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Jessica Livingston: How to Build the Future

ycombinator.com

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Re: Jessica Livingston: How to Build the Future

#31

Post by 1123581321 »

throwaway991199 wrote: post #12

I have to agree with you there. I'm in Europe and I just polled a whole bunch of friends, anyone using these companies and got a resounding NOPE. I just polled a bunch of US friends too and they say the same. Sure, purely anecdotal. But for me, none of these have changed the world. Maybe if you worship at the alter of YC or a wannabe Paul/Jessica groupie or liberal/progressive fantasist then I guess you totally buy i…

I down voted this comment because it is based on counterfactual anecdotes (those companies do have popular and well-liked products), and builds on those anecdotes to insult people who believe those statistics, and then tries to inoculate itself against criticism by accusing downvoters and flaggers of responding irrationally. The attempt to frame a predictable response as an unreasonable one hurts the discussion without offering anything in return.

I do agree that world-changing is a term used in contexts such as disease eradication. Certainly disease eradication changes the world more than avoiding a stay in a hotel. However, world-changing as a term is not restricted to the most impactful change to which it has been previously attached. For a typical programmer, making something that lets millions of people have an easier workday, vacation or home life should count as changing the world, even if it is a bit mundane.

Re: Jessica Livingston: How to Build the Future

#33

Post by Mz »

bobbylox wrote: post #17

I think there needs to be a moratorium on that AirBnB political cereal box story. "The most important thing to do is to focus on your business, but also it's cool if you spend time on a random side business," is a big mixed message.

I don't see a mixed message. They did what they had to do to survive as a company rather than become consultants or get jobs because they were that focused on making the company work.

Re: Jessica Livingston: How to Build the Future

#34

Post by btrautsc »

bobbylox wrote: post #17

I think there needs to be a moratorium on that AirBnB political cereal box story. "The most important thing to do is to focus on your business, but also it's cool if you spend time on a random side business," is a big mixed message.

I see your point - but don't you think that's kind of a hyper real view of what this "starting a startup" is really about?

Whether its making personal sacrifices, cutting all unnecessary costs, selling "on boarding" you would do anyway for free - whatever it takes to keep the company alive (lots of things that don't scale) end up being significant in the early (and middle-year) history of startups.

Maybe its played, but I still think its a pretty great example of just getting it done by whatever means necessary.

Re: Jessica Livingston: How to Build the Future

#35

Post by beambot »

sandslash wrote: post #22
bobbylox wrote: post #17

I think there needs to be a moratorium on that AirBnB political cereal box story. "The most important thing to do is to focus on your business, but also it's cool if you spend time on a random side business," is a big mixed message.

I think the message that I've gotten from that story is that you need to do whatever you can to afford you the means to focus on your business, no matter how un-scaleable it may seem. And that's the attitude we love here at YC. It's definitely one of my favorite stories, and really serves as a great testament to the idea that staying alive so you can keep working on your product is easily one of the most important th…

Would you have ever advocated that move to a portfolio company? I can't imagine any of the partners advocating that tactic during an office hours conversation... It only seems awesome after the fact.

Re: Jessica Livingston: How to Build the Future

#37

Post by rezashirazian »

throwaway991199 wrote: post #12

I have to agree with you there. I'm in Europe and I just polled a whole bunch of friends, anyone using these companies and got a resounding NOPE. I just polled a bunch of US friends too and they say the same. Sure, purely anecdotal. But for me, none of these have changed the world. Maybe if you worship at the alter of YC or a wannabe Paul/Jessica groupie or liberal/progressive fantasist then I guess you totally buy i…

There are many companies that change the world that you nor your friends would probably ever hear from.

Re: Jessica Livingston: How to Build the Future

#38

Post by aswanson »

burrows wrote: post #30
harryh wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno. Before Dropbox I didn't really use a general purpose file store in the cloud for anything. I stored pictures on flickr and documents on Google Docs but nothing general purpose. Now I store my entire home directory, all of my financial & legal documents, and quite a few other things (some in Dropbox some elsewhere). I dunno if that's transforming the world or not but it's made a pretty big difference to me pe…

>> I store ... all of my financial & legal documents [in Dropbox] Are you encrypting these documents client side?

Just had my phone stolen. Good idea.

Re: Jessica Livingston: How to Build the Future

#39

Post by nickpsecurity »

It was a great interview. The story about how Airbnb started is interesting. I'd have laughed at renting air beds during conferences, too. I'd see potential in it but not billions. The pivot and cereal gimmicks were excellent examples of her advice that determination is most important. Also, remember that most politicians or Fortune 100 CEO's didn't get there by being the smartest. They also got there with a combo of understanding people, focus and determination. Ruthlessly so in many cases.

So, the goal was increasing innovation across the board rather than making money. Hmm. I've previously brought up that I'm anti-VC innovation because many just get acquired by big companies that shelve it, esp if patents are involved. I also know they're interested in exporting or improving Y Combinator. I think it would be interesting if they modified the model so the software had to be GPL, the business had anti-lockin tooling like data importers, and/or patent suit immunity for non-profits or free software doing compatible offerings. These kept true even after an IPO or acquisition by legal means. A combo of techniques like these would allow continuous stream of competition while preserving most of worth of company due to its brand and first-mover advantage.

What you all think about that or another modification of YC model to discourage monopolistic practices, lock-in or shelving post-acquisition?

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