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The Aha Moments That Made Paul Graham's Y Combinator Possible

fastcompany.com

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Re: The Aha Moments That Made Paul Graham's Y Combinator Possible

#11

Post by sharkweek »

pg wrote: post #2

Skimming this, I noticed a few mistakes. I was 30, not 31. My degree is in CS, not computer engineering, which is a hybrid of CS and EE. We were already working on another company when we decided to work on ecommerce. We were making software to generate web sites for commercial art galleries (who didn't want web sites). So we didn't suddenly decide to write software to make stores. It was more a question of switching…

We were making software to generate web sites for commercial art galleries (who didn't want web sites).

Do you think this is where your affinity for people who might be pitching a bad idea but seem smart / have good work ethic comes from?

Re: The Aha Moments That Made Paul Graham's Y Combinator Possible

#12

Post by leadholder »

pg wrote: post #2

Skimming this, I noticed a few mistakes. I was 30, not 31. My degree is in CS, not computer engineering, which is a hybrid of CS and EE. We were already working on another company when we decided to work on ecommerce. We were making software to generate web sites for commercial art galleries (who didn't want web sites). So we didn't suddenly decide to write software to make stores. It was more a question of switching…

>generate web sites for commercial art galleries (who didn't want web sites).

Were you generating the sites in sort of a 3rd-party, no-connection way, or did they just want someone to create their sites for them?

Re: The Aha Moments That Made Paul Graham's Y Combinator Possible

#13

Post by pg »

sharkweek wrote: post #11
pg wrote: post #2

Skimming this, I noticed a few mistakes. I was 30, not 31. My degree is in CS, not computer engineering, which is a hybrid of CS and EE. We were already working on another company when we decided to work on ecommerce. We were making software to generate web sites for commercial art galleries (who didn't want web sites). So we didn't suddenly decide to write software to make stores. It was more a question of switching…

We were making software to generate web sites for commercial art galleries (who didn't want web sites). Do you think this is where your affinity for people who might be pitching a bad idea but seem smart / have good work ethic comes from?

Yes, actually. I feel like one of our advantages is to understand how lame founders can seem initially and yet ultimately succeed, from having been there ourselves. Or more precisely, which dimensions it's ok to be lame on, and which it isn't.

Re: The Aha Moments That Made Paul Graham's Y Combinator Possible

#14

Post by oxwrist »

The lesson is simple--what constitutes true creativity is the openness and adaptability of our spirit. When we see or experience something we must be able to look at it from several angles, to see other possibilities beyond the obvious ones. We imagine that the objects around us can be used and co-opted for different purposes. We do not hold on to our original idea out of sheer stubbornness, or because our ego is tied up with its rightness. Instead, we move with what presents itself to us in the moment, exploring and exploiting different branches and contingencies. We thus manage to turn feathers into flying material. The difference then is not in some initial creative power of the brain, but in how we look at the world and the fluidity with which we can reframe what we see. Creativity and adaptability are inseparable.

What a huge load of bull (in the last paragraph) on an otherwise good story (albeit some inaccuracies) of how pg started YC.

Re: The Aha Moments That Made Paul Graham's Y Combinator Possible

#15

Post by SatvikBeri »

hiddenstage wrote: post #3

I think the moral of the story is clear: If you want to build a successful startup, you must first hate Windows.

I think pg once said something along the lines of "Most startups fail, so you have to do something different from most to succeed." At the time, web software was definitely "something different."

Re: The Aha Moments That Made Paul Graham's Y Combinator Possible

#16

Post by sriramk »

pg wrote: post #13
sharkweek wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We were making software to generate web sites for commercial art galleries (who didn't want web sites). Do you think this is where your affinity for people who might be pitching a bad idea but seem smart / have good work ethic comes from?

Yes, actually. I feel like one of our advantages is to understand how lame founders can seem initially and yet ultimately succeed, from having been there ourselves. Or more precisely, which dimensions it's ok to be lame on, and which it isn't.

If you had to fill out a YC application for ViaWeb back then when you initially had an idea and a working demo, how do you think you'd have fared?

For example, while it was very obvious that your team had high skill (given your academic credentials), you didn't have domain expertise in online commerce.

Would you have picked you? :)

Re: The Aha Moments That Made Paul Graham's Y Combinator Possible

#17

Post by arbuge »

pg wrote: post #2

Skimming this, I noticed a few mistakes. I was 30, not 31. My degree is in CS, not computer engineering, which is a hybrid of CS and EE. We were already working on another company when we decided to work on ecommerce. We were making software to generate web sites for commercial art galleries (who didn't want web sites). So we didn't suddenly decide to write software to make stores. It was more a question of switching…

Besides the remarkable insight that went into Viaweb, which I think this article captures, the thing I most admire about what PG & RTM accomplished there is the hustling and knocking on doors they carried out to sell their application after developing it. Quite inspiring for modern-day B2B entrepreneurs I think...

ps. "You could value our current assets fairly precisely, but that would come to less than 500m." <--- elegantly understated; this is what success at the seed investing game looks like :)

Re: The Aha Moments That Made Paul Graham's Y Combinator Possible

#18

Post by pg »

sriramk wrote: post #16
pg wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, actually. I feel like one of our advantages is to understand how lame founders can seem initially and yet ultimately succeed, from having been there ourselves. Or more precisely, which dimensions it's ok to be lame on, and which it isn't.

If you had to fill out a YC application for ViaWeb back then when you initially had an idea and a working demo, how do you think you'd have fared? For example, while it was very obvious that your team had high skill (given your academic credentials), you didn't have domain expertise in online commerce. Would you have picked you? :)

That's a question we ask regularly.

We did have domain expertise of a sort: we were experts in generating web sites, which back then was a comparatively rare type of knowledge.

I'm pretty sure we would have invested in us, because we had a very clear thesis about what needed to be made, and ecommerce would have seemed a promising market.

Re: The Aha Moments That Made Paul Graham's Y Combinator Possible

#19

Post by capdiz »

pg wrote: post #2

Skimming this, I noticed a few mistakes. I was 30, not 31. My degree is in CS, not computer engineering, which is a hybrid of CS and EE. We were already working on another company when we decided to work on ecommerce. We were making software to generate web sites for commercial art galleries (who didn't want web sites). So we didn't suddenly decide to write software to make stores. It was more a question of switching…

"It's an overstatement to say that the idea of Viaweb was too strong to fail. We came close to failing several times." Sounds polite and down to earth but its very true. Google, Microsoft am sure they all had times when they came close to failing. That's the good thing about being successful. The hard times are forgotten by everyone (mostly the naysayers) else apart from the person/people who really felt them most thus making that success bitter sweet.

Re: The Aha Moments That Made Paul Graham's Y Combinator Possible

#20

Post by evoxed »

beagle3 wrote: post #6
hiddenstage wrote: post #3

I think the moral of the story is clear: If you want to build a successful startup, you must first hate Windows.

That did make me laugh; however, I think there is some truth to it, in that it helps to dislike the standard way to do something in order to innovate. After all, if you like the standard way, and practice it, what you are going to get is standard results - which are mostly average. Yes, there exist crazy creative innovations, but the vast majority of successful business are not new inventions - but rather, a better w…

My mother used to wonder why I seemed so negative all the time. "I'm not being negative, I'm just figuring out all the stuff I have to fix." I expect I'll be on the other side of that conversation in a few years.
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