41–50 of 62 posts
Essay Request PG: How to Present Your Startup. I'd love to know what advice you give to all the YC companies about presenting in front of press and investors.
http://paulgraham.com/investors.html
(Kidding of course, thanks for pointing it out. I'm sure I read it at the time but forgot about it.)
This article makes me wonder: status-of-arc-p?
that'll teach you not to ask yes-or-no questions.
I really don't like the bias in the headline. It seems to imply that coding isn't something you'd do after you got growth. Why not "How Coding Helps Y Combinator Manage Growth" or "Paul Graham Keeps Coding to Help Y Combinator Keep Growing"?
Sadly I've seen this a lot. Even more sad is that I know programmers that have become managers, no longer write code, and loathe the days they were simply coders. It pains me.
Sorry to sound blunt but why is it a given that if a person is successful, it is surprising that he/she is doing "lesser" things? I never understood that notion. If I was successful/rich/etc, I will still be coding on my free time. Heck, I will be washing my own dishes, buying my own groceries, driving myself and so on. And I know many other "rich/successful/etc" people who are exactly like that.
If a top scientist/inventor/entrepreneur is doing routine tasks that he doesn't enjoy, he's losing time that could either be spent creating new amazing things or relaxing/recharging and enjoying his life.
If you enjoy any particular activity - driving or cooking - by all means keep doing it. But if you're capable of improving the lives of thousands or even millions of people, then hire a car and driver and work in the backseat of your Rolls Royce or whatever. The world will be net better for it.
(Though, coding doesn't fall into that routine task category - it being a creative action that sharpens the mind. Doing laundry does though, except on the off chance it's really relaxing and enjoyable for you.)
This article makes me wonder: status-of-arc-p?
I hack a fair amount in it, less on it. I'd hoped to release a new version of News soon, and thus also a new version of Arc. But I am pretty busy with YC.
I really don't like the bias in the headline. It seems to imply that coding isn't something you'd do after you got growth. Why not "How Coding Helps Y Combinator Manage Growth" or "Paul Graham Keeps Coding to Help Y Combinator Keep Growing"?
Sorry to sound blunt but why is it a given that if a person is successful, it is surprising that he/she is doing "lesser" things? I never understood that notion. If I was successful/rich/etc, I will still be coding on my free time. Heck, I will be washing my own dishes, buying my own groceries, driving myself and so on. And I know many other "rich/successful/etc" people who are exactly like that.
> Sorry to sound blunt but why is it a given that if a person is successful, it is surprising that he/she is doing "lesser" things? If a top scientist/inventor/entrepreneur is doing routine tasks that he doesn't enjoy, he's losing time that could either be spent creating new amazing things or relaxing/recharging and enjoying his life. If you enjoy any particular activity - driving or cooking - by all means keep doing…
I'll take for example cleaning up your house/apartment/room on your own. I've noticed that when my apartment gets messy it is usually an indicator of my internal mind state. It is a helpful indicator that there is something bothering me or something that needs to be dealt with. If I always had someone cleaning up for me, I might miss these types of indicators, and the whole of my performance might degrade (to the new loss of the world as you put it).
I also understand that people in the past have probably said this about all kinds of things that we now have machines or human specialization doing for us. So maybe what is more important is to make sure that while you are in your prime, or getting to your prime, you learn about which of these routine tasks are actually helping you, which you depend on for your mental well being, and better understanding the trade-offs if the decision to never have to do them again comes up. Maybe you don't need your entire house to be the canary in the coal mine - maybe a few house plants that you make sure to water yourself would do the job well enough ...