How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014 • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#101

Post by TimJRobinson » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 3:58 AM UTC

brianstorms wrote: post #91

Nice, but, very few of those individuals have started a startup in the past five years, or even ten years. What exactly do they KNOW that is going to help you, the founder? I don't think this is the ideal lineup for a day of talks about How to Start a Startup in the fall of 2014. The past few years have been particularly brutal for starting a startup. Mostly because there are so many others doing the same thing, and…

If I was learning to swim I'd rather be taught by a great swimming coach who's taught many hundreds of swimmers before and seen the common mistakes / challenges than by another great swimmer.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#102

Post by Nicholas_C » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 4:10 AM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #74

Nicholas_C wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're forgetting the absolutely incredible intangible value and legitimacy of having Stanford on your resume.

Your customers have absolutely no idea of what is on your resume.

If you're selling anything to a business and they've done any kind of research on you they will. And VCs definitely know. Sharing the same alma mater with a VC could make all the difference in funding.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#103

Post by jamesmthomp » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 4:16 AM UTC

brianstorms wrote: post #91

Nice, but, very few of those individuals have started a startup in the past five years, or even ten years. What exactly do they KNOW that is going to help you, the founder? I don't think this is the ideal lineup for a day of talks about How to Start a Startup in the fall of 2014. The past few years have been particularly brutal for starting a startup. Mostly because there are so many others doing the same thing, and…

You can guarantee this will contain worthwhile advice regardless of whether it lives up to the title of "How to Start a Startup".

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#104

Post by Firecracker » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 5:10 AM UTC

Any word on why the Stanford class is marked as closed to signups?

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#105

Post by jeffchuber » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 5:19 AM UTC

pptr1 wrote: post #72

Just finished reading Peter Thiel's Zero to One; and it is interesting that both him and Marissa Mayer are going to teach. He sort of disses her in the book. This is a quote from his book. "Beginning with brand rather than substance is dangerous. Ever since Marissa Mayer became CEO of Yahoo! in mid-2012, she has worked to revive the once-popular internet giant by making it cool again. In a single tweet, Yahoo! summar…

Is Yahoo really a products company or a content and advertising company?

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#106

Post by kibaekr » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 5:55 AM UTC

staunch wrote: post #64

startupfounder wrote: post #5

This is an amazing recruiting tool for YC and is a page out of JOEL SPOLSKY's book: "So if the top 1 percent never apply for jobs (aka get startup funding), how can you recruit them? My theory is that the best way is to find them before they realize there is a job market (aka startup funding)--back when they're still in college."[0] [0] http://www.inc.com/magazine/20070501/column-guest.html

In 2006 YC ran this ad in The Stanford Daily. I always thought it was funny. http://i.imgur.com/HuQxIXT.jpg

Haha!

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#107

Post by sillysaurus3 » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 5:57 AM UTC

Nicholas_C wrote: post #102

jacquesm wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your customers have absolutely no idea of what is on your resume.

If you're selling anything to a business and they've done any kind of research on you they will. And VCs definitely know. Sharing the same alma mater with a VC could make all the difference in funding.

Being able to raise funding is nice, but I could do that too, and I didn't attend Stanford.

The only question that matters to investors is, "Will the next Google or Facebook come out of Stanford?" If the answer is "No," then everyone investing in Stanford-related startups will lose.

There's a higher chance that the right talent, idea, and motivation might come together at Stanford, but it's far from likely. I don't know too much about elite universities, but the fact that Facebook originated from someone attending Harvard and Airbnb originated from an RISD alum is evidence that any university has a fair chance of starting the next hot company. Maybe even someone who hasn't attended university at all might start it.

Imagine if Google wasn't able to raise funding because someone was prejudiced against where the founders went to university, or whether they attended university. How different would the world be? That's why it's mistaken to place so much emphasis on Stanford. It shouldn't matter, except insofar as there's a lot of talent there.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#108

Post by kibaekr » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 5:58 AM UTC

Wow this list is unreal. It's the Olympic lineup of the startup world. So jealous of the students that get to attend in-person.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#109

Post by mathattack » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 6:13 AM UTC

It takes guts to open source yourself. It also highlights that so much of the value comes from the in person meetings - sharing of ideas and networking.

Re: How to Start a Startup: Fall 2014

#110

Post by kijin » Wed, Sep 17, 2014, 7:15 AM UTC

reduce wrote: post #89

sama wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's online! don't be jealous; watch the talks.

Unfortunately, there's a huge difference in the psychological impact of seeing role models in-person, versus only on a screen. I've experienced this many times while living outside of the US, in recent years. All of the people you'll read about in blogs, or see in videos -- they're perceived like movie stars or legends that must have been greatly distorted on their journey to the opposite end of the world. Keep in mi…

> many small countries have never seen a single big tech-startup success happen within their borders

That sounds more like a difference caused by economic and cultural circumstances than whether you've met a rockstar in person.

If Country X is unable to produce viable startups, it's probably because it doesn't have the economic and cultural infrastructure to support startups yet, not because Peter Thiel has never graced that country with a royal visit.

> every successful person they've ever known hasn't followed what they call the "American" startup way.

Of course they haven't. The "American startup way" is optimized for the specific economic and cultural circumstances that are only found in certain parts of the United States. Some aspects of it may be generalizable, but most of it isn't. Following it to the letter in any other country will probably earn you nothing but ridicule and bankruptcy.