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Ways YC has changed in the last year

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Re: Ways YC has changed in the last year

#211

Post by satvikpendem »

startupsfail wrote: post #210
satvikpendem wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're saying you were in YC and then they took your idea, website etc and gave it to another YC team? Or were you unrelated to anyone in YC?

YC application, interview and then noticed a company in that batch popping out with what took half a year to distill on the product side of the project. Again, the lesson - it is important to understand that YC is specializing on a particular way of bringing up a startup.

That doesn't really mean anything, speaking as someone who also interviewed for YC recently. It could just be a confluence of ideas, or that your product isn't really that unique. It doesn't mean they're "stealing" ideas, and even if they are, so what? It's gonna happen as soon as you go to market, so you're gonna have to deal with it sometime. More likely, though, is that no one will actually give a shit about your product and you have to beg them to care, which is what YC themselves say.

Re: Ways YC has changed in the last year

#212

Post by sahila »

pembrook wrote: post #203
sahila wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's worse than that, Elon reduces the reach / promotion of tweets that contain external links. Except for users following you, it's difficult to reach a wider audience if you include a link.

Twitter did that long before Elon. Most social platforms downrank external links and have for years. That’s why all media startups basically died over the past 6 years.

Maybe to an extent but Facebook still shows plenty of news links, I don't see any of them on Twitter.

Re: Ways YC has changed in the last year

#213

Post by tinco »

mtnGoat wrote: post #202
snowmaker wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly right. When people see YC funding a lot of AI startups, a lot of them think it must be because YC has some thesis about AI. Actually, it says something much deeper about the world than whatever YC's partners' opinions are. YC funds founders, not ideas, so the reason that so many companies in S23 are AI startups is that that's what founders want to work on right now. It's an emergent phenomenon, like st…

I would argue that just because they want to work on AI while it has a lot of hype, might not be a good thing. Folks should do what they are passionate about and interested in, not just raise money to turn a fume from the karat and greatest buzzword technology. Will they leave AI if the tides change?

I'm working on an idea that I'm submitting to YC this year. AI is revolutionizing the field I'm most passionate about, I feel like it would be a waste if I didn't even try to make a contribution at what's possibly the last time we get to make a significant contribution in this way.

I was hyped about Bitcoin when it came out, but the only truly revolutionary thing that happened after Bitcoin in that field was Ethereum, and there really wasn't anything to be hyped about besides that in the decade since even though people kept hyping it.

This hype is so different, it's as powerful as web 2.0 was. I felt like I missed out on building something epic then, and now I get another shot so I'm not gonna miss it. I bet there's thousands of people who feel this way.

Re: Ways YC has changed in the last year

#215

Post by ajkjk »

jdougan wrote: post #175
ajkjk wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is zirp?

Zero Interest Rate Policy. Describes the US Federal Reserve interest rates for much of the last 20 years or so. Since interest rate to borrow is near zero, investing in very marginal businesses can be profitable.

Oh right. I just didn't know the acronym (and for some reason felt like asking instead of looking it up. Weird.)

Re: Ways YC has changed in the last year

#216

Post by jrowen »

mdekkers wrote: post #196
jrowen wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, if everyone's copying them, it's hard to argue that they haven't hit on something that works better than the known alternatives. Have people tried remote accelerators? If they're viable and competitive then they should have no problem flourishing, especially given the apparent number of WFH diehards. Honestly I wouldn't bet on it. What if you want to be an actor, or a comic, or a filmmaker? You basically have…

> if everyone's copying them Thats not what I said. > it's hard to argue that they haven't hit on something that works better than the known alternatives. Does it work better though? Barring some statistical outliers such as unicorns, VC backed startups from accelerators don’t measurably do better at all for the founders. > What if you want to be an actor, or a comic, or a filmmaker? You basically have to move to LA…

What is the meaningful distinction between "many accelerators globally follow the YC template" and "everyone's copying them"?

Does it work better though? Barring some statistical outliers such as unicorns, VC backed startups from accelerators don’t measurably do better at all for the founders.

Ok, then what's the problem? Just don't do it, easy. You started this off by lamenting that they ask for too much of a commitment, now you're saying that they don't really add value. I'm not sure what argument you're driving at.

"Egregious reductionism"? Who's point-scoring again? That sentiment about e.g. Hollywood is pretty widespread conventional wisdom. Can you make it elsewhere, sure, but that's beside the point. My point is that there are certain jobs and opportunities that require a lot of commitment and giving up of other things, and that closes them off to a lot of people, but that's ok. You've avoided making any argument against that by nitpicking and shifting your argument.

Nobody is stopping anybody from living a family life in the suburbs and starting a VC backed startup in their spare time. Be a rebel, buck the trend, prove 'em wrong! But maybe understand that there may be some truth to the idea that you're putting yourself at a disadvantage in an already tough environment, and that getting a bunch of people together in the same room and grinding actually does have value, it's not just toxic YC bro culture or whatever.

exclusion of literally everything else (family, hobbies, “routines” - whatever that may mean)

Routines are things like brushing your teeth, showering, sleeping; eating may even be considered a routine. You have a very real time budget you have to balance. You seem unwilling to accept this. Go ahead, do it all, I wish you luck!

Re: Ways YC has changed in the last year

#218

Post by Topgamer7 »

xypage wrote: post #37
epolanski wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also limits the audience to people with Twitter, I can only see the first post.

Hop on over to nitter, just replace twitter in the url with nitter and you get https://nitter.net/snowmaker/status/1705643839443403263 which works without an account or anything.

Yeah that gets around the twitter blockade. But still, I prefer a blog post or article much more.
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