for your failure with some overlap between the two.

Successful people however had a series of small wins and small failures and got to experience the difficulties/challenges at each level of success.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#96

Post by _sentient » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 2:56 AM UTC

brianstorms wrote: post #91

Nice, but, very few of those individuals have started a startup in the past five years, or even ten years. What exactly do they KNOW that is going to help you, the founder? I don't think this is the ideal lineup for a day of talks about How to Start a Startup in the fall of 2014. The past few years have been particularly brutal for starting a startup. Mostly because there are so many others doing the same thing, and…

I can't speak for the rest of the lineup, but I know that YC partners see hundreds of startups run through their program each year. The aggregate value of that is significant, and there are very few patterns they haven't already encountered.

Having seen so many iterations of the startup process, I'd argue that they are eminently qualified to give advice on the subject.

I'd certainly prefer it over some random, anecdotal account from a founder who just happened to be in the trenches recently.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#97

Post by mindcrime » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 3:13 AM UTC

michaelochurch wrote: post #52

Three cheers for the furthering concentration of privilege and access!

I don't see it... if anything this should have the opposite effect. It's making that more more great information and know-how available to absolutely anyone, anywhere in the world, for free. OK, to be fair, anyone with a computer and a 'net connection, which does leave out some people... but still, it's a lot better than having a corresponding class at Stanford, which is available only to paying Stanford students, and not put up on the web for everybody.

I get that you think connections are everything (or close to everything), so I'll just say that I disagree. Connections are useful, but there are a lot of ways to build a network, establish relationships and grow you base of connections. And heck, for those of us not on the West Coast, we'll probably never meet most of the people involved in this class "in real life" at all. And our startups will succeed or fail quite independently of what Peter Thiel, Paul Graham, Sam Altman, Marc Andressen, Ron Conway, et al., think.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#98

Post by muneeb » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 3:18 AM UTC

_sentient wrote: post #96

brianstorms wrote: post #91

Nice, but, very few of those individuals have started a startup in the past five years, or even ten years. What exactly do they KNOW that is going to help you, the founder? I don't think this is the ideal lineup for a day of talks about How to Start a Startup in the fall of 2014. The past few years have been particularly brutal for starting a startup. Mostly because there are so many others doing the same thing, and…

I can't speak for the rest of the lineup, but I know that YC partners see hundreds of startups run through their program each year. The aggregate value of that is significant, and there are very few patterns they haven't already encountered. Having seen so many iterations of the startup process, I'd argue that they are eminently qualified to give advice on the subject. I'd certainly prefer it over some random, anecdo…

+1 to this. YC partners are in a unique position

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#99

Post by krrishd » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 3:47 AM UTC

A MOOC I'd definitely recommend taking along side this is the Startup Engineering from Stanford, taught by Balaji Srinivasan and Vijay Pande.

I've taken a lot of MOOCs but that was one that truly changed a lot of things in terms of how I approached tech and startups, and it actually says in it's description that it's somewhat of a sequel to CS183 (this new course is CS183B).

https://www.coursera.org/course/startup

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#100

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 3:47 AM UTC

thisrod wrote: post #92

jacquesm wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I hope that, when we do it, we create one in which engineers and scientists and makers matter again. There has never in the history of mankind been a time when engineers, scientists and makers mattered more than they do today.

Our hosts are betting that Michael is right about part of this, the part that is far enough removed from their lives that they might be considering it objectively. http://www.ycombinator.com/rfs/#science

[deleted]