Hey Sam,
Any comment regarding Jason Calacanis being banned from YC's upcoming demo day? Jason tweeted[1] his side but didn't know what the YC side of it was and was curious.
I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
221–230 of 768 posts
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#222What is a failure you are most proud of?
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#223> I'm on a H1-b visa and I'm basically in prison I know this is an exaggeration, and I'm fully aware the current visa situation in the US could be better, but I really take issue with the sentiment of your statement. You're being afforded an enormous opportunity here, and should not compare it with being in a prison. Think about it -- you clearly decided your home country was not as conducive for building your future…
You might want to reconsider the strong language.
Firstly, do you know the individual concerned? If not, the assumption about someone's motivation for living and working in the US is problematic.
Secondly, I find a contradiction in these remarks. You "take issue with the sentiment", which is clearly one of feeling trapped by the visa rules. But the line of "it's a privilege, not a right" and the demand to "prove value in allowing you to remain" simply reinforces the systematic entrapment, by threat of withdrawal of privilege. In particular, it denies the individual any moral right to change the system.
So I suggest those remarks actually reinforce the sentiment, rather than challenging it.
Such a scenario is commonplace in many jobs, and the more toxic the boss, the more likely it is to occur.
A more creative suggestion out of that logical trap might be that a visa should be a right, not a privilege, since it permits a broader range of contribution towards both GDP and cultural wealth. But now I betray my own leaning towards high levels of international migration for all.
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#224Hi Sam
Do you think non-venture backed companies can change the world?
Does YC want to help founders who do not want funding?
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#225My company Krewe (https://www.gokrewe.com) is aimed at helping people make a new group of close friends in their neighborhood that they can see every day and build a strong local community. I only have a couple hundred sign ups (after about three weeks) so I don't know for sure that the concept will work. I also don't have a cofounder. Should I apply to YC now, or potentially wait for the next batch when I would (hopefully) have more traction?
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#226Earlier quoted context omitted.
We used to give founders $20k. Part of the reason we upped it to $120k is so that founders with higher personal expense structures could do the program. But we're an investor, not a company. It's important to us founders run their own companies and make their own decisions, and so we try not to build too much of our own infrastructure.
I've wondered about this for awhile. Obviously it's been a bit since I've been involved, but you guys have such scale now that solving some obvious problems for founders might be beneficial. Housing being the big one. It was merely annoying back in '07, but now I feel like it'd be a significant distraction and expense for anyone not from the bay area to find a place to live there. Maybe an official Y-scraper would ma…
It's definitely true, but anything you to make a startup feel like an undifferentiated cog in a machine (in the extreme case, throwing everyone into a coworking space) is really bad. We just want to be super careful not to break the important parts of what makes YC work.
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#227Hi Sam. The social graph, interest graph, and professional graph have all been successfully mapped online. When do you believe the location graph will also be mapped at scale, and by whom?
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've wondered about this for awhile. Obviously it's been a bit since I've been involved, but you guys have such scale now that solving some obvious problems for founders might be beneficial. Housing being the big one. It was merely annoying back in '07, but now I feel like it'd be a significant distraction and expense for anyone not from the bay area to find a place to live there. Maybe an official Y-scraper would ma…
It's definitely true, but anything you to make a startup feel like an undifferentiated cog in a machine (in the extreme case, throwing everyone into a coworking space) is really bad. We just want to be super careful not to break the important parts of what makes YC work.
Yeah. That makes sense.
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#229Any advice or observations regarding doing one's first startup in one's 30's and up?
Re: I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA
#230Is it possible to apply with no idea?
Assuming that the applicants are able to demonstrate:
- they can build stuff
- they're a good team fit (e.g. showing a small project from the past)
- they can generate ideas which they're passionate about
If not: do you have a tip for improving these nearly graduated* university applicants?
* 80 hours of course work left