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New RFS – Breakthrough Technologies

blog.samaltman.com

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Re: New RFS – Breakthrough Technologies

#91

Post by svenkatesh »

buro9 wrote: post #47

> Of particular interest to us are ways to use the Internet to fix government—for example, crowdfunding social services. I have an unannounced goal in my projects to achieve something bigger than this... to use the internet to change political systems, the structure of them and how populaces engage with them. I think it has to be fait accompli though, already done. It will take a generation to achieve fully and putti…

Er... you think you're startup (microcosm), which is glorified forum software, will change "political systems, the structure of them and how populaces engage with them?"

Re: New RFS – Breakthrough Technologies

#92

Post by pg »

hooande wrote: post #85

There's a new sheriff in town. Previously YC treated some of these things, especially "AI" (whatever that means) as third rails. They've funded an extremely broad range of companies, but if you go back and check their past investments most of the areas listed in this RFS are underrepresented. Infrastructure, food and water, biotech, robotics...YC could be reaching much higher in terms of ambition than it has in the p…

You can't build part of an engine in three months and then show it off on demo day.

You can't build a database in three months and show it off on Demo Day either, but we've funded many database companies.

You don't need to have shipped by Demo Day. You just need to have achieved enough to convince investors to give you more money. What "enough" means depends on what you're building. Experienced investors know how much they can reasonably expect from each type of company in 3 + n months.

Incidentally, we have battery and AI companies in the current batch.

Re: New RFS – Breakthrough Technologies

#93

Post by joeblau »

Finally! That "build something on Twitter" was irrelevant 3 years ago. Especially once Twitter implemented a system-wide ceiling which capped any new ideas user base to 100k users. I'm glad to see that you're focusing on products that aren't routed in social media. Bravo Sam.

Re: New RFS – Breakthrough Technologies

#94

Post by svenkatesh »

johngalt wrote: post #73
djb_hackernews wrote: post #21

Some ideas around transportation: - smart pothole patches. Currently patches barely make the road any more driveable and uneven road surfaces result in billions in economic loss due to accidents, repairs, and traffic. - drone machine equipment. Employ operators in the midwest in trailers while they control equipment all over the world. You'll get few accidents and utilize resources more efficiently. Put the operators…

re: potholes You already have millions of internet connected (gps localized) accelerometers on the roads daily. If you could convince enough drivers to record/report that information you'd have a decent map of any rough spots.

>If you could convince enough drivers

Good luck with that. If you even tried to convince drivers to do that, they'd scream about a conspiracy to track everyone's movement (beyond the tracking that already exists).

Re: New RFS – Breakthrough Technologies

#95

Post by dtap »

As an active investor in the energy space, I would love to hear how Sam/YC see their model working here. The MVP and concept of early sales is something that is very difficult in this and many of the other markets they mentioned. We try with all of our companies to partner with larger organizations and generate early, profitable revenue. But it is difficult in many industries and there is still a large capital need.

That being said, would love to attend a YC non-software demo day.

Re: New RFS – Breakthrough Technologies

#96

Post by pg »

bfe wrote: post #35

This sounds terrific, but it doesn't seem self-consistent between wanting companies with the scale of ambition of SpaceX and Tesla, but insisting on early momentum being critical and avoiding a big and expensive initial project. Tesla took four years to introduce their first product, the Roadster. When they went public two years later, they had gone through a net loss of around 300 million dollars, and were still two…

http://boostedboards.com

Re: New RFS – Breakthrough Technologies

#98

Post by [deleted] »

hooande wrote: post #85

There's a new sheriff in town. Previously YC treated some of these things, especially "AI" (whatever that means) as third rails. They've funded an extremely broad range of companies, but if you go back and check their past investments most of the areas listed in this RFS are underrepresented. Infrastructure, food and water, biotech, robotics...YC could be reaching much higher in terms of ambition than it has in the p…

[deleted]

Re: New RFS – Breakthrough Technologies

#99

Post by buro9 »

svenkatesh wrote: post #91
buro9 wrote: post #47

> Of particular interest to us are ways to use the Internet to fix government—for example, crowdfunding social services. I have an unannounced goal in my projects to achieve something bigger than this... to use the internet to change political systems, the structure of them and how populaces engage with them. I think it has to be fait accompli though, already done. It will take a generation to achieve fully and putti…

Er... you think you're startup (microcosm), which is glorified forum software, will change "political systems, the structure of them and how populaces engage with them?"

Take an interest in anthropology and observe how communities interact and shape the environment (and systems of hierarchy and control) around them, and then consider how software can influence interactions.

Not that I'd argue with you with where we're at today. The destination may be over the horizon, but the first milestone is right in front of us and looks like we've barely moved. Which is true.

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