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Another great resource from Stanford on startups is their Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders lecture series. http://ecorner.stanford.edu/podcasts.html Talks have been given by some of the same people (including Marc Andreessen, Aaron Levie, Reid Hoffman, and Marissa Mayer) and many others. This talk on negotiation is one of the best lectures I've ever heard and I've recommended it to people dozens of times: http://ecorn…
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Eh, these folks use the same programs we do, the same hardware we do, and compete in the same markets we do. There's no reason to be jealous...if you spend your time doing actual business while they're taking classes, you'll win.
You're forgetting the absolutely incredible intangible value and legitimacy of having Stanford on your resume.
(This is something that online education misses entirely and will largely never be able to replicate.)
YC leading the pack of incubator followers yet again. Excited to watch this!
I'm truly thankful for this.
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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…
The effect is real and pronounced. One of the perceived privileges of the elite is their very access to opportunity, and being there is to provide that access. Not being there is to observe the access, which is the addition of transparency that never existed before, but fundamentally the access hasn't been granted. If you're already in a tough place without access to these kinds of opportunity, this is just going to…
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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.
I know that funding is kind of like a nice additional checkbox on your list of upper-middle class elite treadmill objectives, but outside of sanfranistan we've somehow managed to build entire empires of real value without having to rely on venture capitalists who happened to get drunk in the same dorms that we did.
Another great resource from Stanford on startups is their Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders lecture series. http://ecorner.stanford.edu/podcasts.html Talks have been given by some of the same people (including Marc Andreessen, Aaron Levie, Reid Hoffman, and Marissa Mayer) and many others. This talk on negotiation is one of the best lectures I've ever heard and I've recommended it to people dozens of times: http://ecorn…
This is what I pulled from it:
* Be calm, don't get angry
* Learn what the other party really wants
* Offer a price you think is fair, offer it early
* Don't horse trade, unless the other party likes to horse trade.
* be trustworthy
* have an attorney
I'm not trying to be a downer, honestly. I think I may be missing the forest for the trees.
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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 k…
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
Another great resource from Stanford on startups is their Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders lecture series. http://ecorner.stanford.edu/podcasts.html Talks have been given by some of the same people (including Marc Andreessen, Aaron Levie, Reid Hoffman, and Marissa Mayer) and many others. This talk on negotiation is one of the best lectures I've ever heard and I've recommended it to people dozens of times: http://ecorn…
I'd be interested to know what about the negotiation lecture you think make it one of the best. I just listened to it for the first time and didn't actually find too much content. The speaker had a lot of anecdotes but I didn't find too much actionable advice or processes. This is what I pulled from it: * Be calm, don't get angry * Learn what the other party really wants * Offer a price you think is fair, offer it ea…
Edit: as a whole I find the ETL series more inspirational than actionable. Actionable items would differ from person to person depending on their situation and what they hope to achieve. Might be a key difference from the class Sam Altman is teaching.
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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.
It could, but you know what makes even more of a difference--to the business? Having customers and recurring revenue. I know that funding is kind of like a nice additional checkbox on your list of upper-middle class elite treadmill objectives, but outside of sanfranistan we've somehow managed to build entire empires of real value without having to rely on venture capitalists who happened to get drunk in the same dorm…
I work in the finance department for a large corporation, I'm not a start up guy. I don't even live in "Sanfranistan", or California.
I'm really surprised at the negative reactions I'm getting by stating that what school you go to can give a leg up on being successful.