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Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#151

Post by joez »

tianaco wrote: post #41

I feel like this is going to work against me - in a really serious way. First of all, I really liked knowing that I had a one in three chance of a woman, Jessica Livingston, reading my application. I liked how the application felt like a college application; they judge you based upon your potential and what you've done in your circumstances, not like an investor who says: "What experience and traction do you have?".…

It's a thread like this that make me appreciate the ability to collapse threads.

Tianaco, I don't want to argue the merits of your concerns but this is not the correct place to discuss it. Try sending PG an email? My immediate reactions were adjectives like baiting, hijacking and trolling. I don't mean to call you names, but this was just how this whole thread came off to me as.

I don't appreciate that when I come back to this thread that the majority of the comments about the state of the female entrepreneur. I also believe YC is the exception instead of the rule.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#152

Post by Major_Grooves »

Major_Grooves wrote: post #121
tianaco wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, we had 2 submissions - One headed by my partner with 4 founders, another headed by me with 2 founders. The other founders are all men. I am the first face on our application video. We did that to set us apart from the rest of the videos. I'm done with my applications, and confident that we made good applications for the people that we initially thought were going to review them... but not for unknown founders who…

Sorry but if you've got breasts then you'll have to get used to guys looking at them. There was a recent study from NZ that found that 47% of men's first glances at a women were towards their breasts. It's just biology. Also take in to account your average male coder might not have seen any for a while - well it is male dominated (sorry - "got to wait for the liquidity event to have a liquidity event!")! ;) wrt to as…

btw for the down-voters, I was just being pragmatic. A 47% chance in a 95% male industry, makes a pretty good chance of some guy trying to sneak a peek. The quote was from pg's talk at Startup School last weekend, where he mentioned that having a startup doesn't make you popular with girls. http://www.paulgraham.com/really.html

Apologies if it came across as offensive.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#153

Post by chrysb »

tianaco wrote: post #139
Major_Grooves wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry but if you've got breasts then you'll have to get used to guys looking at them. There was a recent study from NZ that found that 47% of men's first glances at a women were towards their breasts. It's just biology. Also take in to account your average male coder might not have seen any for a while - well it is male dominated (sorry - "got to wait for the liquidity event to have a liquidity event!")! ;) wrt to as…

It's not about them looking at my breasts. More often they look away from me as if I don't exist at all.

Nerds are afraid of things they can't understand.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#154

Post by tianaco »

Major_Grooves wrote: post #150
tianaco wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, we had 2 submissions - One headed by my partner with 4 founders, another headed by me with 2 founders. The other founders are all men. I am the first face on our application video. We did that to set us apart from the rest of the videos. I'm done with my applications, and confident that we made good applications for the people that we initially thought were going to review them... but not for unknown founders who…

OK, I'm sorry for asking if it was about your breasts. :/ I really don't think this has anything to do with your gender. Networking and just speaking to people is surprisingly difficult. If you are already expecting people not to speak to you properly then you will be giving loads of negative body language saying that you are unconfident. I know because I have been in the same situation many times. My background in p…

The thing is, I'm ridiculously outgoing.

I even have my own event production company in New York City. I'm excellent at speaking with people.

I still need work on pitching, but I have no problem talking to everyone... since that's crucial in my other line of work.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#155

Post by btilly »

andreyf wrote: post #140
jeremymims wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. Y Combinator has funded female cofounders before and it is my understanding that most batches have had women in them. If anything, I think they'd almost be more willing to fund female cofounders because there isn't enough data out there to know if or how female cofounders in YC startups deviate from the success rate in a notable way. Since Y Combinator is about funding startups that are likely to succeed, this i…

If anything, I think they'd almost be more willing to fund female cofounders because there isn't enough data out there to know if or how female cofounders in YC startups deviate from the success rate in a notable way. Being "more willing" to fund female cofounders will bias the question of how they deviate from the success rate, no?

Treating women exactly equally means that you're almost to the point of giving them a preference. ;-)

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#157

Post by mattm »

tianaco wrote: post #139
Major_Grooves wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry but if you've got breasts then you'll have to get used to guys looking at them. There was a recent study from NZ that found that 47% of men's first glances at a women were towards their breasts. It's just biology. Also take in to account your average male coder might not have seen any for a while - well it is male dominated (sorry - "got to wait for the liquidity event to have a liquidity event!")! ;) wrt to as…

It's not about them looking at my breasts. More often they look away from me as if I don't exist at all.

Keep in mind, these are IT guys. I usually have to remind myself to look in someone's eyes when talking, be it man or woman. If I'm focusing on something else when someone is talking to me I might not even look at them at all.

From what I've read about the differences between men and women, women are MUCH MUCH more likely to pick up subtle body language gestures compared to men and try to analyze what they mean. Try not to take these things personally. Many times it might not even have anything to do with you.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#159

Post by pg »

lloydarmbrust wrote: post #25
pg wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both; those are the same problem, since the biggest danger of not being able to read them all thoroughly enough is that a good one slips through the cracks.

Will you still be reading all the applications then?

Yes, YC partners will still read all the applications.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#160

Post by pg »

dusklight wrote: post #135

1. Is it possible for an application to be rejected after having been read by just one alumni, and no one else? 2. Are the readers given a specific list of criteria by which they are supposed to judge the applications, or is it just basically anything they want? 3. Trust is great, but do you have any way to find out if a reader approves an application because it is from a friend, or if a reader rejects good applicati…

No, no, and no.
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