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FamilyLeaf's (YC W12) Y Combinator Application

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Re: FamilyLeaf's (YC W12) Y Combinator Application

#21

Post by wesleyzhao »

voodoomagicman wrote: post #13
cwe wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm glad to see people being more frank about this. As more people like you come forward, hopefully the stigma around it will fade. I've admitted it when appropriate, but been very hesitant to do so, even though I think the experience was incredibly valuable and shaped who I am.

As someone w/ drug use in my past, I believe very strongly that the stigma around it is deserved. I would think very hard about hiring or investing in someone who used marijuana, or who decided to sell marijuana (a bet with a big risk for very little reward), or who thought that using drugs was cool enough to include it on an application. Speaking from experience, marijuana is addictive, saps ambition, and makes it d…

Thanks so much for the compliments and support! I really appreciate it.

Re: FamilyLeaf's (YC W12) Y Combinator Application

#23

Post by wesleyzhao »

ntmartin wrote: post #19

Congrats on getting accepted and thanks for being so candid about your application. I have a couple of questions however: Did you face any problems having disclosed you scrapped a competitors site for potential clients/leads? Did all the founders think that was an acceptable method for building a base? How did you derive the potential turnover figures and was the model and revenue discussed in depth at the interview?…

No problem, it was our pleasure! Let me address your questions one-on-one.

1. We didn't have any problems disclosing that. In fact, (as you can tell by this little stunt) we are very open about it. We thought it was acceptable. But we also are fallible.

2. Turnover figures? We talked about it at the interview, definitely.

3. We were extremely passionate about it. And less so about AthleteNet. That was the number 1 thing. The other smaller but still very valuable factors included the market size, social impact, and potential for faster scaling.

Feel free to email me if you have any more questions! wesley@familyleaf.com

Re: FamilyLeaf's (YC W12) Y Combinator Application

#24

Post by wesleyzhao »

ckas wrote: post #18

The weed thing didn't seem to add much to the app at all (and could have been quite negative), but good to keep the theme going in the pitch video: "It's spreading like a weed"..."It's already been extremely sticky"

Funny haha. Thanks for the comment :)

Re: FamilyLeaf's (YC W12) Y Combinator Application

#25

Post by rdl »

voodoomagicman wrote: post #13
cwe wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm glad to see people being more frank about this. As more people like you come forward, hopefully the stigma around it will fade. I've admitted it when appropriate, but been very hesitant to do so, even though I think the experience was incredibly valuable and shaped who I am.

As someone w/ drug use in my past, I believe very strongly that the stigma around it is deserved. I would think very hard about hiring or investing in someone who used marijuana, or who decided to sell marijuana (a bet with a big risk for very little reward), or who thought that using drugs was cool enough to include it on an application. Speaking from experience, marijuana is addictive, saps ambition, and makes it d…

If you refused to hire even occasional pot smokers (or take investment from them, or invest in them) in the Bay Area, you'd have a really hard time. (This comes up with federal government related contracts and staffing.)

Re: FamilyLeaf's (YC W12) Y Combinator Application

#26

Post by voodoomagicman »

geuis wrote: post #15
voodoomagicman wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone w/ drug use in my past, I believe very strongly that the stigma around it is deserved. I would think very hard about hiring or investing in someone who used marijuana, or who decided to sell marijuana (a bet with a big risk for very little reward), or who thought that using drugs was cool enough to include it on an application. Speaking from experience, marijuana is addictive, saps ambition, and makes it d…

Weed is not addictive. I'll grant most of your other points about it being difficult to think for some people like me and you. However I have known and know many who are as productive, if not more, because of or despite their substance of choice. For me, I really don't give a damn what kinds of drugs people take beyond heroin, crack, meth, and others that have a clear history of detrimental effects on the individual.…

It IS addictive. It can't cause withdrawal symptoms, but absolutely is addictive, like gambling or sex or any other activity that triggers your reward system. I know I felt addicted to pot, failed to quit smoking many times after making the decision to, and kept smoking daily for a year after I had stopped enjoying it. If not addiction, what would you call that?

If you can be sure that someone is reliable, then you are right, there is no reason to have a problem with their drug use. When you are hiring someone or making the decision to invest money with them, you rarely know enough to be sure. Using drugs is a HUGE red flag there, and should say think twice before hiring this person / giving them money.

Re: FamilyLeaf's (YC W12) Y Combinator Application

#27

Post by voodoomagicman »

cwe wrote: post #14
voodoomagicman wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone w/ drug use in my past, I believe very strongly that the stigma around it is deserved. I would think very hard about hiring or investing in someone who used marijuana, or who decided to sell marijuana (a bet with a big risk for very little reward), or who thought that using drugs was cool enough to include it on an application. Speaking from experience, marijuana is addictive, saps ambition, and makes it d…

Your experience may have been different, but it is less addictive than alcohol, caffeine, or chocolate. http://www.drugsense.org/tfy/addictvn.htm

Totally, and I am definitely addicted to caffeine. Luckily this only improves my work :)

The difference is that I think very few people would say "Let's remove the stigma from alchoholism."

Re: FamilyLeaf's (YC W12) Y Combinator Application

#28

Post by voodoomagicman »

rdl wrote: post #25
voodoomagicman wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone w/ drug use in my past, I believe very strongly that the stigma around it is deserved. I would think very hard about hiring or investing in someone who used marijuana, or who decided to sell marijuana (a bet with a big risk for very little reward), or who thought that using drugs was cool enough to include it on an application. Speaking from experience, marijuana is addictive, saps ambition, and makes it d…

If you refused to hire even occasional pot smokers (or take investment from them, or invest in them) in the Bay Area, you'd have a really hard time. (This comes up with federal government related contracts and staffing.)

I am not saying that there should be hard rules. Just that there is a stigma there, and that it is there for a reason. Would you invest in a company with technical founders who got high every day?

Re: FamilyLeaf's (YC W12) Y Combinator Application

#29

Post by rdl »

voodoomagicman wrote: post #28
rdl wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you refused to hire even occasional pot smokers (or take investment from them, or invest in them) in the Bay Area, you'd have a really hard time. (This comes up with federal government related contracts and staffing.)

I am not saying that there should be hard rules. Just that there is a stigma there, and that it is there for a reason. Would you invest in a company with technical founders who got high every day?

Pot wouldn't be a factor in my investment decision; it would depend on the quality of work they did.

I don't think drugs are incompatible with being a responsible and productive person. There would be downsides to high profile drug use, like what happened to Sean Parker at Facebook, where presumably there was fear that the LPs in various investors would raise issues.

People can be useless fucktards with or without drugs; people can be productive with or without drugs.

Re: FamilyLeaf's (YC W12) Y Combinator Application

#30

Post by wesleyzhao »

stevenj wrote: post #20

Direct link to the app (PDF): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19699329/FamilyLeaf_YC_application.p... P.S. Wow, small world. I went to the same high school as you guys. Good luck with FamilyLeaf, I'm now a big fan!

Dude! Interlake?? We should catch up! founders@familyleaf.com

We're also now a big fan of you!

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