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YC Interviews in NYC
- m0th87 8y agoI remember going to YCNYC nearly 10 years ago, and pg made the argument that anyone starting a company should just move to the Bay Area because it was that much better. I guess NYC has come a long way, or YC has, or both :)
- tlrobinson 8y agoThis is just for the interviews, I believe accepted companies are still expected to move to the Bay Area (at least for the duration of their batch)
- wenc 8y agopg wrote an article called "Cities and Ambition"[1] which greatly influenced my thinking on the importance of being around a critical mass of like-minded people, not just for the 1st-order effects of having the right networks and opportunities, but also for the 2nd-order effects of being subtly influenced by the intellectual energy around you. (Side note: Eric Weiner wrote a Malcolm-Gladwell-like book "The Geography of Genius" on a similar topic; for a funny but insightful review see this review [2] where the reviewer terms this genre "American-Folksy") These effects do shift, e.g. as mentioned in the article, Florence was the place to be for art during the Renaissance, but not so much today. NY is a big city that's constantly reinventing itself, and the gravity of tech importance has been moving toward NYC for a while now. But as of right now, SV is still dominant. [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html [2] https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3KMN29SZX9ZKS/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=145169167X https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3KMN29SZX9ZKS/re...
- sudosteph 8y agoWow, good links, thanks. It's interesting to read that PG essay and realize just how drastically things must have changed in the past decade for SV people. Like this snippet: > How many times have you read about startup founders who continued to live inexpensively as their companies took off? Who continued to dress in jeans and t-shirts, to drive the old car they had in grad school, and so on? Maybe it was doable in 2008, but the idea living "inexpensively" anywhere near SV just is laughable. Nobody is going to save more on clothing and cars than you will lose on rent. Even living in Brooklyn would get you significant savings over most places equally close to SFO. Another interesting factoid he called out also has me wondering about the long-term implications of SV becoming the main magnet for startups: > The power of an important new technology does eventually convert to money. So by caring more about money and less about power than Silicon Valley, New York is recognizing the same thing, but slower. And in fact it has been losing to Silicon Valley at its own game: the ratio of New York to California residents in the Forbes 400 has decreased from 1.45 (81:56) when the list was first published in 1982 to .83 (73:88) in 2007. Seems to me like the trend of the extremely wealthy concentrating in California may not necessarily be a positive thing for creating an environment that can sustain ambitious people who need a place they can live cheaply while building things. Though I would be very curious to see what those numbers are looking at today. All that said, his analysis of why he liked SV seems like it made sense at the time. It just clearly couldn't scale. This does make me more confident about my decision to move back to Raleigh though. The "eavesdropping" thing he mentions is actually pretty great there, Durham and Raleigh have a very diverse and well-educated populace. People who don't think there are ambitious people around those parts must not run in the same circles as I do. I know more people building their own companies or side projects or just learning and building things for fun there than I could find in Seattle. It's hard to get funding there for sure - not so many super rich people around to hit up and perhaps outsiders misinterpret the more practical aims of local ambition as lack of ambition altogether. But while SV and NY and LA may send the strongest messages about power, money, and fame, I feel better than ever about being in the "Esse Quam Videri"[1] corner of the world instead. [1] State motto of NC, translates to "To be, rather than to seem".
- mav3rick 8y agoSeattle has many many people working on their own thing and side projects. It has an excellent talent pool of varying skills. Raleigh is nowhere near in scale right now
- sudosteph 8y agoEveryone I know with talent here is too overworked at their main job to sustain side projects. That, rampant seasonal depression and a pervasive weed and drinking culture to deal with it all make it incredibly to hard to connect with people who actually want to collaborate on things on the side. It's the seattle freeze culture - it just isn't conducive to organic networking and small scale innovation. At least the Bay has nice weather to lift moods a bit. Raleigh has plenty enough talent, from far more diverse backgrounds than Seattle, and just keeps growing. I don't need 10,000 engineers for a startup - I just need 10 really good ones and a pipeline for more. I've already got that network and I know the culture is better for me to find more, so I'm ready to go for it. It's a risk in some ways, but I gave Seattle a real try - it just isn't as uniquely conducive to building new things as people would like to believe.
- mav3rick 8y agoLet's see what startups come out of Raleigh vs Seattle.
- wenc 8y agoI visited RDU for a week to figure out if it was a place that I would want to settle down in. I was told the American Tobacco Campus was a hotbed for new startups, and of course SAS in Cary has a big presence. There's definitely talent in the area (State, UNC and Duke) and there's definitely potential. One thing I noticed though was the relative lack of cultural diversity and city feel (the entire RDU area feels suburban and comfortable, and lacks "struggle" as it were), but I don't know if this adversely affects startup viability, so it probably doesn't matter. I decided it wasn't a place where I would feel comfortable settling in, being a city-person, but for many people who are turned off big cities, I could see RDU being a good middle ground.
- espressomachiat 8y agoThank you for this; always reminded of my favourite paragraph from pg's article: >A friend who moved to Silicon Valley in the late 90s said the worst thing about living there was the low quality of the eavesdropping. At the time I thought she was being deliberately eccentric. Sure, it can be interesting to eavesdrop on people, but is good quality eavesdropping so important that it would affect where you chose to live? Now I understand what she meant. The conversations you overhear tell you what sort of people you're among.
- daegloe 8y agoI was there too. I remember being disappointed that PG came all that way just to tell us all to move to the Bay Area. IIRC, he went so far as to say that NYC would never be able to offer the community and serendipity of being surrounded by so many fellow entrepreneurs. And that NYC was too tainted by its banking culture and the drive to make money. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion. NYC has come a long way!
- aeriklawson 8y agoLol did he really claim that SV wasn't about making money? That's rich.
- SamReidHughes 8y agoNot if you go by the parent comment instead of what your brain translated it to.
- snakeboy 8y ago> And that NYC was too tainted by its banking culture and the drive to make money. Doesn't this imply fairly clearly that he believes the Bay Area is not plagued by these two things?
- ameliaquining 8y agoIt implies he thinks it's less of a thing there than in New York.
- leelin 8y agoOh yes, I was also there! But I remember many people came out of that event hearing very different things from PG (there were also small presentations from YC alums hiring). I remember PG saying NYC had clearly overtaken Boston as #2 startup up in the US, partly because Boston investors were more risk averse and focused on the late stages. Then he asked whether NYC could rival the Bay Area for #1. I don't think he made a definitive conclusion one way or another. I even remember him saying the unstoppable force of the startup revolution would hit the immovable object - that NYC is already known as many other hubs (finance in particular). The one concept that stood out was his argument that "chance encounters" with people who can help your startup are crucial. Good luck sometimes hits when you least expect it, but NYC at the time didn't have all the ingredients in place the way the Bay Area had. A month later he wrote this down more formally in "Why Startup Hubs Work" http://www.paulgraham.com/hubs.html http://www.paulgraham.com/hubs.html
- btilly 8y agoTo me a bigger deal is that New York law by default grants copyright on work done in your spare time on your own equipment to your employer. Therefore if you try to grow a side hustle into a business, you can unexpectedly find that you don't actually have what you thought you had. I know multiple people, directly and indirectly, who have been caught by this. Knowledge of this problem contributed to my desire to move from New York to California. Most of the stories of squashed startups will never be heard because they never got anywhere. But it limits how dynamic New York's startup ecosystem can become. This is not to say that there won't be successful startups. Just fewer than they would have been. And people who you'd want to be able to start them, are shut out.
- sambroner 8y agoDo you have a reference for this? And are there similar or opposite laws affecting other states?
- btilly 8y agoI have personal experience relating to this. It is worth noting that awareness of this issue is why the FSF explicitly requires copyright assignment and a disclaimer of any work-for-hire ownership claims by the programmer's employer. Because employees often do not realize that their employer could have a copyright claim, and the FSF is very careful. See https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-assign.en.html https://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-assign.en.html for verification.
- neovive 8y agoIt's hard to imagine YCNYC was almost ten years ago--time sure flies. I still remember Alexis Ohanian speaking to the attendees outside as we were waiting to enter. Hopefully, YCNYC 2 is in the works now that interviews are taking place in NYC.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- Alex3917 8y agoThere actually was a second NYC event in 2013 or so.
- SamReidHughes 8y agoOne difference I’m aware of since 10 years ago is that talent has gotten more expensive in the Bay Area.
- pastor_elm 8y agothat's still the case. Has there been any decent startup coming out of NYC the past 5 years? I'd say no.
- twostorytower 8y agoUnless I'm misunderstanding, it looks like these are just interviews being held in NYC. They still want people to move to the Bay Area for the duration of the program, though they're becoming more and more flexible.
- CameronBanga 8y agoMan, that event was nearly 10 years ago now? Making me feel old. :)
- jrochkind1 8y agoyou left out the possibility that the bay has gotten worse.
- farazbabar 8y agoWarning, unpopular opinion coming up. Bay area may have the critical mass for investors and technologists but I think we owe it to ourselves to have some diversity of thought and ambition. I am on the west coast but have avoided moving to bay area due to the lack of intellectual diversity. I know my venues are much more limited in some ways but my experiences and interactions are much richer in others (I know this because I have split my time 50/10/40 between bay area, new york and southern california for nearly a decade since 2010). Weather, access to money and talent are very strong and influential variables but to me, diversity of thought (and approach to capital) are more valuable. Clearly, this is anecdotal, so take it with a rock of salt.
- Alex3917 8y agoGreat way to cut down on YC's carbon footprint, while also saving everyone some travel time.
- lifeisstillgood 8y agoA couple of thoughts come to mind - are you doing this because there is a dip in the number / quality of applicants being SF-only, or are you hoping to grow YC on top of the SF-base with these new "hubs". (i.e. have we reached peak "good ideas" in the US?) Second thought - I need to get my butt into gear ...
- srsimon 8y agoNeither! We travel all over the world doing outreach and we figured we might as well interview people while we're out there.
- lifeisstillgood 8y agoTwo birds. One stone. Good luck, and keep up the good work :-)
- ondiekijunior 8y agoDo you by any chance think you can make it to Nairobi, Kenya in your outreach? I have applied as many times as I have been rejected but it would be fantastic if YC came closer. Visa Free for all Africans (and most other nations), fantastic weather, and I volunteer to get you a prime location for the interviews(or just meetup) at the oldest most established tech open space in Africa/Silicon Savanna. Plus you can all adopt and name orphaned elephants :)
- OoTheNigerian 8y agoGreat first steps. Any plans to have one in a "no visa required" location for people from other parts? The struggle and stress attending YC interviews puts on Nigerian founders is - to put it mildly, very unfair. Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya are 2 countries with visa on arrival for everyone and a great air network.[1] [1] https://www.passportindex.org/byWelcomingRank.php https://www.passportindex.org/byWelcomingRank.php
- srsimon 8y agoThis is something we've been searching for solutions to, and was part of our thinking in trying this out. We'll be releasing new locations as we finalize them - stay tuned.
- rdl 8y agoI'd recommend Qatar. Qatari government would probably be willing to cover costs/admin and potentially deep discounts on QR flights. You might even be able to do it all airside at Doha Airport, otherwise they'd do hotel + meeting rooms.
- jedberg 8y agoI'm curious, what's the next step after the interview? If they do an interview in a no visa location and you get in, wouldn't you still need to get a visa to join the program? Or are you saying that once you get in then getting the visa is worth the time, but it isn't worth it just for the interview?
- johnxie 8y agoGreat news for startups in New York! Hope this will continue for years to come.
- e1ven 8y agoIt's an interesting reflection of changing dynamics for startups - When YC started, it was in Boston, before later moving to SF. Now that they're expanding to do some interviews on the East Coast again, they're doing them in NYC, rather than Boston.
- Eduardo3rd 8y agoBoston based founder here - I think it makes perfect sense. - NY is far easier to get to Boston from anywhere else on the east coast - flights, busses, trains, etc. Much less Europe. - While the amount of total VC dollars invested in each city is similar[0], I've always gotten the impression that figure is skewed by a small number of mega-rounds going into the biotechnology companies in Kendall Square vs. the number of companies in the wider ecosystems. - NY is just a better city to visit. More public transit options, hotel rooms, things to see while you are in town for the interview, etc. I love Boston, but I'd make the same decision. [0] https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/04/boston-area-startups-are-on-pace-to-overtake-nyc-venture-totals/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/04/boston-area-startups-are-o...
- avinium 8y agoOut of curiosity, if you were a foreign (but remote) startup looking to set up an office in the USA - would you recommend Boston? From the perspective of sales/finance, rather than technical, if that's important.
- epc 8y agoIf you're looking to stay in the NYC region but don't need to be actually in NYC: Boston and Philadelphia have great startup communities and great transportation options. Closer in to NYC: Stamford (lots of empty office space), Hartford (now semi–accessible to NYC by rail, plus an international airport), White Plains (easily accessible to NYC plus regional airport). NJ has a lot of office space along I–95 once you get out of the NYC metro area, but am uncertain on the rent.
- baobrain 8y ago
- ph0rque 8y agoQuick question: I don't see any field in the interview to indicate NYC as the interview city. Do all applicants who make the February 15 deadline automatically get considered for an NYC interview?
- YeahSureWhyNot 8y agoanybody sees a specific link for Feb NYC event when they login? Do I not see anything because my application is pending?
- andreygrehov 8y agoAre accepted companies expected to move to the Bay Area?
- snowmaker 8y agoYes, for the three months of the YC program.
- nailer 8y ago> Announcement: February 11, 2019 > The deadline to apply to meet us in NYC is Friday, February 15 at 8pm PST. Damn. I'm applying for YC Summer 2019 (with a new company based on feedback from my previous in-person interview) for March 25. I'd much rather interview in NY, but having the deadline pushed forward to 4 days from now is faster than I'd expect.
- yeukhon 8y agoWow this is so sudden. Sigh. One of my cofounders can't move to the U.S. due to personal responsibility. I guess YC ain't for us! Good luck everyone.
- jotto 8y agomight YC be using geoIP to track location trends of, presumably programmer-types, visiting news.ycombinator.com since ~2005?
- lettergram 8y agoHmm I understand YC is growing and needs to expand to meet the growth (I mean physically expand). At the same time interviewing is a huge boon to everyone doing it. I’ve interviewed twice, failed both times, but continue to grow my business. Those connections I’ve made - during the interview day - has actually helped me and opened new opportunities. I’ll be interested to know if this changes the dynamics at all.
- ejz 8y agoThis is less interesting than the upcoming expansions to Tel Aviv and Bangalore. https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/11/yc-is-hosting-interviews-in-new-york-in-a-couple-of-weeks-heres-what-you-need-to-know-ahead-of-time/ https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/11/yc-is-hosting-interviews-i...
- xiaolingxiao 8y agoIf I apply for the NY interview, can I apply again for the March deadline again? Or is it one application only for the summer 2019 cycle.
- scmaina 8y agoJust wondering if anyone who applied for the YC NYC interviews heard back?
- kcolon23 8y agoI didn't. But in all likelihood I'm guessing it means I didn't get one