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I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#311

Post by DrNuke »

sama wrote: post #269
DrNuke wrote: post #137

Hello @sama, do you see -as mr president- YC (with YCR, YCF, alumni and partners) acting more and more as a self-sustaining network in the coming years? How do you think big corps and govs will react? It's extremely interesting to see this emerge but also scary, if you think of unpredictable consequences. How do you feel? Thanks and good luck.

What about it do you find scary?

You as a network are starting putting hands into matters that are under control or direct influence of politics, very big corporations, state-driven industries and even geopolitics: AI, energy, medicine, automation, food, space and so on. It is not dropbox anymore. In 20-30 years, your boost may lead to the disruption of human society as it is organised now.

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#312

Post by ideathing27 »

Y Combinator has a record of supporting innovative ideas which come from the relative margins of the tech community, beginning with its invention of the startup accelerator as a concept.

- Do you feel that Y Combinator's increasing visibility has helped your mission to attract a wide range of applicants beyond established tech industry insiders?

- How do you manage the risk that your corresponding increase in competitiveness could lower the chances of acceptance for less polished but still innovative applications from people with fewer industry connections?

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#313

Post by sama »

pixelpanic wrote: post #283

How did you learn to code? What would you recommend to aspiring developers?

Self-taught to start, then I took an amazing CS course from Georgeann Kepchar in high school who is one of my personal heroes.

I guess I'd recommend the same path--start studying yourself, and find a great teacher at some point.

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#314

Post by pnathan »

Hi Sam,

I'm not on the shortlist of anyone for "smartest people in the field", but I have a keen interest & passion for research. I suspect there are many people like me. Do you anticipate that YCR will have a track for people like me to participate, or will it be aiming for the creme de la creme as a rule?

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#316

Post by csentropy »

berpasan wrote: post #248
csentropy wrote: post #124

What is the best way to get connected to the YC network if you are not a YC alum?

Find something you can offer then and help them with... And be a hustler.

That's what I intended to ask, my question wasn't clear. Is there a way someone could contribute to the YC community as an outsider? Ideas welcome.

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#317

Post by ejdyksen »

zcdziura wrote: post #150
mindcrime wrote: post #121

1. Would / will you ever consider opening an East Coast branch? I understand all the "stuff" about why SV is great for startups, but there will always be people who can't /won't get up and travel completely to the other side of the country for an extended period of time. And while the EC might not be the startup hotbed that SV area is, it's quite clear that there is a LOT of startup activity and some great startups b…

Especially in Boston. Boston has a TON of startups in the area.

YC used to be in Boston for half of the year:

http://old.ycombinator.com/ycca.html

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#318

Post by DatLoneWolfLife »

anonymous1212 wrote: post #199

I am a solo founder with strong technical and design chops. I am a high-level thinker, and I spend much of my time with big picture problems, establishing the vision, and figuring out a practical plan to get there from where we are now. But I can also execute on that vision, and build the entire system end-to-end. And I have an abnormally high level of standard. I strongly believe in quality software that just works.…

Leaving this here: https://twitter.com/DatLoneWolfLife

Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

#319

Post by Thriptic »

Hi Sam,

I have a number of ideas for companies which I would like to explore, but I am constantly hamstrung by the fact that I don't have the technical skills required. I wouldn't go so far as to say I am non-technical (I'm a bioengineer transitioning into data science) but I certainly am not a developer per say. Do you have any advice on how to find potential technical co-founders?

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