I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA • Hacker News Board

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

#421

Post by OopsCriticality » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 6:59 PM UTC

lectrick wrote: post #415

tmalsburg2 wrote: post #298

I think you mentioned somewhere that you are aiming for early-career researchers, not so much for established group leaders. Being an early-career researcher myself (postdoc), my first thought was that your program could easily turn out to be a trap. At first, it looks like a fantastic opportunity because freedom and independence, etc. However, I'm sure that you are looking for high risk / high reward projects. So th…

(disclaimer: I am a programmer who works for startups, but I've always admired scientists and researchers and have often contemplated a career switch to biotech.) How can an entire discipline that is supposedly based on rational evidence-finding be such a cliquey clusterfuck? You're basically saying that if you don't follow the community rules, which more or less boil down to "hazing," you'll be excommunicated. Sound…

Publications and grants are the currency of academia: if one doesn't have a recent publication record, a hiring committee doesn't have a way to gauge one's performance and capabilities as an academic; if one doesn't have a history of getting grants, a hiring committee will be (rightfully) skeptical of one's ability to bring in money. Excepting teaching schools, one is hired for one's abilities as an academic researcher to bring prestige (through publications and PR) and secure grants (along with that sweet, sweet F&A money). To get grants, one needs publications and preliminary data. One also needs grantsmanship skills, and one only gets those from direct experience.

A YCR "fellow" (or whatever it'd be called) would probably not be a competitive candidate for an academic position. It's not because they weren't in academia, it's because they will likely not have the work product used to measure performance in a academic setting. A hiring committee is not going to risk department funds on someone with a non-existent track record when there's a line out the door of other candidates.

I think OP is correct in perceiving that selecting YCR would probably close the door to a future in academia. I will also predict that YCR will have difficulty hiring top academic talent.

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

#422

Post by biswaroop » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 7:00 PM UTC

markkat wrote: post #386

sama wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, that's fucked up about academia. All the more reason to create alternatives. Do you really want to be part of a system that does not allow for failure? At a minimum, I expect YCR researchers to be turning down job offers from YC companies all the time.

Speaking as a researcher, IMO you might be belittling the OP's concern. While the YC initiative is noble, it has yet to be tested. I have worked in research and tech startups, and in very many ways the two couldn't be more different. Some of the best biotech research comes from incremental and ponderous study of minutiae, not 'ends driven' processes. From the perspective of a biotech researcher in the US, the funding…

The age aspect is interesting. Although the age of Nobel laureates has been steadily increasing, so has the 'gap' between discovery and award. [1] It's partly due to the amount of learning needed to contribute meaningfully, so starting earlier is always better.

It's not that hard to get access (perhaps not unfettered) to research labs in high school. In grade 10, I talked to a professor at UCLA and started coding physics simulations for him. Many people I know worked at research labs far before the age of 22. Zenefits CEO Parker Conrad won 3rd place at the Westinghouse Talent search for neural research at age 17. Feynman started tinkering early, and Einstein taught himself geometry at age 12.

If you're curious, you can push your way in. However, this isn't easy, and we need to make it easier for students to get involved earlier. At any rate, YCR will certainly find talent at all ages.

[1] http://priceonomics.com/why-nobel-winning-scientists-are-get...

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

#423

Post by lectrick » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 7:02 PM UTC

sama wrote: post #167

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…

1. Never say never, but no current plans (and honestly, it might make more sense to do something outside the US next). The hardest part would be convincing some of our partners to move out there, or finding new ones we could train out here first. 2. Not ready to talk about specific areas, but I promise they are interesting ones :) It will be super super easy for our researchers to collaborate with outsider researcher…

I'm going to suggest Long Beach, NY as a possible east-coast outpost. Lived there for a couple years, it feels like it could support a young startup scene (I've worked for startups for at least 10 years). Artsy surfer town, great boardwalk with inspiring beach (actually the entire south shore of Long Island is just one spectacular beach after another), nice nightlife, 45 minute train ride to Manhattan.

Long Beach seems to be starting to embrace the idea with things like its Bridgeworks project http://liherald.com/stories/New-startup-incubator-coming-to-...

I kind of want to start a company myself, there...

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

#424

Post by impendia » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 7:04 PM UTC

tmalsburg2 wrote: post #298

I think you mentioned somewhere that you are aiming for early-career researchers, not so much for established group leaders. Being an early-career researcher myself (postdoc), my first thought was that your program could easily turn out to be a trap. At first, it looks like a fantastic opportunity because freedom and independence, etc. However, I'm sure that you are looking for high risk / high reward projects. So th…

I know people who have worked at places like Bell Labs for awhile and then gone back to academia.

It's not easy, but if you succeed (and publish) then you can often get an academic job afterwards.

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

#425

Post by lectrick » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 7:04 PM UTC

OopsCriticality wrote: post #421

lectrick wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(disclaimer: I am a programmer who works for startups, but I've always admired scientists and researchers and have often contemplated a career switch to biotech.) How can an entire discipline that is supposedly based on rational evidence-finding be such a cliquey clusterfuck? You're basically saying that if you don't follow the community rules, which more or less boil down to "hazing," you'll be excommunicated. Sound…

Publications and grants are the currency of academia: if one doesn't have a recent publication record, a hiring committee doesn't have a way to gauge one's performance and capabilities as an academic; if one doesn't have a history of getting grants, a hiring committee will be (rightfully) skeptical of one's ability to bring in money. Excepting teaching schools, one is hired for one's abilities as an academic research…

What does "publication" mean in an Internet Age when anyone can publish anything?

If you mean "vetted by a tiny handful of fallibly-human organizations such as Nature and Cell who may or may not decide to accept your paper regardless of its actual merit and based mostly on how 'hip' the research is," well then we're back to the hazing/cliquey-clusterfuck thing again.

"Grants" seem equivalent to "angel investments" in the startup world... which seem a lot saner, btw.

http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2013/09/10/gre...

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

#426

Post by cperciva » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 7:04 PM UTC

tinco wrote: post #408

cperciva wrote: post #359

Is there a place for Tarsnap at YC? Applying for YC funding doesn't make sense for several reasons: 1. I want to be king, not rich; everything I hear tells me that YC pushes companies to grow fast and increase their valuations, and that's something I fundamentally don't care about. I know that I'm stubborn enough that this would just result in a lot of frustration on both sides. 2. Tarsnap doesn't need the money. It'…

I'd say there's probably not a place for Tarsnap at YC (though I'm not sama), there's simply not enough ambition, but I'd be surprised if there isn't a place for Colin Percival. There obviously already is at HN and I bet there's dozens of startups that could use your help or advice in some way. You mentioned a lot of reasons why Tarsnap can't be in the YC community. Perhaps you could come up with some reasons why you…

Well, it's hard to separate "Colin Percival" from "Tarsnap". I mean, yes, what I really mean is a way for me to be involved; but I have every intention of continuing to run Tarsnap for the foreseeable future, so they can't really have me without also having Tarsnap.

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

#427

Post by cperciva » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 7:06 PM UTC

teacup50 wrote: post #420

cperciva wrote: post #359

Is there a place for Tarsnap at YC? Applying for YC funding doesn't make sense for several reasons: 1. I want to be king, not rich; everything I hear tells me that YC pushes companies to grow fast and increase their valuations, and that's something I fundamentally don't care about. I know that I'm stubborn enough that this would just result in a lot of frustration on both sides. 2. Tarsnap doesn't need the money. It'…

I just can't imagine a situation where you brought on VC funding and were still able to maintain tarsnap's ethos. The inescapable push would be to find fast/big growth areas, and to change tarsnap in whatever way necessary to fit in those niches.

Right, and that's why I'm not going that route. As I said: King, not rich.

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

#428

Post by GrinningFool » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 7:06 PM UTC

OmarIsmail wrote: post #373

brotoss wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cook all of your own meals. Don't buy drinks at the bars if you go out. Don't buy expensive shit, you don't need the newest iphone every year or name brand designer stuff. Get a roommate. Not rocket sciene

If you can get very efficient at it or you find the activity a source of leisure, then cooking your own food is a great cost savings. However, for someone in the tech industry the opportunity cost of not investing in themselves (i.e. coding, reading about code, meeting people, etc) for the same amount of time they are cooking (grocery shopping, food prep, cooking, cleaning, etc) usually isn't worth it. To me cooking…

    However, for someone in the tech industry the opportunity cost of not investing 
    in themselves (i.e. coding, reading about code, meeting people, etc) 
    for the same amount of time they are cooking (grocery shopping, food prep, cooking,
    cleaning, etc) usually isn't worth it.

I would argue that the time spent away from the technical side doing other things is a bigger investment in self than a few extra hours a week writing code.

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

#429

Post by ADanFromCanada » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 7:07 PM UTC

karlosferra wrote: post #401

thecourier wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Carlos, how good is the internet in Cuba? if you were going to develop a web app, do cuban developers have better access to it now?

Like I said before, Cuba has been closed to a number of things for 50 years, including internet. However, things are starting to change for good, including internet access. A few years back, only people from universities or other "privileged" entities, had access to it. Recently there have been changes that allow other sectors of the population to get internet access. Is there broadband? No. Is it in every home or mo…

ahem Wayne Gretzsky ahem ... not Jobs

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

#430

Post by joshhart » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 7:08 PM UTC

sama wrote: post #295

cvursache wrote: post #259

Hey Sam! A question about your career path. Can you think of a specific point in time when you made the decision to focus more on the business side of things and less on writing code? If so, can you describe why you made that decision?

In the very early days of Loopt, I sat down with @kogir and Alok and said "ok, who is going to do what?" I was definitely not the best coder for large projects on the team, although I can crush either of them in topcoder competitions 10 times out of 10 :D, and I seemed the best at the 'business' stuff, so I focused on that.

What is your topcoder handle?