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Y Combinator’s New Head

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Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#101

Post by arfliw »

chollida1 wrote: post #20

> “It’s remarkable when somebody is both extroverted and smart,” > “Picture a smart person,” said Graham. “You don’t imagine somebody who is really good at talking to people, you picture someone really awkward.” This statement seems really weird to me. Looking at all the people I've known in my life the smartest people, at least in in terms of academic and financial achievements, are the extroverts. Extroverted and s…

"Who is Paul hanging around with that smart is paired with awkward more than outgoing?"

Programmers, obviously.

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#102

Post by Bootvis »

theunixbeard wrote: post #75
Mandatum wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the nicest, subtlest wording of OPIAF I've ever seen.

Any link explaining the usual description of OPIAF? Urban dictionary and google are failing me.

I'm guessing "OP is a fag" or similar but please enlighten me.

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#103

Post by netcan »

reason wrote: post #2

No disrespect to Sam in any way -- he truly seems like a brilliant guy with a chorus of influential people behind him -- but I've been on a successful-person wikipedia binge as of late, and it's become very, very clear that a person's upbringing almost determines whether or not they're going to be successfull, which saddens me. I grew up to some very close-minded parents who severely limited my growth, forced me to f…

Past performance may not be indicative of future results, now more than ever. I hope that heartens you in some way.

"Upbringing" is a very difficult to isolate variable. It could mean your parents, family, friends and lots of other important environmental features of your life at different stages. In underclass/poverty related efforts it is often considered to be the most important factor. IE, if you are unemployed or working at McDonnalds and your have an uncle who makes good money installing showers and a friend training doing well in IT relocation, you are much more likely to find a path to the middles class than if your friends and family don't give you relatable example of something equivalent. It's very important and the effect is complex. Norms get transferred around the diner table or at the bar. Opportunities get handed. Advice gets given. Ideas seem realistic or actionable depending on the availability of advice and the norms you have been absorbing. I doubt the mechanics of it all can be clearly measured and understood quantitatively but there is lots of evidence that the effects are real and are why we see major economic differences between communities.

What is different today is the internet and that's a big thing. Many of our meaningful, impactful interactions are remote and you can be deliberate about your influences. Ina a sense, this isn't new. There were people who for whom books or paintings by dead people were the most formative influences. But today, those interactions are far more nuanced, warm, immediate and accessible.

Think of it this way: 20 years ago, where would you have gone to discuss your upbringing? Who's opinion would you have access to?

Things have changed. Take advantage of it.

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#104

Post by pskittle »

Sam's Cool!

I had the privilege of listening to him , when he was on the east cost in school once to promote YC. A lot of people who have been a part of successful startups (founders , VC's , angels) have this obnoxious vibe that they give out , esp if they're from the valley.

(Which understandably is important and helps them with whatever they have going on , however it was refreshing to see humility in the Now YC president.)

I remember distinctly , he gave his talk where he introduced YC and then talked about what they look for in the founding team etc and then gave the stage to YC alums who accompanied him. One of these guys exhibited the "vibe" I mentioned earlier . My friends and I thought he must be really successful and were contemplating talking to him later to get advice.

He unfortunately didn't know how to work his way around a projector. everyone (students , prof , and of course our YC guests were waiting for him to start). A prof normally would use that as example and tell us that that the projectors , need to be more usable.

Sam got up to help the guy up from a slightly embarrassing situation. but what happened next was odd ,(The YC alum) didn't even acknowledge it or say thanks . He rudely just went to the middle and started talking , rather bragging about how awesome his company was. (which is fine ) but it came across as a silly TV commercial. We decided we didn't want advice from an obnoxious person.

This probably doesn't sound like a logical reason to be affinitve of the new YC president but that day I thought he demonstrates qualities of a good leader .

Good luck to him and YC

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#105

Post by theorique »

Mandatum wrote: post #70
theorique wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed that people in a non-obvious minority group tend to be pleasantly surprised when they find out that someone distinguished is from that same minority group. In addition to the example of gay/lesbian people, I've noticed that Canadians (nationality) and Jews (religion) tend to show this trait. It makes sense - it's pleasing to learn that one of "your tribe" is doing well.

That's the nicest, subtlest wording of OPIAF I've ever seen.

He said in a later comment that he was, in fact, gay. I'm not putting words in his mouth, nor mentioning it in a derogatory way.

(edit: My mistake, I thought the parent comment was the same person as a lower down comment. Anyway, I wasn't deliberately "accusing" OP of being gay ... not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#106

Post by gregpilling »

reason wrote: post #2

No disrespect to Sam in any way -- he truly seems like a brilliant guy with a chorus of influential people behind him -- but I've been on a successful-person wikipedia binge as of late, and it's become very, very clear that a person's upbringing almost determines whether or not they're going to be successfull, which saddens me. I grew up to some very close-minded parents who severely limited my growth, forced me to f…

In my opinion you are wrong. Many people use the adversity of their childhood as fuel to drive their adult success. I used that fuel myself.

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#107

Post by Iftheshoefits »

qq66 wrote: post #74
Iftheshoefits wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, actually. His parents were a Harvard alumnus and a mother who was both gifted and accomplished in Anthropology (with a wide network) and the people who raised him from age 10, his grandparents, were hardly "middle class" in the one-breadwinner-midwestern-auto-worker sense of the word. They were at minimum on the affluent side of middle-class. So, Obama's childhood is not even close to being typical. He started w…

How many thousands of people had a Harvard alumnus for a father and gifted and accomplished woman for a mother? How many of those thousands became president?

Your second question is entirely irrelevant in the context of this discussion. "Become President" is just not a reasonable minimum measure of "success."

Re: Y Combinator’s New Head

#108

Post by Mz »

eru wrote: post #73
Mz wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suggest you start looking for people you can identify with better who met some standard of success you admire. Madonna is a collage drop out. So is Bill Gates. Altough Gates came from money, Madonna came from a middle class background. There are plenty of people out there who came from "nothing." I was one of the top 3 students of my high school graduating class -- STAR student, national merit scholarship winner, s…

> The odds are super high I would have died young had I not made the choices I made. Please explain.

A) I was seriously abused as a kid and was quite suicidal for years.

B) I have a deadly congenital condition which was not diagnosed until my mid thirties. Being a homemaker allowed me to take care of myself enough to not die in spite of not having a diagnosis.

Had I pursued a career, most likely I either would have committed suicide at a young age or died mysteriously of my undiagnosed disorder.

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