What is up with listing the pedigree of the founders? I noticed it on the demo day 1 article, also. Does being an ex-FAANG employee correlate with successfully running a startup, or is it just the easiest signal VCs have for "This person is probably smart"? It seems like a lot of YC's current model is to throw money at ex-FAANG employees with ideas.
Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2
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Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2
#62According to Ixora, major film studios produce 100 blockbuster films each year that feature than 1,000 CGI shots — each costing them roughly $10,000 a pop English is not my mother tongue, does "a pop" mean each second ? Anyway USD/(second of VFX) is a bad metric. Curious about the startup though, looks like they are putting the idea out there to see if people are interested because there's no information online about…
It is repetitive information because earlier in the sentence it already says "each costing them..."
Probably poor writing on their part.
Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2
#63I can't help but wonder what would happen if YC and all its influence was to be focused on only a bunch of startups per year doing truly far fetched things - namely space, biotech, finance, robotics, computing and VR. Is focusing on social networks for grandkids, instant food, the 50th sticker app and countless B2B products truly worth it when it could be directed towards the former? Who could possibly, genuinely wan…
> Who could possibly, genuinely want to work at such places by the way (I mean, for anything else but money)? People who find their meaning outside of their work rather than through their work -- ergo most people. I am thankful for my employer that provides a salary for me to allow me to do fun things with my family and take vacations and all the fun stuff that actually create memories that I will cherish when I am o…
Somehow, even though you quoted it, you missed the content inside the parenthesis. Also, flash news! You'll be working roughly 1/4 of your entire life. Unless there's nothing that excites you, it makes much more sense to get a salary + the excitement.
Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Using technology to solve a social problem is usually cheaper and more effective than other ways of trying to solve it.
cheaper? yes. easier to approach? yes. More effective? hell no. Technical solutions to social problems are papering over cracks in our society at best. They trick us into thinking the problem is "solved" where we've just hidden the problem from view. Do you think you can really solve the loneliness problem for seniors by setting up a skype chat with a complete- or near-stranger? There's no depth to that relationship,…
> Do you think you can really solve the loneliness problem for seniors by setting up a skype chat with a complete- or near-stranger?
I think there's a better chance of solving it with that than by looking at "the direction we're taking as a society". (Note I'm not saying a good chance)
> There's no depth to that relationship, no intimacy or realness, it's just more superficial social interaction.
What does that even mean?
Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Who could possibly, genuinely want to work at such places by the way (I mean, for anything else but money)? People who find their meaning outside of their work rather than through their work -- ergo most people. I am thankful for my employer that provides a salary for me to allow me to do fun things with my family and take vacations and all the fun stuff that actually create memories that I will cherish when I am o…
Somehow, even though you quoted it, you missed the content inside the parenthesis. Also, flash news! You'll be working roughly 1/4 of your entire life. Unless there's nothing that excites you, it makes much more sense to get a salary + the excitement.
You also sleep roughly 1/3rd of your life. Sleep doesn't particularly excite me, either.
I don't live my life thinking everything needs to excite me.
Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
cheaper? yes. easier to approach? yes. More effective? hell no. Technical solutions to social problems are papering over cracks in our society at best. They trick us into thinking the problem is "solved" where we've just hidden the problem from view. Do you think you can really solve the loneliness problem for seniors by setting up a skype chat with a complete- or near-stranger? There's no depth to that relationship,…
> Do you think you can really solve the loneliness problem for seniors by setting up a skype chat with a complete- or near-stranger? I think there's a better chance of solving it with that than by looking at "the direction we're taking as a society". (Note I'm not saying a good chance) > There's no depth to that relationship, no intimacy or realness, it's just more superficial social interaction. What does that even…
> I think there's a better chance of solving it with that than by looking at "the direction we're taking as a society". (Note I'm not saying a good chance)
as I say, we can use tech to paper over the cracks. That's better than nothing, but it's not a great solution. We don't really have a way to solve societal issues yet.
> What does that even mean?
Do you think superficial social interactions relieve loneliness? Think casual bullshitting/small talk at work, on facebook, and so on. In my experience, the thing that takes away loneliness is real interaction with people you're close with. Talking about real issues that matter to you. It's basically what therapy is a substitute for. Do you think senior citizens talking to college students is going to provide this kind of deeply personal interaction, or something more superficial? I suspect the latter.
Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2
#67What is up with listing the pedigree of the founders? I noticed it on the demo day 1 article, also. Does being an ex-FAANG employee correlate with successfully running a startup, or is it just the easiest signal VCs have for "This person is probably smart"? It seems like a lot of YC's current model is to throw money at ex-FAANG employees with ideas.
The entire ecosystem emphasizes this. People put it on Twitter, AngelList, LinkedIn, etc.
ex-FAANG is the VC equivalent of "nobody got fired for buying IBM". It's what happens when nobody has any idea how to assess anything: they use brand as a proxy for quality. This happens in every market from consumer packaged goods (is one soap better than another?), university education, pretty much anywhere there's no accepted criteria for comparing two things.
Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Who could possibly, genuinely want to work at such places by the way (I mean, for anything else but money)? People who find their meaning outside of their work rather than through their work -- ergo most people. I am thankful for my employer that provides a salary for me to allow me to do fun things with my family and take vacations and all the fun stuff that actually create memories that I will cherish when I am o…
Somehow, even though you quoted it, you missed the content inside the parenthesis. Also, flash news! You'll be working roughly 1/4 of your entire life. Unless there's nothing that excites you, it makes much more sense to get a salary + the excitement.
People are a lot more nuanced than I think you give then credit for.
I am excited by business. By creating things and seeing them work and be used, by digging into the finances and engineering ways to save money or make more money, by working with people that are fun and interesting, by testing out new marketing ideas and seeing what works and what doesn't.
So, for me, it doesn't matter so much what the product of the business is (as long as I am not actively harming someone) and I suspect that is true for a lot of people.
Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2
#69What is up with listing the pedigree of the founders? I noticed it on the demo day 1 article, also. Does being an ex-FAANG employee correlate with successfully running a startup, or is it just the easiest signal VCs have for "This person is probably smart"? It seems like a lot of YC's current model is to throw money at ex-FAANG employees with ideas.
I felt the same way. Some of the businesses seem so ridiculous. But then they have an ex faang, so I guess that must be the only reason they got in.
Re: Startups that launched at Y Combinator’s S18 Demo Day 2
#70Great batch. I'm especially impressed by the hard tech companies that produce atoms.
But unfortunately, on demo day 1 there was a company that makes the world uglier and is supporting the massive ongoing trend of middle class and sometimes even upper class people imitating an aspect of the underclass.
On demo day 2, there was a shamelessly partisan company that makes the world worse. It wants to get more people to support a process that, contrary to entrepreneurship, brings out the worst in people who actively engage in that process.
May the companies from the S18 batch flourish, except those two.