Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications • Hacker News Board

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#181

Post by jwhitlark » Thu, Oct 29, 2009, 4:25 AM UTC

jwhitlark wrote: post #109

bravura wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too am worried about being judged by YC Alumni, much like I worry about being judged by geeks in general. Even though I'm a geek myself (coding for 2/3rd my lifetime, Ph.D. in comp sci, etc.), people usually mistake me for an artist, and that works against me initially. (Later on, when they get to know me, it turns around and they're like: "Oh, it's good you're so well-rounded", but only if I can overcome the initi…

As the public head of YC has written a book entitled "Hackers and Painters", I'd not worry to much about that. I doubt anyone with the attitudes you're worrying about would make his selection criteria as additional reviewer.

s/to/too/g

Where did the edit button go?

[EDIT] works fine for this post. Does it expire, or is this thread causing problems...

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#182

Post by pg » Thu, Oct 29, 2009, 6:01 AM UTC

vivek_ganesh wrote: post #178

pg wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I explained here, the alumni are going to read applications in addition to us, not instead of us: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=908585 I'm not sure what you meant about a "one in three chance," but it sounds like you're misunderstanding how we read applications. We don't split them up. Also, there are 4 YC founders, not 3. The way it usually works is that Robert, Trevor and I (separately) read and rank the a…

Paul, Would you tell us, which YC alumni is going to read the applications for us in advance,if we see any conflicts then, we delte our application. Thanks,

Software assigns them randomly. But if you want me to delete your application just let me know.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#183

Post by tlrobinson » Thu, Oct 29, 2009, 6:04 AM UTC

jack7890 wrote: post #158

JLaramie wrote: post #10

Thanks for the disclosure, Paul. We look forward to you guys checking out our application for ADstruc!

FYI ADstruc, your website is wrong, you aren't the first marketplace of that sort. Check out Tapinko.

Also, images for all the text? Really?

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#184

Post by webwright » Thu, Oct 29, 2009, 6:10 AM UTC

tianaco wrote: post #174

webwright wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"tianaco is a vocal person who says what she thinks." As a team member, she oughta reign this in a bit. As a company founder, saying what you think can sometimes hurt your company. I think you have a duty to put a buffer between your brain and your mouth, especially around touchy subjects. If you always say what you think around investors and customers, you'll probably have fewer of both. :-) I think a lot of people…

I've heard pg make some pretty strong statements. I'm sure they turn people off but I'm not sure he cares about the opinions of those people. I think it's pretty gratuitous for you to give me a lesson on selling to investors and customers here. Yes my comments may have been polarizing. I don't think you understand the opportunity cost of always saying what you think people want to hear. I've gotten a lot of opportuni…

It's interesting that when people criticize what you do, you state that it's a forum for opinions. When I express an opinion, you call it gratuitous.

Give what I wrote another read. I wasn't suggesting that you say what people want to hear. I was suggesting that you say what you need to say in the most effective way possible given your goals. Telling people stuff they don't want to hear is a pretty common necessity. Standing your ground is important. I'm telling you that I think you probably did a disservice to your partners by doing what you did the way you did it. As one of the people who could actually review your app, I would think that'd be useful feedback. From the other folks who responded with incredulity, I don't think my opinion is unique, but I guess you can feel free to disregard it.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#185

Post by netcan » Thu, Oct 29, 2009, 6:10 AM UTC

maxklein wrote: post #40

Does YC not run a risk here of falling into a reinforcement loop where each generation gets more and more "perfect" from the POV of the current generation, leading to highly specialised but unadaptable individuals a few generations down the line?

Sounds like XKCD

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#186

Post by bravura » Thu, Oct 29, 2009, 8:35 AM UTC

webwright wrote: post #184

tianaco wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard pg make some pretty strong statements. I'm sure they turn people off but I'm not sure he cares about the opinions of those people. I think it's pretty gratuitous for you to give me a lesson on selling to investors and customers here. Yes my comments may have been polarizing. I don't think you understand the opportunity cost of always saying what you think people want to hear. I've gotten a lot of opportuni…

It's interesting that when people criticize what you do, you state that it's a forum for opinions. When I express an opinion, you call it gratuitous. Give what I wrote another read. I wasn't suggesting that you say what people want to hear. I was suggesting that you say what you need to say in the most effective way possible given your goals. Telling people stuff they don't want to hear is a pretty common necessity.…

As one of the people who could actually review your app ...

In that case, you should recuse yourself.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#187

Post by maxklein » Thu, Oct 29, 2009, 9:09 AM UTC

webwright wrote: post #170

bravura wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But just because it's possible doesn't mean that it isn't insulting. I can understand how people found this discussion insulting, especially when it got blown out of proportion. It wasn't tianaco's intention. I saw the application she submitted which she is leading. She focuses on differentiating herself from typical entrepreneurs, and a lot of that has to do with her unique experiences. She was confident this would…

"tianaco is a vocal person who says what she thinks." As a team member, she oughta reign this in a bit. As a company founder, saying what you think can sometimes hurt your company. I think you have a duty to put a buffer between your brain and your mouth, especially around touchy subjects. If you always say what you think around investors and customers, you'll probably have fewer of both. :-) I think a lot of people…

After all this, I am more sympathetic towards her than before. I.e, making this post and being direct about this, shows she has something that I think many lack: balls.

If you will pardon the pun.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#188

Post by maxklein » Thu, Oct 29, 2009, 9:13 AM UTC

webwright wrote: post #184

tianaco wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard pg make some pretty strong statements. I'm sure they turn people off but I'm not sure he cares about the opinions of those people. I think it's pretty gratuitous for you to give me a lesson on selling to investors and customers here. Yes my comments may have been polarizing. I don't think you understand the opportunity cost of always saying what you think people want to hear. I've gotten a lot of opportuni…

It's interesting that when people criticize what you do, you state that it's a forum for opinions. When I express an opinion, you call it gratuitous. Give what I wrote another read. I wasn't suggesting that you say what people want to hear. I was suggesting that you say what you need to say in the most effective way possible given your goals. Telling people stuff they don't want to hear is a pretty common necessity.…

You should most certainly not be in the judging pool, because you are already biased now. And you know, you may in some way have shown her to be right : she stated something that is only valid from her perspective. I.e, you don't face the same problem. You did not attempt to empathise and think, why would someone in her position want to make this statement in such a public manner? Rather, you attack the statement on the content without any attention to the context.

To judge fairly, context is as important as content. A man who steals because he has nothing to eat and would die is different from a man who steals because he feels like it.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#189

Post by maxklein » Thu, Oct 29, 2009, 9:18 AM UTC

webwright wrote: post #172

tianaco wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't expect points for being female, but it is something that sets me apart in this scenario. I don't think you, a YC alum, would necessarily dock me for being a woman. I do think that you might not find some of my accomplishments as interesting as you would someone more like you. Is that unfair? Only if I knew YC alums were reading my application after I submitted it. Because I would have tailored it to you in th…

Yaw, that's why I said I'd like to think that's how I'd react. But that was another way of saying that I think it's the BEST way to react (from a business/professional perspective). As someone who HOPES he brings very little prejudices to the table, I still don't particularly like being around people who are hyper-attuned to prejudice (and probably lumping in a lot of innocent behavior-- confirmation bias is a bitch)…

It does not take much to be hyper-atuned to prejudice. How many times does a dog have to bite a man before he starts becoming afraid of dogs?

A woman who works in tech will be bitten a lot more times. I don't think it's being hyper atuned, it's more of being wary based of past experience. The people who you know seem like they don't care about prejudice work hard to make it seem that way. It's not the normal way.

The human way is to learn very fast with very few experiences. It takes extra-ordinary people to pretend they have not learned so as to keep people like you comfortable.

Re: Announcement: YC alumni will help us read applications

#190

Post by a-priori » Thu, Oct 29, 2009, 9:43 AM UTC

bravura wrote: post #144

the_real_r2d2 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adding some randomness could help to avoid over-fitted populations. Then you could prevent to converge to a sub-optimal state and force the system to look beyond of what it seems the best.

I thought mating was the main cause of genetic diversity, not mutation.

Mutation introduces new alleles, and mating recombines existing alleles. Both processes increase diversity.