I love that "Esprit de Corps/Sparta" Mystic (after graduating I joined 5 years the Paris Fire Brigade, my parents/friends thinkin WTFF!). Even though ones can keep in mind that it's a training methodology (for the days you are about to sob like a little boy due to sheer, to the bones exhaustion), it produces great results: * It aligns everything you have (any cells, not just neurons) towards one clear goal "Fulfill la mission sacré (or die;)" (as to speak in Foreign Legion language); for me "relentlessly ressourceful" is that rustic légionnaire mentality (no big logistic ressources at the Legion) "no excuses", "Marche ou crève", you gotta find a way and you are not scared to violently execute ("getting ones fingers out of his a." Pardon my french). You learn so much more just because of the intensity (things stick in your brain, are tattooed in your body once for all). You receive very tough feedback which is what we need as we are too much in love with our ideas. You are able to say "screw that", pivot radically throw all what you build away to start afresh, or say no without blinking ("Ca me fera pas un 2ème trou au c.l"). You make friends like rarely one can make (that network becomes a fantastic ressource when you need help now!/yesterday). Finally because of that harsh training, the skin you have put into it, you can go extra 10 miles nobody would have ever believed one could (eg. Airbnb crazy story: they did not give up! That's also why imo YC looks for never giving up on the mission Determination: to get the maximum run for their investment). Congrats to PG for forging that mystic that YC "Esprit de Corps": makes business sense, but sure must be a unforgettable defining experience.
YC Is Not a School for Startups; It's Marine Corps Boot Camp for Founders
21–30 of 47 posts
Re: YC Is Not a School for Startups; It's Marine Corps Boot Camp for Founders
#22So, I've actually gone through the local version of Marine Corps training with the 'crawling on your belly through mud with bullets whizzing over your head' part and served near North Iraq for 9 months as a squad leader. It was basically hard like hell and fainting teammates due to exhaustion wasn't unusual during basic training. Should I include this experience to my application form if I ever decide to apply to YCo…
For me, yes. People gain a maturity from experiences like that, and that's something I look for - maturity and experience. Not just the ability to whack on a keyboard all day. Better still if you can apply your Boyd to the problem.
As for PG, he seems like a bit of a softy. I'm not sure how it'd go over with him.
Personally, if you were a marine and have some technical chops I don't see why you need anyone else's help. Or why you should give up any of your company.
Re: YC Is Not a School for Startups; It's Marine Corps Boot Camp for Founders
#23To clarify, this was intended to imply that YC is more stressful and intense than any schooling I have ever seen. So, it seemed more akin to training for "life and death" situations. And, since you're training with the best of the best young founders, it's simply a compliment to the Marines. Take it or leave it.
Really, a compliment to the Marines? You've decided to go from 'somewhat obliviously-overwrought metaphor' to 'self-absorbed foot-in-the-mouth'?
Re: YC Is Not a School for Startups; It's Marine Corps Boot Camp for Founders
#24So, I've actually gone through the local version of Marine Corps training with the 'crawling on your belly through mud with bullets whizzing over your head' part and served near North Iraq for 9 months as a squad leader. It was basically hard like hell and fainting teammates due to exhaustion wasn't unusual during basic training. Should I include this experience to my application form if I ever decide to apply to YCo…
Cool. I never did quite that, but I was a volunteer firefighter and a firefighter instructor who literally crawled on my belly in smoke-filled buildings, with a fire burning inside, with nothing but a flashlight and a 2" hoseline, and with flashover a possiblity at any moment... and I trained guys to do LP gas firefighting where the simulator generated so much heat that guys routinely found their helmets partially me…
The trick is finding an effective way to include this in your story. YC isn't, or shouldn't, be your only incubator option and others will require you to communicate your story with very few words. (And just because YC doesn't require it doesn't mean that you shouldn't keep it in mind.)
I run an international SAR team (www.1srg.org) and kept forgetting that it was a startup. I've been trying to include that experience while not adding too many words. The resulting story is much tighter, and hopefully more compelling.
Invest in good prose....
Re: YC Is Not a School for Startups; It's Marine Corps Boot Camp for Founders
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cool. I never did quite that, but I was a volunteer firefighter and a firefighter instructor who literally crawled on my belly in smoke-filled buildings, with a fire burning inside, with nothing but a flashlight and a 2" hoseline, and with flashover a possiblity at any moment... and I trained guys to do LP gas firefighting where the simulator generated so much heat that guys routinely found their helmets partially me…
The trick is finding an effective way to include this in your story. YC isn't, or shouldn't, be your only incubator option and others will require you to communicate your story with very few words. (And just because YC doesn't require it doesn't mean that you shouldn't keep it in mind.) I run an international SAR team (www.1srg.org) and kept forgetting that it was a startup. I've been trying to include that experienc…
Good point. And that's something I'm not terribly good at yet. I tend to use too many words when communicating. I need to learn to tighten things up a bit. :-(
Re: YC Is Not a School for Startups; It's Marine Corps Boot Camp for Founders
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
The description makes me think I'm trying too hard at this stuff. What does an investor think when they see words assembled in this way? I'm not bagging on this guy specifically, but this article/description is below-average writing even for a high-school dropout. I'm not trying to quibble on semantics or be a grammar-nazi, though I'm sure I'm doing both, but it's long, vague, jumpy, and plain hard to read.
Do you mean investors like Dave McClure who write in all lower case? Or investors like Matt Coffin, who writes his "you" with a u, even in public posts? Just trying to get a little clarification here. And, to answer your question, more than a dozen investors have thought, "Let me sign this convertible note."
It just sounds like a muddled thought process to me. Sorry man, nothing personal, it was actually a self-deprecating comment. You don't have to wave your checkbook around about it.
Re: YC Is Not a School for Startups; It's Marine Corps Boot Camp for Founders
#27So, I've actually gone through the local version of Marine Corps training with the 'crawling on your belly through mud with bullets whizzing over your head' part and served near North Iraq for 9 months as a squad leader. It was basically hard like hell and fainting teammates due to exhaustion wasn't unusual during basic training. Should I include this experience to my application form if I ever decide to apply to YCo…
Yeah no kidding - I was in Fallujah, and went through 6 months of bootcamp. In addition I've worked under high stress in the civilian world and there is absolutely no comparison to the training in the USMC and what menial (and trivial BS) that these startups go through.
If you want to participate in high stress and get your kicks from it - join the USMC and see if you can make it. Unlike the drivviling worthless companies that make it out of incubation by sheer luck, do something real with our life.
lz
Re: YC Is Not a School for Startups; It's Marine Corps Boot Camp for Founders
#28So, I've actually gone through the local version of Marine Corps training with the 'crawling on your belly through mud with bullets whizzing over your head' part and served near North Iraq for 9 months as a squad leader. It was basically hard like hell and fainting teammates due to exhaustion wasn't unusual during basic training. Should I include this experience to my application form if I ever decide to apply to YCo…
Yes.
Re: YC Is Not a School for Startups; It's Marine Corps Boot Camp for Founders
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
The description makes me think I'm trying too hard at this stuff. What does an investor think when they see words assembled in this way? I'm not bagging on this guy specifically, but this article/description is below-average writing even for a high-school dropout. I'm not trying to quibble on semantics or be a grammar-nazi, though I'm sure I'm doing both, but it's long, vague, jumpy, and plain hard to read.
Do you mean investors like Dave McClure who write in all lower case? Or investors like Matt Coffin, who writes his "you" with a u, even in public posts? Just trying to get a little clarification here. And, to answer your question, more than a dozen investors have thought, "Let me sign this convertible note."
Just because they're investors doesn't mean they're off the hook for writing like crap. Having a lot of money isn't a free pass for mangling the English language.
Re: YC Is Not a School for Startups; It's Marine Corps Boot Camp for Founders
#30"... Like war, everything in startups is life or death ..."
I appreciate the enthusiasm & romanticism of the story, but don't for a minute confuse working in a Startup and a real "life & death" situation. Things have to be done perfectly, freeze, screw up or make a mistake and you end up with a corpse instead of a person. Why not say it, "as it is" - a relatively safe, exciting creative job where you get to make your own decisions, create things, have fun and maybe make some money.