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I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

news.ycombinator.com

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

#521

Post by snowwrestler »

tlb wrote: post #409
tmalsburg2 wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I fully agree with your analysis of the shortcomings of the academic system, but that's really a lame response and suggests that you didn't think this through. We're not talking about people in their early twenties who can invest some years in crazy experiments without fearing the consequences. Researchers at that stage have invested a substantial chunk of their lives in their careers and many of them have families t…

The world would be a better place if more people took career risks. The evidence is that the majority of interesting stuff was created by people taking big career risks, even though they're a minority of all researchers. So people who take career risks are more likely to create something great. It sucks to lose at a career gamble but, at least in Silicon Valley, most people who fail but keep trying, end up doing pret…

Ha, the top comment was basically "not every industry is like Silicon Valley," and your response (among many others) is basically "life would be better if more industries were like Silicon Valley." Ok, that might be true, but it doesn't actually change the game on the ground today.

It's easy to say that "more people" should take career risks. It's harder to be the person who's spent their entire life striving toward a Ph.D. in the field of study they love, and face the (very real) possibility that they'll get one shot and that's it.

Even if they can land at a Silicon Valley company (not as likely for biomedical researchers, BTW), that's not their dream. Their dream was to do groundbreaking scientific research. That's why they got their Ph.D. instead of a job in Silicon Valley.

I don't think Sam addressed the commenter's concerns at all.

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

#522

Post by cperciva »

tcdent wrote: post #520
bradleyjg wrote: post #513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's say I have a fantastic sushi bar. I'm the main sushi chef and after a multi-year on and off frustrating search I finally found an assistant / apprentice. We have also have a waiter and a cleaner / busser. I have lines out the door for the limited hours I'm open, even after raising prices three times. All my employees are well paid, including profit sharing and benefits. Sushi Combinator wants to give me big mul…

First, I don't believe YC's only goal is to dramatically increase revenue. Though, to entertain your analogy: Why not develop the next-level sushi fish? One that not only dazzles your exclusive audience in texture and taste, but is a delight to work with and more satisfying to cut. > Should I take the money? If you want to do big things, then yes. If your happiness relies on staying a sushi chef, you are a sushi chef…

I have absolutely no problem with saying that I'm not an entrepreneur.

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

#523

Post by anon3_ »

You said something a bit earlier about HN changing how it moderates flagged comments.

I also see others who are able to swathe away truthful things, while my contesting of it gets me reprimanded.

I saw on your twitter once, you were critiquing how a mis-tweet can be portrayed by certain people.

There is always going to be an outrage circus. Why let them use virtue signalling as a way to censor ideas they don't like?

I can't promise I'll agree and rubberstamp every idea. I think to have a good conversation, the system has to have the integrity to let an opposing view stand.

I put a lot of thought into my comments and being a good contributor. I give consideration to other commentators.

Can you please unban this account and its' IP address?

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

#524

Post by eonw »

giarc wrote: post #351
jbverschoor wrote: post #338

I currently have no 'unicorn'-ideas. Applying doesn't seem useful at this moment. Is there a list of startups that need help? If so, why did they get funded when the team isn't right yet?

I wonder if the AirBnB team thought they were a unicorn when they started? Likely not.

i would think not, considering there were already others operating in the exact same space... they were probably just hoping for at least a small piece of the pie.

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

#525

Post by daniel_levine »

sama wrote: post #91
bcjordan wrote: post #37

What was your first personal investment like?

It was /dev/finance, which became Stripe. (This was sort of funny years later, when I was sorting through my stock certificates. I momentarily forgot that Stripe was originally called something else, and put that stock cert in the "lost cause" pile.)

/dev/payments i believe :)

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

#526

Post by gull »

sama wrote: post #139
tmaly wrote: post #127

@sama I am about to launch a beta version of a service I find very useful in the food industry. I have spoken to a decent number of people during my customer development phase and everyone is excited about the service. However, I have not thought a lot about monetizing it. Right now I am just bootstrapping it and will release it as a free service. What is your take on free services and monetizing them?

It's ok as long as you have a plan to make money eventually (i.e. http://blog.samaltman.com/unit-economics ) However, why not charge on day 1? It sounds like something people should pay for. And charging always makes it clear if people really like your service or not.

> why not charge on day 1?

Some of the most successful companies, like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit, didn't charge on day 1.

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

#527

Post by JayNeely »

wnissen wrote: post #219
zcdziura wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially in Boston. Boston has a TON of startups in the area.

This was 2007, but Paul Graham describes Boston VCs as being slow to act, so they stopped doing Demo Day out there. http://www.paulgraham.com/startuphubs.html

TechStars hasn't had a problem. Boston cohorts have raised ~$400 million in VC so far: http://www.techstars.com/companies/

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

#530

Post by btilly »

markkat wrote: post #509
btilly wrote: post #489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speaking as a researcher, IMO you might be belittling the OP's concern. Speaking as someone who left academia close to two decades ago, sama hit the nail on the head. The kinds of people that sama is targeting are ones who in the current system are going to wind up in postdocs or teaching adjuncts. With the way that universities are structured, all incentives are to have as many of these as possible doing teaching, p…

I can see that. More options are always good. Industry has long been a lucrative option. However, I see the OP's concern relating to certain types of research that are largely supported in academia alone. Sam suggest that YCR is an alternative to academic research. Personally, I think YCR will represent another option more than a replacement. Which is fine. However, I don't imagine they can afford the waste needed fo…

I see no gap between what Sam suggests and you're saying. When he says "another option" he means an alternative for researchers, and possibly for whole lines of research. It does not mean that academia as a whole gets replaced.

But I am highly confused about how the OP's concern relates to types of research that are largely supported in academia alone. If you're in a field of research that YCR is not interested in supporting, then going with YCR is not an option for you. And therefore it won't matter whether or not it is a good option.

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