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Thoughts on Startup School

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Re: Thoughts on Startup School

#21

Post by yzzxy »

cperciva wrote: post #16
HorizonXP wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he means don't plug a power bar into another power bar.

Yes, that's exactly what he meant. And what I mean is that you can plug a power bar into another power bar, as long as you're reasonable about the total load you put on the circuit.

OK... but when you are dealing with a lot of laptops, enough to necessitate more plugs than a single 5-8 port power bar, it's probably going to run up against that limit.

I think the danger outside of load would be rare, but IIRC US specs for power cords specifically don't require compliance with daisy chaining (similar to C undefined behaviors?) and I bet most commodity power bars are cost-optimized to all hell.

Disclaimer: I am not an electrical engineer.

Re: Thoughts on Startup School

#22

Post by malanj »

It feels worth pointing out that this is a free event. So expecting lots of infrastructure (like an abundance of power sockets) does seem a bit unrealistic?

It was pretty cool to see some startup "legends" in real life. There where definitely interesting "geeks" in the crowd, if you went to the trouble of sniffing about.

I think you're right in assuming that one of the most important (perhaps the most important) aims of the event is recruitment for YC. Given that YC are organising this event, giving out free food and generally going to a lot of trouble that seems pretty obvious going in though. They're not a charity, they seem like a nice bunch of guys running a business.

Re: Thoughts on Startup School

#23

Post by dang »

cperciva wrote: post #19
scobar wrote: post #18

Startup School was well worth the value of traveling to the Bay Area for myself. I'd read PG's essays and a lot of other startup literature so I didn't learn anything profoundly new, but I was inspired. Interacting with other attendees was also an amazing experience that is not available to me where I live. While I disagree with you, your post is important, and I'm glad you wrote it. Those who are undecided about att…

While I disagree with you, I think your post is important, and I'm glad you wrote it. Thank you for saying that. I hesitated for a long time before writing this -- hence the posting almost a week after the event -- because it felt like I was being rude to criticize an event which, after all, we were all invited into for free. Those who are undecided about attending SuS in the future whose expectations match yours can…

> For me, an even better outcome would be to have Startup School cut down to 100 developers and gaining a technical focus

Interesting you should say that. We've tossed around the idea of HN sponsoring a hackery summit a la Startup School but with a purely technical focus. It might complement Startup School well.

The YC/HN world has always had both technical and entrepreneurial hemispheres, if you can call them that, and some people identify more with one than the other. Cross-pollination between the two is beneficial (which is one reason why we've always resisted the idea of splitting HN into sub-communities) but yeah, it can be frustrating when you find yourself in a local optimum for the side you don't find interesting. We hear similar complaints about HN pretty regularly even though we try to keep both sides well-stocked.

Re: Thoughts on Startup School

#24

Post by Patrick_Devine »

dfabulich wrote: post #11

I attended Startup School 2011; I regret wasting the day there. I thought that "Startup School" would be more like the "How to Start a Startup" lecture series that YC is running at Stanford. Instead, it was just a bunch of celebrities talking about their startup experiences; a concentrated shot of survival bias. There's nothing practical to learn from the Startup School talks. As for inspiration, I guess some people…

I thought the Office Hours this year were borderline mean spirited. When a team is willing to come and be grilled in front of 1,700 people, it needs to be done with a lot of tact. If you rip someone apart in a public environment like that, it becomes about you, and not about the company that you're critiquing.

Sam and PG did a great job last year. They seemed to be able to hit the right balance of probing questions while being respectful of the people they were interviewing.

Re: Thoughts on Startup School

#25

Post by cperciva »

Patrick_Devine wrote: post #24
dfabulich wrote: post #11

I attended Startup School 2011; I regret wasting the day there. I thought that "Startup School" would be more like the "How to Start a Startup" lecture series that YC is running at Stanford. Instead, it was just a bunch of celebrities talking about their startup experiences; a concentrated shot of survival bias. There's nothing practical to learn from the Startup School talks. As for inspiration, I guess some people…

I thought the Office Hours this year were borderline mean spirited. When a team is willing to come and be grilled in front of 1,700 people, it needs to be done with a lot of tact. If you rip someone apart in a public environment like that, it becomes about you, and not about the company that you're critiquing. Sam and PG did a great job last year. They seemed to be able to hit the right balance of probing questions w…

I thought the Office Hours this year were borderline mean spirited.

They didn't seem mean spirited to me; but they certainly did rip people apart (especially with the UI critique). At the end of that I left thinking "I'm glad they weren't doing this on Tarsnap, because they would probably have opened patio11's blog post and read the whole thing out in front of everybody".

Re: Thoughts on Startup School

#26

Post by ulisesrmzroche »

cperciva wrote: post #6
[deleted] wrote: post #3

[deleted]

a dismissive, elitist engineer Guilty as charged. "We launched with one server in a colo facility. Oops!” I had forgotten about that, but it was certainly one of the better moments. Perhaps it's just my elitist engineer bias, but I find stories of technical screwups to be far more enlightening (don't do this, kids!) than stories about dealing with investors.

I like those more too. I remember stumbling upon 'Coders at Work' at a random Barnes and Nobles in Houston, couldn't put it down.

Re: Thoughts on Startup School

#27

Post by nostrademons »

lnanek2 wrote: post #2

Google does this constantly too. I've been to several Google Glass events where the wall outlets were all hidden or taped down. Sometimes there is only one in the entire room an event is going on in like the GDK Sneak Preview and I'll take turns with someone using it to keep Glass alive or just give up and go downstairs and use an outlet in the lobby, giving up on the event. For that particular event a journalist pas…

What's wrong with giving the speakers - and the folks you converse with - your full undivided attention?

I showed up to startup school with no electronic devices other than my phone. I figured that I was there to go, listen, maybe talk a little bit, and then go home. If I want to sit on a laptop I can do that much more comfortably in bed.

Re: Thoughts on Startup School

#28

Post by cperciva »

dang wrote: post #23
cperciva wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I disagree with you, I think your post is important, and I'm glad you wrote it. Thank you for saying that. I hesitated for a long time before writing this -- hence the posting almost a week after the event -- because it felt like I was being rude to criticize an event which, after all, we were all invited into for free. Those who are undecided about attending SuS in the future whose expectations match yours can…

> For me, an even better outcome would be to have Startup School cut down to 100 developers and gaining a technical focus Interesting you should say that. We've tossed around the idea of HN sponsoring a hackery summit a la Startup School but with a purely technical focus. It might complement Startup School well. The YC/HN world has always had both technical and entrepreneurial hemispheres, if you can call them that,…

We've tossed around the idea of HN sponsoring a hackery summit a la Startup School but with a purely technical focus.

I wouldn't want to attend a "hackery summit" which simply consists of people writing code; I can do that better at home, since having people around is distracting.

On the other hand, a "hackery summit" with technical talks from people who have built cool things would be very interesting.

Re: Thoughts on Startup School

#29

Post by cperciva »

nostrademons wrote: post #27
lnanek2 wrote: post #2

Google does this constantly too. I've been to several Google Glass events where the wall outlets were all hidden or taped down. Sometimes there is only one in the entire room an event is going on in like the GDK Sneak Preview and I'll take turns with someone using it to keep Glass alive or just give up and go downstairs and use an outlet in the lobby, giving up on the event. For that particular event a journalist pas…

What's wrong with giving the speakers - and the folks you converse with - your full undivided attention? I showed up to startup school with no electronic devices other than my phone. I figured that I was there to go, listen, maybe talk a little bit, and then go home. If I want to sit on a laptop I can do that much more comfortably in bed.

What's wrong with giving the speakers - and the folks you converse with - your full undivided attention?

Not all speakers are saying interesting things all the time. Also, having my laptop out at BSD conferences allows me to engage in the IRC backchannel, which is often just as informative as the talks themselves.

Re: Thoughts on Startup School

#30

Post by Yadi »

I love Startup School! I have watched so many, like literally more than 100s of founders and CEOs give talks and lectures, because I work and went to Draper University, but the content from Startup School is just incredible! I love what YC did!

Lots of on point lesson to learn Lots of tips&tricks if that is what everyone else wants to call it! Just awesome overall for me as I'm doing my 4th startup, I still learned new things and gained wisdom!

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