Hi Sam, you have previously mentioned in an interview that University of Waterloo comes to mind when you think of a school that produces great YC alums. As most of these founders were unproven and untested individuals at the time of applying to YC, what qualities do you feel has made the difference for them throughout the program?
I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA
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Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA
#52What are some of the biggest pain points you see early YC companies struggling with (esp. during batches)?
Are there any unsolved problems for growing companies you wish someone would apply to solve?
Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA
#53Hi from Chicago @sama!
You guys have been talking about your investments in HW startups.
What are the top 3 things that you look for in a hardware startup application at YC?
Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA
#54What do you think about the economic disruption that is being caused be increased automation? As we develop broader and broader forms of automation, it seems like that disruption can only increase in both speed and quantity.
What can YC and Silicon Valley as a whole to mitigate the problems this will cause?
Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA
#55Hi Sam, I was wondering how one can get involved in helping out at YC during the batches. Sort of a role where you can work and help out the companies with any questions / requests they have. Basically additional hands on deck for the YC partners.
One of the things that differentiates us from other programs is we don't have outsourced 'mentors'. The advice you get during YC is from the full-time partners and a small group of part-time partners.
I think this is important to maintain--we give good advice largely because we think about advising startups all the time. Bringing people in and out to do it occasionally hasn't worked that well for us.
Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA
#56Hi @sama. We've recently seen Google and NASA among others open their patent pools to startups. What are your thoughts on this, and YC's stance on intellectual property?
Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA
#57Hi, Sam. Big fan of YC itself, the blog, and your tweets.
How long, or to what sort of benchmarks, do you think a startup engineer should marinate in the startup scene before being taken seriously as a technical founder?
And follow up: Do you give extra consideration to an application for founders that have been employees at another YC company prior?
Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA
#58Any advice for single founders applying? (other than get a cofounder...)
Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA
#59What are some of the biggest pain points you see early YC companies struggling with (esp. during batches)? Are there any unsolved problems for growing companies you wish someone would apply to solve?
The biggest problem is failing to make a product that some users love, but then thinking they will solve their problems by doing everything else well.
The second-biggest problem is probably cofounder fallouts.
Internal communication and management structure are always big problems for growing companies that I wish someone would solve.
Re: I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA
#60Is there any intention of adding a new type of incubator that isnt so location specific?
For instance, I would love to be in YC- But just like many older (30+) folks, I have a family and simply cannot move to SF. The 'move to SF' restriction is the one thing I hate about YC- Its also why I think some competing incubators are picking up steam, who focus on global teams.
This may be disagreed upon- But I truly feel the 'move to SF' restriction is almost prejudicial against older folks. I get there is immense value in being in the valley (I just moved from SF), but I just dont think thats a reason not to find a way the system couldn't work either remotely or satellite based.