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YC Changes

blog.ycombinator.com

111–120 of 145 posts

Re: YC Changes

#113
post #96

Seeing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Buchheit in the announcement is a fun coincidence. He founded gmail. One of the things he did with gmail is gave it a command-line user interface. I recently found out that a lot of people I would expect to know about it, don't. If that includes you, go to the gear on the upper right of your gmail, select that, then Settings, then turn keyboard shortcuts on and save. Typing "…

> Typing "?" randomly in gmail will let you know what shortcuts are there. It takes time for your fingers to learn them, but scanning email with j k [...]

really? Oh wow... I've used j and k for ages, but didn't know about this pop-up. Thanks!

Re: YC Changes

#114

I realize it's a joke, but it also seems quite unlikely to be true. To me, this is the biggest weakness of YC as an organization: a pernicious belief that what applies within their community applies to all communities. I have to wonder what kind of world Graham sees, if it's one in which all communities would welcome a person like Sam as leader. No disrespect to Sam and his substantial leadership qualities. Edit: It'…

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12490792 and marked it off-topic.

Re: YC Changes

#115
post #86
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The handful of blog posts you see here on HN are not representative of the whole batch. The majority of companies that we fund have zero alumni connections. To me, this is actually one of the most important features of YC: the application process is completely open and we fund people from around the world regardless of background. Having graduated from college in Ohio in the 90s I moved here with zero connections and…

An awesome feature certainly. I appreciate the access (and the free teaching we're getting more of soon) :) While I can't dictate what orgs do, it'd be helpful to see some "we applied with zero connections and got in on our strength alone" posts to balance it out.

We don't have any blog posts about it, but the company my friend's and I started got into YC with 0 connections and we're pretty much all from the midwest USA. No one took a risk on us until YC, every penny the company had came from 2 of the cofounders' pockets. While we're not out of the woods yet, there is no way we would still be at it w/o YC.

Re: YC Changes

#116
One evening in early 2008, I got the opportunity to meet Michael at an Austin hotel during SXSW. I pitched him on the idea for Airbnb, and he took us under his wing. For the rest of the year, we would visit his office every Friday night for hours on end. Each session, Joe and I would demo our latest site and report on our progress. Michael taught me about fundraising, product growth, and building the basics of a startup culture. He kept reminding us to take just a few more steps. If we had known just how many steps there were, we may have been discouraged, but Michael always made progress feel within reach. The most important thing Michael did was believe in us. Had it not been for Michael, there might not be an Airbnb today.

Re: YC Changes

#117
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have there been any recorded white cannibal cultures?

Yes.[1] [1]: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/europes-hypocritical-h...

Awesome. Thanks for the link.

Strangely, someone downvoted my question. It's unfortunate that some try to downplay or hide uncomfortable historical truths.

Re: YC Changes

#118

PG wasnt joking when he said: "You could parachute [Sam] into an island full of cannibals and come back in 5 years and he'd be the king." - PG 5.5 years ago[1] [1] http://paulgraham.com/fundraising.html

TBH, this is why I scrutinize sama. to learn. And, I haven't been able to discern his brand of magic.

Obviously he's figured out how to get a few powerful people to bet on him. But, he doesn't seem to have any outward success.

From his videos, he doesn't seem to be classically charismatic.

So, what has he figured out? How is he a kingmaker?

Re: YC Changes

#119
post #96

Seeing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Buchheit in the announcement is a fun coincidence. He founded gmail. One of the things he did with gmail is gave it a command-line user interface. I recently found out that a lot of people I would expect to know about it, don't. If that includes you, go to the gear on the upper right of your gmail, select that, then Settings, then turn keyboard shortcuts on and save. Typing "…

These are keyboard shortcuts not a command-line.

Re: YC Changes

#120
post #27

I'm surprised they got to shutdown YC Fellowship; is it already shut down, or they are planning on that next year. Without YC how one could get access to YC network and get one to one advice without moving to bayarea? online classes are not really one to one advice.

The MOOC will include one to one advice. Also, YC frequently does open office hours that are open to anyone over Skype.

> The MOOC will include one to one advice.

How might this work at scale?

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