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The Disruptor In The Valley
- sachinag 16y ago"Graham concedes that individual YC partners have invested in a few startups that hadn't been able to attract much outside funding." Interesting that Paul, Trevor, Robert, and Jessica (maybe Harj and Alexis now?) will backstop companies that can't raise outside money after YC. It's like the exact opposite of the signaling problem.
- jedberg 16y agoIt's not just them. YC has produced a good number of qualified investors at this point. ;)
- pg 16y agoThe first couple years I used to participate in a lot of the startups' angel rounds. Now I hardly ever do. I didn't invest in any of the startups from the most recent batch, for example.
- trefn 16y agoof course the birkenstocks would be featured prominently...
- edanm 16y ago"Graham met Morris, an authority on the Unix computer language" Sigh... Great article though. And a wonderful portrait of pg!
- dlo 16y agoAnother one: "Y Combinator--a computer term for a program that runs other programs." Heh, sure.
- Matt_Cutts 16y agoOn the other hand, the explanation of convertible notes and valuation caps was clear and helpful. Great article overall.
- dshankar 16y agoA bit off topic, but where can I learn more about convertibles, valuation caps, FF stock, and all the legal stuff we don't learn in our engineering classes?
- rms 16y agohttp://venturehacks.com/archives http://venturehacks.com/archives
- ilovecomputers 16y agoI did not know that Naval had a site like this. Thanks!
- rms 16y agoAnd it functions as more or less everything you need to know about this stuff. I was able to read it as it was posted but if I was just starting the now the ebook for $20 is well worth it over clicking "previous" a whole bunch of times in the blog layout.
- redwoods 16y agoGreat article tho I worry that it makes raising seed $$ sound easy.
- tlb 16y agoIt is easy. Y Combinator's application process is designed to take only an hour or two, though it can take much longer if you have to figure out what your company is going to make at the same time. But you have to figure that out anyway -- it's not really a difficulty of raising seed money. Y Combinator is very selective, but there are many other incubator / tech accelerator programs where the bar is not so high.
- projectileboy 16y agoBut even failing the YC application would be a valuable learning experience - if YC won't invest in you, you'd do well to consider why.
- edanm 16y agoThen again, as pg himself says, the better you are, the less of a "real" reason that you didn't get in. If you're one of the top 100 startups in this cycle, all of which have potential, you might not make it just cause there are another 35 great companies they decide to go with.
- redwoods 16y agoHow many YC companies failed to get in first time but got in on later applications - any knowledge on this?
- serverdude 16y agosee this thread http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1745802 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1745802
- meltzerj 16y agoNever knew Paul Graham began as an artist. I'm not that surprised though. Art and programming are both forms of creative expression.
- danilocampos 16y agoPaul mentions these origins in his essay on Taste: http://paulgraham.com/taste.html http://paulgraham.com/taste.html After "Why Nerds Are Unpopular", it's one of my favorite things he's written. "At an art school where I once studied, the students wanted most of all to develop a personal style. But if you just try to make good things, you'll inevitably do it in a distinctive way, just as each person walks in a distinctive way. Michelangelo was not trying to paint like Michelangelo. He was just trying to paint well; he couldn't help painting like Michelangelo."
- jmtame 16y ago'why nerds are unpopular' was the first paul graham essay i read in high school (as a sophomore who moved to a new high school). got me hooked =]
- danilocampos 16y agoI read it as a senior, when the bulk of my school related angst was behind me. It was still awesome, though. I felt less alone – less like I was nuts or something for seeing school the way I had.
- harscoat 16y agoLe goût est le nec plus utlra de l'intelligence/Lautréamont (means sthg like 'Taste is intelligence brought to its highest intensity') _ Original quote "Le goût est la qualité fondamentale qui résume toutes les autres qualités. C’est le nec plus ultra de l’intelligence. (Comte de Lautréamont, Poésies I, 1870)"
- herdrick 16y agohttp://www.paulgraham.com/hp.html http://www.paulgraham.com/hp.html
- hacker101 16y agoHe is not only the Valley Disruptor, he will change how smart kids pursue their education, career ,,,,
- notAdvertising 16y agoThe aspect I like most about this system is that it makes the traditionally nerve-racking process of fund-raising fun and exciting.
- omfut 16y agoHacker news is part of my daily diet and i have to admit that PG is Rock star. Though the amount of money he funds to YC startups is minuscule, the end result is unbelievable. I have been in the startup industry for more than a decade and to me it seems like the YC funding is more like paid mentoring.
- gridspy 16y agoI imagine that a great number of people who hang out on HN feel the same way, myself included. It is great to see PG giving back to the community in such a sustainable, profitable way. He has created a product that entrepreneurs want.
- Keyframe 16y agoJustin.tv, now the Web's biggest portal for live video umm, what? Is Justin.tv bigger than Ustream and Livestream? I seriously doubt that.
- ig1 16y agoYes it is. Check Alexa or Compete, Justin.tv is ahead by a significant margin.
- Keyframe 16y agoI checked google trends: http://www.google.com/trends?q=justin.tv,+ustream,+livestream http://www.google.com/trends?q=justin.tv,+ustream,+livestrea... I didn't know that, if true - serious props, since ustream seems to be a whole lot more.
- jwecker 16y agosorry, small nitpick with your methodology- try these as more realistic comparisons (still not exactly apples to apples): http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22justin+tv%22%2C+ustream%2C+livestream&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0 http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22justin+tv%22%2C+ustream%2C... http://www.google.com/trends?q=justin.tv%2C+ustream.tv%2C+livestream.com&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=1 http://www.google.com/trends?q=justin.tv%2C+ustream.tv%2C+li...
- Keyframe 16y agonp, and thanks - since I don't really know how to use google trends properly.
- jwecker 16y agoUstream is often higher in unique views (but not always, and not currently), but Justin.tv has people stay on site almost twice as long, and has almost half the bounce rate. It certainly pumps far more video in and out (at one point at least more than even youtube, but I don't think we've measured that in a while). Livestream is a distant third. Ustream spends a lot of money projecting their image, while we just keep making sure that our product is several times better.
- harscoat 16y agoWondering if the painting behind PG on the picture could have been one he painted himself?
- Towle_ 16y agoPG looks very Roger Sterling in that photo there.
- addoway 16y agoPG what % of startups chosen each class have a working model with revenue already generated? Could you list some of the pros/cons? Thanks.