Ask HN: Submit Questions for Office Hours with YC • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Submit Questions for Office Hours with YC

#41

Post by sakuraiben » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 12:14 PM UTC

Hi Sam, I am currently working on a online b2b database software with the manufacturing industry. Do you have any tips on working with firms that lack technical knowledge? How should I go about approaching them? I am currently cold calling them.

Thanks

Re: Ask HN: Submit Questions for Office Hours with YC

#42

Post by arsalanb » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 3:21 PM UTC

AI and Machine learning, while important technologies, are at a high risk of becoming a buzzword (if they haven't already). To what extent do you agree with the fact that the end output or experience matters more than the tools (like AI, etc) used to create them?

Re: Ask HN: Submit Questions for Office Hours with YC

#43

Post by sage76 » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 6:56 PM UTC

Sam - In your experience, how much time does it take for founders to get rid of a co-founder who isn't performing up to par?

Is it a decision by consensus? Or does the CEO take the call?

How do they evaluate each other when everyone is an expert in his/her own domain?

I would love to know how successful startups have dealt with these situations, and if you can share any experiences, that would be very helpful, since fights between co-founders are a major reason startups fail.

Re: Ask HN: Submit Questions for Office Hours with YC

#44

Post by dankai » Sat, Jan 07, 2017, 8:13 PM UTC

Hi Sam.

1. As a student, how do you find good early employees in fields that you are not familiar with? Say marketing, sales, HR, ..

2. Given that the majority of people spends their time on their phone on very few apps. Do you think there it is still potential for social consumer apps to reach wide acceptance?

3. Concerning our YC application. How much are you interested in the strategy say the next 1-3 years, rather than keeping the application brief and easy to read?

Re: Ask HN: Submit Questions for Office Hours with YC

#45

Post by rpavuluri » Mon, Jan 09, 2017, 5:31 AM UTC

How should I choose between for-profit and non-profit? Most people think non-profit companies don't ever work. Why does YC disagree?

Re: Ask HN: Submit Questions for Office Hours with YC

#46

Post by kuroizero » Mon, Jan 09, 2017, 7:00 PM UTC

How would you suggest regional office leaders can foster entrepreneurship in developing countries? Context: I want to start an incubator/accelerator in Ecuador for local founders with global scope.

Re: Ask HN: Submit Questions for Office Hours with YC

#47

Post by taanayya » Mon, Jan 09, 2017, 7:25 PM UTC

Hi Sam,we are a platform for moms to connect,facilitate and empower themselves in their journey of motherhood.Unlike the software startups,we need a infrastructural platform first and thats the biggest issue we r facing while trying to generate the fund.Most people are appreciative of the idea ,but we are not aware how do we provide the churn rates or the data asked for in most incubators,we are in prelaunch stage and hav target customer support?

Also as PG always says if what you are making satisfies your target customers,to keep working in the project without much paying heed to other stuffs.We feel though we have the customer support we r lagging behind in networking and being new in the valley its a big task in itself.No mails r replied,people ask for money etc.How to be in touch with people who will be helpful to guide in my project?

Re: Ask HN: Submit Questions for Office Hours with YC

#48

Post by erinjerri1678 » Mon, Jan 09, 2017, 8:31 PM UTC

How to you determine pricing SaaS products for private/enterprise when you are establishing the credibility of such a product in a particular area (research and development in biotechnology is my focus) and validating a market (in the public sector, my focus is on some academic research institutions) before setting up pricing point for private/enterprise prices? What's the best approach??

I know many enterprises being with a freemium model to test on a market, then figure out the pricing for private/enterprise. I am starting off with a few public academic research institutions, but have interest in private ones as well and private companies right now so wanted to hear from best practices and those who have tried, failed, or succeeded.

Re: Ask HN: Submit Questions for Office Hours with YC

#49

Post by arpitc » Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 8:20 AM UTC

Hi Sam. Do you think it is better to build a full-proof product and then look at investment to fuel expansion (takes longer) or should one first get the money and use it to build a full-proof product (faster but riskier)?

Re: Ask HN: Submit Questions for Office Hours with YC

#50

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jan 10, 2017, 8:23 PM UTC

j7n wrote: post #33

tifa2up wrote: post #5

When founding a startup, is being a college student an advantage or a disadvantage. Does it matter at all?

From previous comments by PG and others I think the gist of it is that college is a great place to work on interesting projects and meet potential co-founders (other students). Startups tend to be all consuming, so it's hard to say that another full-time commitment like school could be an advantage. Unless you have a business that is taking off like a rocket ship, I would wait til after graduation.

[deleted]