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Changes at YC

ycombinator.com

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Re: Changes at YC

#361

Post by dang »

ftxbro wrote: post #234
Kwpolska wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's still too long and flowery. You probably know what YC is. We were recently doing late-stage investing, but we're mostly giving up on that now. We're firing 17 people who were involved in late-stage investing. You won't notice their disappearance. There, four sentences, and no AI involved.

Oh they flagged my post. Does that mean no one can see it anymore? Anyway I was curious how GPT expands your four brutally raw sentences into a press release (everything it made is fake including a fake quote): Y Combinator Announces Changes in Late-Stage Investing and Workforce Mountain View, CA - Y Combinator, the renowned startup accelerator, announced today that it will be shifting its focus away from late-stage…

> Oh they flagged my post.

Not sure who "they" is but HN users flagged your post. We can only guess why users flag things, but my guess is that they've gotten tired of generic LLM posts. The bar that such a comment has to clear in order to be interesting is getting increasingly high.

Re: Changes at YC

#362

Post by nigamanth »

tim333 wrote: post #329
winphone1974 wrote: post #311

Man, total amateur hour. A layoff post without talking about how it's the hardest thing the CEO has ever done, or saying the responsibility lies with me? No mention of how deep he cares about those departing? And delivered on a Monday? Why didn't they use ChatGPT to compose this like everyone else?

I doubt the late stage investing team will suffer that much. They'll probably move to similar high paying roles shortly.

Shortly? Which company would hire late stage investors right now?

Re: Changes at YC

#363

Post by reactspa »

curiousObject wrote: post #337
winphone1974 wrote: post #311

Man, total amateur hour. A layoff post without talking about how it's the hardest thing the CEO has ever done, or saying the responsibility lies with me? No mention of how deep he cares about those departing? And delivered on a Monday? Why didn't they use ChatGPT to compose this like everyone else?

Yes, the proper style is: Leading venture capital innovator, YCombinator, is delighted to announce that over 80 percent of our team remain unimpacted by recent employment-related issues, while other team members will be exploring exciting new opportunities going forward

Makes me question their hiring.

If they were good, surely these people could be absorbed in other areas of YC?

Re: Changes at YC

#364

Post by devmor »

barbariangrunge wrote: post #215
devmor wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Creating a position for employees that aren't needed is generally not a business priority. Besides, it's likely that this is primarily a cost-cutting measure given similar industry trends at the moment.

Many Japanese companies have worked hard over the last several decades to find new positions for people who would have been laid off. The result: they dominate a lot of international industries in manufacturing and certain kinds of high tech Eg, I'm buying a Japanese car this week because I don't like the reliability of most North American brands > Toyota continues tradition of a ‘No-Layoff’ policy for its full-time…

I whole-heartedly agree with your sentiment.

However it's not all a net positive either. One issue that comes from the Japanese style of work culture is that seniority often trumps merit - which, while also common in the US, tends to cause more problems in Japanese companies when someone is shifted to a new department and given more control than they should have over something they have little experience in.

It also leads to it being significantly more difficult to change careers or even employers, as leaving ones job where it's difficult to be let go can much more easily be seen as a red flag.

(As a side note, I am a Toyota buyer for life as well)

Re: Changes at YC

#365

Post by coolandsmartrr »

dmix wrote: post #318
EngManagerIsMe wrote: post #306

> Unfortunately, this means we will no longer need some of the roles on the late stage investing team. Seventeen of our teammates are impacted today. I hate this passive voice. It implies there was nothing that could be done, that this was just a force of nature. That it wasn't an active choice by YC, but rather just some eventuality. Most of us understand the necessity of hard decisions. Own the outcomes. It's ok to…

From my experience these things are an after thought, the people writing this stuff are disconnected from the people making the actual decisions and I guess the typical audience that reads it. The people who do the marketing, HR, or "run socials" tend to be from the demographic that over values safe corporate speak. CEOs occasionally write these but usually it's some pre-written stuff that gets signed off on. We all…

> The people who do the marketing, HR, or "run socials" tend to be from the demographic that over values safe corporate speak

I don't think their behavior comes from demographics, but from the incentive structure in these positions.

Press releases are more often defensive than offensive, so the staff who write these face far more risk than reward. This incentivizes them to avert risk and play safe.

Re: Changes at YC

#366

Post by hello_moto »

fwlr wrote: post #289
erickhill wrote: post #224

187 comments almost entirely focused on language usage, and at best two to three words. Fascinating.

What else in the post is worth debating? YC made a decision about the value of one of their departments, and HackerNews generally accepts it as given that companies can make these kinds of self-determinations. The reasons for the decision were given. As a result of that decision, 17 people no longer have jobs with YC. All that’s really left to debate is how YC phrases it. “17 teammates were impacted” is weasellier th…

The fact that YC exit "Late stage" largely due to macroeconomic headwind that they didn't admit it.

Instead, they said "core", "distraction".

Nope. The real reason is Late Stage is more expensive to deploy investment while the printer machine is off so no more easy money/easy startup.

Re: Changes at YC

#367

Post by devmor »

jll29 wrote: post #260
devmor wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Creating a position for employees that aren't needed is generally not a business priority. Besides, it's likely that this is primarily a cost-cutting measure given similar industry trends at the moment.

> Creating a position for employees that aren't needed is generally not a business priority. You are describing the status quo quite correctly. That is probably consistent with the textbook form of capitalism. However, it does not HAVE to be this way. If you have smart, well-educated, experienced staff in roles that are no longer needed, how about thinking hard about how you might deploy them in new beneficial ways?…

I agree! I wish companies were more ready to retain their talent after a shift in business priority. It's far too rare these days.

My current employer is one that actually does do this, thankfully.

Re: Changes at YC

#368

Post by fblp »

Wow. First time I've seen a layoff post that starts with boasting success. Summary: "6% of the companies we invest in are worth a billion dollars. We're laying of 20% of our staff. We appreciate their efforts. No comment on how we're taking care of those laid off or remaining staff"

Re: Changes at YC

#369

Post by iepathos »

dmix wrote: post #318
EngManagerIsMe wrote: post #306

> Unfortunately, this means we will no longer need some of the roles on the late stage investing team. Seventeen of our teammates are impacted today. I hate this passive voice. It implies there was nothing that could be done, that this was just a force of nature. That it wasn't an active choice by YC, but rather just some eventuality. Most of us understand the necessity of hard decisions. Own the outcomes. It's ok to…

From my experience these things are an after thought, the people writing this stuff are disconnected from the people making the actual decisions and I guess the typical audience that reads it. The people who do the marketing, HR, or "run socials" tend to be from the demographic that over values safe corporate speak. CEOs occasionally write these but usually it's some pre-written stuff that gets signed off on. We all…

On ycombinator they tend to use the author "Y Combinator" if it's just a general announcement coming from the company that is likely written by HR or marketing. Garry Tan, CEO, wrote this particular announcement. i.e author https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/author/garry versus https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/author/yc

Re: Changes at YC

#370

Post by hsn915 »

fblp wrote: post #368

Wow. First time I've seen a layoff post that starts with boasting success. Summary: "6% of the companies we invest in are worth a billion dollars. We're laying of 20% of our staff. We appreciate their efforts. No comment on how we're taking care of those laid off or remaining staff"

Why do they need "taking care" of? Are they fragile school kids? Desparate single mothers who can't make ends meet?

What is with this "save our babies!" attitude towards people who are

- Well off

- Highly skilled

??

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