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YC criticized for backing AI startup that simply cloned another AI startup

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Re: YC criticized for backing AI startup that simply cloned another AI startup

#81

Post by CharlieDigital »

kibwen wrote: post #77
CharlieDigital wrote: post #68

I've been in the VC-backed startup space as a lead/principal engineer or technical advisor for the last 4 years. In that time, I've worked at 1 startup that closed a $100m C, one that closed a multi-million B, one that recently closed a $30m C, and one that started with a $8m seed. I've started my own startup and worked with founders of other startups on the side advising on the technical side (and once in a while bu…

The problem here is not that they stole the idea, it's that they literally just took an open-source codebase and filed off the serial numbers to claim it as their own proprietary work, and they did so in the most comically inept way possible. From the OP: PearAI offers an AI coding editor. The startup’s founder Duke Pan has openly said that it’s a cloned copy of another AI editor called Continue, which was covered un…

It doesn't matter so long as they didn't violate any licenses.

Where the product starts and where it ends will be two totally different endpoints that are sure to diverge once they find their domain and business model.

Re: YC criticized for backing AI startup that simply cloned another AI startup

#82

Post by CharlieDigital »

segmondy wrote: post #78
CharlieDigital wrote: post #68

I've been in the VC-backed startup space as a lead/principal engineer or technical advisor for the last 4 years. In that time, I've worked at 1 startup that closed a $100m C, one that closed a multi-million B, one that recently closed a $30m C, and one that started with a $8m seed. I've started my own startup and worked with founders of other startups on the side advising on the technical side (and once in a while bu…

Wild take, copying matters. If you have a great idea, and no capital and I copy you and have more capital (money, social), I can deploy my capital to crush you in the market. This very idea that ideas don't matter is hogwash, you can say that idea alone is not enough, but it matters. This is why big companies sometimes get sued by the govt, they copy smaller companies ideas, add it into their already established prod…

    > If you have a great idea, and no capital and I copy you and have more capital (money, social), I can deploy my capital to crush you in the market
This is precisely how our markets work and why we have a system of trademarks, patents, and copyright.

Use those tools to your advantage if you are small.

Re: YC criticized for backing AI startup that simply cloned another AI startup

#83

Post by piokoch »

"PearAI offers an AI coding editor. The startup’s founder Duke Pan has openly said that it’s a cloned copy of another AI editor called Continue, which was covered under the Apache open source license. But PearAI made a major misstep: PearAI originally slapped its own made-up closed license on it, called the Pear Enterprise License, which Pan admitted was written by ChatGPT."

It looks like someone created the following prompt: "Chat GPT write some parody story about current state of startups/VC state in 2024".

Re: YC criticized for backing AI startup that simply cloned another AI startup

#84

Post by whiplash451 »

CharlieDigital wrote: post #68

I've been in the VC-backed startup space as a lead/principal engineer or technical advisor for the last 4 years. In that time, I've worked at 1 startup that closed a $100m C, one that closed a multi-million B, one that recently closed a $30m C, and one that started with a $8m seed. I've started my own startup and worked with founders of other startups on the side advising on the technical side (and once in a while bu…

Your comment is interesting but seems orthogonal to the problem at hand.

We are talking about a company that clearly showed bad intent and dishonesty in their attitude.

And that's doing a big disservice to the AI space coming from a high-profile incubator such as YC.

If you can't be a good example, you'll just have to be a terrible warning.

Re: YC criticized for backing AI startup that simply cloned another AI startup

#85

Post by htrp »

diggan wrote: post #8
paxys wrote: post #4

People look at the top 5 YC success stories and think every company they fund is of that standard. In reality they "graduate" 500-1000 startups every year . They aren't all winners. In fact I'd wager Pear AI is a lot closer to the norm in terms of quality and competency than, say, Stripe or Airbnb. If you look at their recent batches there is an endless parade of thin ChatGPT wrappers.

This is true for every VC no? And the whole idea behind VCs? They aren't exactly only aiming to fund the startups they think 100% will be successful, as then they wouldn't fund anyone, so instead they spread out the risk to catch any surprise winners. Does anyone really look at the line-up of funded startups from a VC and think they're all winners?

Most VCs try to avoid having the portcos actively compete with each other (ie they won't back 2 separate ride hailing apps) b/c they'll end up competing for the same pool of customers

Re: YC criticized for backing AI startup that simply cloned another AI startup

#86

Post by kunley »

"Pear Enterprise License, which Pan admitted was written by ChatGPT."

I hope it's not a new trend: doing some unethical sh*t and justifying that "AI" did that.

I guess handing over creation of a legal document to chatgpt, done in a narrowly selected YC startup which is supposed to be smartest founders around, that's insulting the intelligence of everyone, isn't it?

Edit: forgot to underline: they had all the legal and administrative support of YC yet they gave this task of creating legal document to chatGPT. How can this be even remotely a norm?

Re: YC criticized for backing AI startup that simply cloned another AI startup

#87

Post by Vanclief »

We recently applied to the current YC batch and got rejected. Seeing this just made me die a little inside.

We are a small SaaS that has very happy paying customers and a huge market. We solve a boring problem, with boring technologies and we are not the next OpenAI or Stripe. Yet we have easily a 10,000 X potential.

I feel like YC now prioritizes funding things that can be hyped more instead of actually funding things that can be solid software businesses.

Re: YC criticized for backing AI startup that simply cloned another AI startup

#88

Post by mlyle »

CharlieDigital wrote: post #81
kibwen wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem here is not that they stole the idea, it's that they literally just took an open-source codebase and filed off the serial numbers to claim it as their own proprietary work, and they did so in the most comically inept way possible. From the OP: PearAI offers an AI coding editor. The startup’s founder Duke Pan has openly said that it’s a cloned copy of another AI editor called Continue, which was covered un…

It doesn't matter so long as they didn't violate any licenses. Where the product starts and where it ends will be two totally different endpoints that are sure to diverge once they find their domain and business model.

Starting off by making an obviously hamfisted move matters. It's a headwind to overcome.

Is it possible to overcome? Sure.

Yes, you can heal after shooting yourself in the foot.

(And, of course, removing attribution is violating licenses). However, they're unlikely to face litigation for this. The possible legal consequences aren't the actual consequences they're likely to face.

Re: YC criticized for backing AI startup that simply cloned another AI startup

#90

Post by jessriedel »

jsheard wrote: post #38
paxys wrote: post #4

People look at the top 5 YC success stories and think every company they fund is of that standard. In reality they "graduate" 500-1000 startups every year . They aren't all winners. In fact I'd wager Pear AI is a lot closer to the norm in terms of quality and competency than, say, Stripe or Airbnb. If you look at their recent batches there is an endless parade of thin ChatGPT wrappers.

> In reality they "graduate" 500-1000 startups every year. I think people think otherwise because they used to be more selective, and haven't noticed just how much their volume has grown over the years. Early on it was a few dozen startups per year, then a hundred or so, and eventually the current state of greenlighting almost two startups every day on average (we're 275 days into the year and YC has racked up 509 co…

Yea I sorta figured YC was more like Harvard in that the brand and selectivity are super important. Isn’t this eating the seed corn?
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