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How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

startupclass.samaltman.com

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Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#111

Post by idlewords »

staunch wrote: post #61

The fact that this information be made available online on the same day is quite a gift. That will take some effort. Thank you. I would humbly suggest that early on you should address what YC means by startup. PG's essay on growth is by far the most well conveyed explanation. I think it would clear up a lot of confusion people have about Startups vs small businesses. http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html

The fact that people disagree on the definition of "startup" isn't a sign of confusion. Rather, it reflects the fact that there are genuine differences between people in our industry about how to develop new business models, and how to define success. Graham has articulated one side of that debate with his essay, but calling it an explanation is disingenuous.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#112

Post by pyb »

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…

Your criticism is a very contrived, as it seems to me that YC have been careful to ensure that most of the speakers are recent entrepreneurs. The VCs on the course are also former entrepreneurs.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#113

Post by reduce »

kijin wrote: post #110
reduce wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, there's a huge difference in the psychological impact of seeing role models in-person, versus only on a screen. I've experienced this many times while living outside of the US, in recent years. All of the people you'll read about in blogs, or see in videos -- they're perceived like movie stars or legends that must have been greatly distorted on their journey to the opposite end of the world. Keep in mi…

> many small countries have never seen a single big tech-startup success happen within their borders That sounds more like a difference caused by economic and cultural circumstances than whether you've met a rockstar in person. If Country X is unable to produce viable startups, it's probably because it doesn't have the economic and cultural infrastructure to support startups yet, not because Peter Thiel has never gra…

The countries I'm talking about have produced many startup founders. They move to the US and never move back. The successful role models don't exist in that country, because as soon as people start becoming successful they move out and never return.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#114

Post by tew28 »

krrishd wrote: post #99

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

I'll second this sentiment. Balaji's class goes into real-world implementation and if you learn everything packed into the dense curriculum, you'll come out much more powerful and capable. This new class seems only to extend upon the theory of the original CS183.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#115

Post by cmadan »

jacquesm wrote: post #80
cmadan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If they aren't let me know and I'll transcribe as much as I have time for, I did the same for one of the start-up schools.

A transcript would be amazing! Thanks. Could you share the Startup School transcript that you wrote also? Would love to read it.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#116

Post by yen223 »

reduce wrote: post #89
sama wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's online! don't be jealous; watch the talks.

Unfortunately, there's a huge difference in the psychological impact of seeing role models in-person, versus only on a screen. I've experienced this many times while living outside of the US, in recent years. All of the people you'll read about in blogs, or see in videos -- they're perceived like movie stars or legends that must have been greatly distorted on their journey to the opposite end of the world. Keep in mi…

There's a quote from Lost which seems apropos - "It's one thing to believe it, it's another to see it". That's the effect I get from reading about all these stuff online.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#117

Post by buro9 »

reduce wrote: post #89
sama wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's online! don't be jealous; watch the talks.

Unfortunately, there's a huge difference in the psychological impact of seeing role models in-person, versus only on a screen. I've experienced this many times while living outside of the US, in recent years. All of the people you'll read about in blogs, or see in videos -- they're perceived like movie stars or legends that must have been greatly distorted on their journey to the opposite end of the world. Keep in mi…

The effect is real and pronounced.

One of the perceived privileges of the elite is their very access to opportunity, and being there is to provide that access.

Not being there is to observe the access, which is the addition of transparency that never existed before, but fundamentally the access hasn't been granted.

If you're already in a tough place without access to these kinds of opportunity, this is just going to underline and bold that some more.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#118

Post by michaelochurch »

mindcrime wrote: post #97
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, an…

And our startups will succeed or fail quite independently of what Peter Thiel, Paul Graham, Sam Altman, Marc Andressen, Ron Conway, et al., think.

Even if that's true, it's beside the point. You still care what the VCs think of you, independent of their effect on the success or failure of your business.

If it succeeds, you need to be sure that the board keeps you in place. What use is it to build a successful business if you lose your position and equity? (You're an idiot if you end up in a position where you lose all your equity, but what I'm saying is still valid.)

If it fails, you need the VCs to line you up with an EIR position or an executive role at a portfolio company so you can recover your savings, repair your reputation, and get out there again.

If you don't have the VCs in your pocket, then the personal pressures that are on you can keep you from being able to make the right decisions for your business. So, yeah, they matter.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#119

Post by arfliw »

lee wrote: post #75
pptr1 wrote: post #72

Just finished reading Peter Thiel's Zero to One; and it is interesting that both him and Marissa Mayer are going to teach. He sort of disses her in the book. This is a quote from his book. "Beginning with brand rather than substance is dangerous. Ever since Marissa Mayer became CEO of Yahoo! in mid-2012, she has worked to revive the once-popular internet giant by making it cool again. In a single tweet, Yahoo! summar…

I don't really see the "diss" in that passage. I see more of an honest question.

Same. He certainly leaves open the possibility that she is creating those products as we speak.
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