MiraclePlus offers $200,000 for 5%, is the OG YCombinator gonna match that?
An update on YC China
61–70 of 403 posts
Re: An update on YC China
#62Strange optics not to mention the elephant in the room. I could see them hitting some roadblocks and wanting to try again to get into China, but that would be a reasonable thing to come out and say. It also would be reasonable to come out and say they've changed their minds due to political climate or some other risks. Instead its... the new guy is busy?
What exactly is the elephant in the room? U.S. tariffs? Honk Kong unrest? IP violations?
The ~1 million Uighurs the Chinese government has in concentration camps.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/16/world/asia/ch...
Re: An update on YC China
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Chinese people are people too, you know.
But chinese government is not a government of the people, by the people and for the people. North Korean is also human too. So is those in nazi Germany für Ibm.
Nazis are not in fact people for the purposes of discussion. They are movie extras who get shot as fast as possible.
You really had to go full Godwin dehumanization on a billion people right away?
Re: An update on YC China
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
This has got to be satire. >I understand this is a very difficult decision. I'm not sure if its right or wrong. From the perspective of Human Rights its probably right, but from the perspective of investment its difficult considering China's growth prospects. I can't believe a human being would actually write this. The level of cognitive dissonance would be off the charts.
I don't really appreciate that. I would argue I'm pretty well informed on China. I've traveled to China, I've worked with the Chinese for over a decade across various roles, my grandfather helped industrialize China, and I've read many great books on China. Personally I retweeted Hillary Clinton's support of Hong Kong protestors while I was in Beijing, so I put myself at personal risk in doing this. But lets address…
> One question that specifically stands out from his book - is that the West believes in Universal Human Rights. China obviously does not. This is a point of conflict and we have some very difficult questions to address in the future. Suppose China attacks Taiwan. What if China has a second Tiananmen in Hong Kong? Do we sanction China? What if China responds with more violence? What do we do? Do we go to war? This is an obvious point of conflict. And these are questions that we will have to work out in the future.
We don't need to go to war with them but we also don't need to invest in their suppression.
Re: An update on YC China
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't be silly, Sam Altman said that he was much more comfortable discussing controversial ideas in Beijing than in San Francisco; YC couldn't possibly be self-censoring because of fear of Chinese reprisal. /s
These criticisms don't even make sense. YC is announcing that they're not expanding formally into China, which is something China very much would want them to do.
I am sure China would gladly welcome YC and all the IP it has access to.
There is no question China presents an opportunity to generate capital returns on a scale that YC can no longer achieve in the more mature US venture capital market. They also present many risks that are hard to put in an equation.
Re: An update on YC China
#66Strange optics not to mention the elephant in the room. I could see them hitting some roadblocks and wanting to try again to get into China, but that would be a reasonable thing to come out and say. It also would be reasonable to come out and say they've changed their minds due to political climate or some other risks. Instead its... the new guy is busy?
It’s understandable it’s a touchy subject. Why piss off China if you don’t have to? Only something to lose and nothing to gain.
Also this story of a Chinese Stanford professor/investor’s “suicide” last year is quite the story. There’s a potential safety issue here too. https://www.forbes.com/sites/arthurherman/2018/12/13/a-death...
Re: An update on YC China
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't be silly, Sam Altman said that he was much more comfortable discussing controversial ideas in Beijing than in San Francisco; YC couldn't possibly be self-censoring because of fear of Chinese reprisal. /s
These criticisms don't even make sense. YC is announcing that they're not expanding formally into China, which is something China very much would want them to do.
Until they make it be partnered with a local company, which eventually forces a majority ownership, spins out, and YC is left with nothing.
Re: An update on YC China
#68I was hoping for a denouncement of China's actions in Hong Kong. One can dream.
No need. Even as a hongkonger. Support thanks but normal business sense — that comes the point. I find all these world venture is a bit naive. It is not going to pay in the long term. If want to, why not Russia. At least you are aware and have alarm bell rang.
Re: An update on YC China
#69While "As we worked to establish YC China, we had a change in leadership. With this, our strategy changed back " does give 50% of the answer as to "why", I'd be great to hear from otherwise transparent YC about why the strategy changed and why it didn't work out.
would be good to hear what they plan on doing instead. YC China was a bet at doing something different. With that gone—and idk if it should have stayed or gone.. sometimes experiments fail—what is YCs plan? Invite 200, 300, 500, 20,000 companies to SF? maybe it is the best option, but also maybe not the best thing to do. YC Seems stuck in an innovator's dilemma. Reminds me of Apple under Tim Cook. Keeping a good thin…
YC has been trying a bunch of things new to them. Not sure how they are working out yet:
* Supporting more hardware specific companies.
* Supporting more biomed device tech companies.
* Scaling online with startup school.
* Trying to scale the number of companies who get accepted into the program.
There is still a lot to figure out in the 'nurture small/young companies' space. That said, each country has its own unique challenges.
Re: An update on YC China
#70Strange optics not to mention the elephant in the room. I could see them hitting some roadblocks and wanting to try again to get into China, but that would be a reasonable thing to come out and say. It also would be reasonable to come out and say they've changed their minds due to political climate or some other risks. Instead its... the new guy is busy?
It’s most likely due to the changing climate for companies (especially American and Canadian) operating in China. Check out this article: “how to survive an increasing difficult China”
https://www.chinalawblog.com/2019/11/how-to-survive-an-incre...
Btw if you have a smb or an European company that doesn’t think it applies to you, you are signing your company’s death sentence