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Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA

#151

Post by jessriedel »

thejohnhenry wrote: post #125
avaer wrote: post #25

How do you feel about non-profit startups developing pure Open Source software and services in exchange for donations, in the interests of bettering the ecosystem itself? Could a nascent Mozilla be a YC nonprofit?

I'm extremely interested in this, as the current funding model for startups restricts new technology to companies that are fiduciarily compelled to monopolize their market, siphoning user data and (potentially) damaging civic society in the process. Startups are still a very good vehicle for most problems, but for certain classes of problems, sometimes make things worse, and I'm curious if YCombinator is interested i…

To be clear: YC accepts non-profits each round.

www.ycombinator.com/nonprofits/

The question of whether open-source producing non-profits fit into YC is still a good one. I couldn't find an info on whether they have already accepted such non-profits, but the incubator Fast Forward has:

> Intelehealth built an open-source intelligence engine for assessing primary care conditions

https://qz.com/792685/silicon-valley-wants-to-save-the-world...

Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA

#152

Post by tyre »

johnhenry wrote: post #124

Hi Michael, I'm wondering if you can comment on how you think the current political comment will affect the startup scene? For example, I remember reading (sorry, no source) that YC is starting to hold events in Canada in order to welcome those who may not be able to come to the U.S. due to the current administration's executive orders. It looks like this may push startups out of the United States. I'm hoping you can…

I think this is the source you're looking for: https://blog.ycombinator.com/us-visas/

Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA

#153

Post by jayjay71 »

narrowrail wrote: post #145
ptero wrote: post #91

Can you provide some info on how does YC support hardware startups? More specifically, what is a good stage to apply? We are working on building a demo-quality HW prototype, with the ETA of ~6months. That means we will not be focused on growth, but on tech development. Should we wait until we have a working system and apply to YC when we are ready to scale and grow it (this is our current thought).

I've never had direct affiliation with YC at all, but I'd check this out: http://blog.ycombinator.com/yc-for-hardware

Just so applicants are aware, YC founders no longer have access to Pier 9.

Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA

#154

Post by wayn3 »

skanga wrote: post #94
mwseibel wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that if you are bootstrapping cause you need to in order to pay the bills then that is totally fine. If you can work full-time on your startup and your are aren't - you should ask yourself why.

What are examples of some good answers to the why question? And some bad answers?

hes implying that you arent convinced of your startup. there are no "good" answers at that point.

Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA

#155

Post by yashvg »

Hi Michael, I am a UC berkeley student and along with a few friends we have made a daily newsletter service (www.wokenews.co).

As a bipartisan political newsletter whose primary user base right now are college students in Berkeley, would you have any recommendation on how to expand beyond this bubble of student subscribers? Maybe on how to reach out to influencers who may be willing to help?

Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA

#158

Post by philip1209 »

avaer wrote: post #25

How do you feel about non-profit startups developing pure Open Source software and services in exchange for donations, in the interests of bettering the ecosystem itself? Could a nascent Mozilla be a YC nonprofit?

This is interesting. I think there's still a deeper question of how to fund open-source technologies. Patreon seems to put the burden on individuals rather than companies. Maybe the answer is non-profits.

Re: Michael Seibel, CEO of YC, is doing an AMA

#160

Post by brudgers »

gist wrote: post #62
mwseibel wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(edited for tone) PG and Jessica are currently on sabbatical in the UK - after running YC for 10+ years they are taking a little break spend more time with their kids

> after running YC for 10+ years they deserve a little break no? With all due respect what is so special about running YC that means you deserve a sabbatical? They are taking a sabbatical not because they deserve it but because they can afford to do so financially and have left their organization in what they feel are very capable hands. It is actually atypical in most professions in the US (at least outside of teach…

With Graham, taking a break (or 'hammock time' as Hickey might phrase it) appears to be a pattern if one can draw a pattern from two data points. After selling Viaweb and working a Yahoo for a bit, Graham wrote and painted and created a new dialect of Lisp for several years before the experiment that led to YCombinator (there may have been consulting and investing in there too, it wouldn't surprise me but since I've never seen anything directly stating there was, it would not surprise me if there wasn't)...and Graham's descriptions of why he did a startup includes not having to get 'a real job' so to speak.

When Graham turned over the public face of YC to Altman, I was like, huh? Since then, I've come to think that 'I'm going to take my money and learn to paint' is one diffs between Altman's and Graham's personalities...though in fairness Graham was well into his thirties when he made his first millions and Altman was just 29 when he became president of YC.

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