I am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator – AMA

Post by ghufran_syed » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 11:15 PM UTC

jkaunisv1 wrote: post #483

dshchung wrote: post #51

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?

Not a YC applicant or alum, but as a Waterloo CS grad - the co-op program was invaluable. 4 months study alternating with 4 months work in a real job = 6 different workplaces to learn from, and coming out of the degree with 2 years real experience. A lot of students, especially on the CS side, are getting jobs at startups for their co-op terms.

Post by spdionis » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 11:32 PM UTC

nostrademons wrote: post #495

OmarIsmail wrote: post #373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Most meals aren't actually a huge time investment if you do them right. Make one trip to the grocery store a week (or two if you really need perishables like milk or fresh fish, but if you do that, just go in & out with a list). Make sure your apartment has a dishwasher. Get a (dishwasher-safe) food processor for chopping & dicing. Clean up while the food is cooking in the oven or on the stove. Cook big batches and h…

Post by noelsusman » Fri, Oct 09, 2015, 11:42 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…

Post by bholdr » Sat, Oct 10, 2015, 12:10 AM UTC

sama wrote: post #346

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…

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.

Post by cperciva » Sat, Oct 10, 2015, 12:58 AM UTC

te wrote: post #534

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'…

Colin, given that you don't want to live in the Bay Area, how do you envision yourself being a part of the YC community? These propositions seem fundamentally at odds with one another. Given that restriction, however, here are some ideas: Could you arrange to go down to YC periodically and hold "office hours" to begin relationships with founders that are doing interesting things in your areas of expertise? Could thes…