8 ms·

Does YC ever intend to revisit doing remote batches again? There's many founders in the country who are just as driven and motivated, but have real-world situa

Does YC ever intend to revisit doing remote batches again? There's many founders in the country who are just as driven and motivated, but have real-world situations that cannot allow uprooting themselves for several months, two very common ones: - new parents - disabled family members, or are themselves physically disabled The discourse on Hacker News has frequently chastised companies demanding RTO, and some of the companies in your portfolio are remote-first (or remote-only), why does YC make the same kind of RTO demand with batches?

_--__--__ 1y ago
People in those situations can and should start companies without an accelerator (or at least without this one). The joke around the SF scene is that even a founder with a boy/girlfriend is a sign of a startup doomed to fail, and YC doesn't seem particularly invested in changing that culture.
- aetherspawn 1y ago
  I don’t usually wear my ring day to day because it’s poorly fitting, but I wear it to meetings with private equity because I want to filter out anyone with that mentality.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
- nenenejej 1y ago
  [flagged]
- dang 1y ago
  This doesn't resemble anything I've ever heard at YC in the many years I've been here. People don't think or talk that way at all...they're far more normal and decent than that.
- DonHopkins 1y ago
  Unless your girlfriend is your laptop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmFoNXkQTt8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmFoNXkQTt8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkZ8MAk2oH4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkZ8MAk2oH4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z-_py5WgOM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z-_py5WgOM
snowmaker 1y ago
We might, and I'm sure you're right that there are many great founders not applying to do YC because they don't want to move here. But I think it would be a better analogy to compare YC to a university, rather than to a company. It's true that many companies operate remotely very effectively. But essentially zero universities have stayed remote since the early days of the pandemic.
- repeekad 1y ago
  There are plenty of remote schools, always have been, they’re just lower quality and solve a different problem than traditional in person university
  - user_7832 1y ago
    I agree, to add on - I think places like Open University are absolutely fantastic for folks who want to learn but have other "real world" responsibilities. The last time I heard a out OU was when a new parent was happy having being able to get a degree from there (while I think studying at night).
  - skeeter2020 1y ago
    In Canada a lot of well-known schools are shifting much of their delivery to online. They're limited by the government how much they can charge/increase while international student visas have been cut dramatically. It's an existentially moment for international-focused schools, but even the best traditional universities are hurting.
    - throaway5445454 1y ago
      The bigger problem for Canadian universities is that they have never had their funding restored to pre-austerity levels by the various levels of government.
      - repeekad 1y ago
        “By the early 1990s, combined federal, provincial, and local spending had peaked at more than 50% of GDP.” You mean those spending levels?
arjunven 1y ago
Check out https://tinyseed.com/ https://tinyseed.com/
- NetOpWibby 1y ago
  Doesn't TinySeed require some measure of traction already?
paxys 1y ago
It’s a form of self selection. YC (and silicon valley at large) isn't interested in founders with pesky things like real life responsibilities or anything else that will prevent them from focusing on their startup 24x7.
- edoceo 1y ago
  This is too flippant. YC is so early on some of these deals that the primary gauge is team - which means personality of founders. Very hard to measure remotely. I'm in a group, not as big or famous, that does early checks. We're 95% remote. IME, it's so hard to make those judgement calls through web-cam. Agreed that founder focus is a big factor and that life gets in the way (of deals). However, if you don't like YC conditions there are 100s of other places to (attempt a) raise.
  - nhumrich 1y ago
    Except that all acceptance via YC is actually done remotely. They don't meet you in person until after they have already wired the money.
    - edoceo 1y ago
      I think you are talking about phase-1 and I was talking about a phase-2 of the process (of N phases). We're just addressing different steps.
      - nhumrich 1y ago
        Phase-2 being what? demo day?
  - aetherspawn 1y ago
    Would you invest in Australia?
  - NetOpWibby 1y ago
    A lot of other places are just YC-lite/-wannabes and have either niche focuses (this is good) and/or not enough innovation-seekers (this is bad).
westurner 1y ago
From "Ask HN: How to Price a Product" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41180492#41220971 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41180492#41220971 : > Asset Value = Equities + Liabilities > /? startupschool pricing: https://www.google.com/search?q=startupschool+pricing https://www.google.com/search?q=startupschool+pricing /? site:startupschool.org pricing: https://www.google.com/search?q=site:startupschool.org+pricing https://www.google.com/search?q=site:startupschool.org+prici... > Startup School > Curriculum > Ctrl-F pricing: https://www.startupschool.org/curriculum https://www.startupschool.org/curriculum YC Library: https://www.ycombinator.com/library https://www.ycombinator.com/library /? YC Library : pricing: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/search?query=Pricing https://www.ycombinator.com/library/search?query=Pricing
Maro 1y ago
There's also people who are driven, don't have a real-world situation that pins them to their location, but don't believe that they need to move to SF to do a startup, because they shouldn't have to..
solumos 1y ago
Because San Francisco is a truly singular place that drastically increases your odds of success in starting a venture-backed company by simply existing there (even temporarily).
morpheuskafka 1y ago
To be fair, it is a 3mo batch. The better analogy would be a long business trip or on site project, not a remote vs. in office job. Moreover, for better or worse, the all day every day work culture typical of venture-backed startups isn't really compatible with being a new parent etc. anyway.

_--__--__ 1y ago

People in those situations can and should start companies without an accelerator (or at least without this one). The joke around the SF scene is that even a founder with a boy/girlfriend is a sign of a startup doomed to fail, and YC doesn't seem particularly invested in changing that culture.

aetherspawn 1y ago
I don’t usually wear my ring day to day because it’s poorly fitting, but I wear it to meetings with private equity because I want to filter out anyone with that mentality.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
nenenejej 1y ago
[flagged]
dang 1y ago
This doesn't resemble anything I've ever heard at YC in the many years I've been here. People don't think or talk that way at all...they're far more normal and decent than that.
DonHopkins 1y ago
Unless your girlfriend is your laptop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmFoNXkQTt8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmFoNXkQTt8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkZ8MAk2oH4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkZ8MAk2oH4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z-_py5WgOM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z-_py5WgOM

snowmaker 1y ago

We might, and I'm sure you're right that there are many great founders not applying to do YC because they don't want to move here. But I think it would be a better analogy to compare YC to a university, rather than to a company. It's true that many companies operate remotely very effectively. But essentially zero universities have stayed remote since the early days of the pandemic.

repeekad 1y ago
There are plenty of remote schools, always have been, they’re just lower quality and solve a different problem than traditional in person university
- user_7832 1y ago
  I agree, to add on - I think places like Open University are absolutely fantastic for folks who want to learn but have other "real world" responsibilities. The last time I heard a out OU was when a new parent was happy having being able to get a degree from there (while I think studying at night).
- skeeter2020 1y ago
  In Canada a lot of well-known schools are shifting much of their delivery to online. They're limited by the government how much they can charge/increase while international student visas have been cut dramatically. It's an existentially moment for international-focused schools, but even the best traditional universities are hurting.
  - throaway5445454 1y ago
    The bigger problem for Canadian universities is that they have never had their funding restored to pre-austerity levels by the various levels of government.
    - repeekad 1y ago
      “By the early 1990s, combined federal, provincial, and local spending had peaked at more than 50% of GDP.” You mean those spending levels?

arjunven 1y ago

Check out https://tinyseed.com/ https://tinyseed.com/

NetOpWibby 1y ago
Doesn't TinySeed require some measure of traction already?

paxys 1y ago

It’s a form of self selection. YC (and silicon valley at large) isn't interested in founders with pesky things like real life responsibilities or anything else that will prevent them from focusing on their startup 24x7.

edoceo 1y ago
This is too flippant. YC is so early on some of these deals that the primary gauge is team - which means personality of founders. Very hard to measure remotely. I'm in a group, not as big or famous, that does early checks. We're 95% remote. IME, it's so hard to make those judgement calls through web-cam. Agreed that founder focus is a big factor and that life gets in the way (of deals). However, if you don't like YC conditions there are 100s of other places to (attempt a) raise.
- nhumrich 1y ago
  Except that all acceptance via YC is actually done remotely. They don't meet you in person until after they have already wired the money.
  - edoceo 1y ago
    I think you are talking about phase-1 and I was talking about a phase-2 of the process (of N phases). We're just addressing different steps.
    - nhumrich 1y ago
      Phase-2 being what? demo day?
- aetherspawn 1y ago
  Would you invest in Australia?
- NetOpWibby 1y ago
  A lot of other places are just YC-lite/-wannabes and have either niche focuses (this is good) and/or not enough innovation-seekers (this is bad).

westurner 1y ago

From "Ask HN: How to Price a Product" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41180492#41220971 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41180492#41220971 : > Asset Value = Equities + Liabilities > /? startupschool pricing: https://www.google.com/search?q=startupschool+pricing https://www.google.com/search?q=startupschool+pricing /? site:startupschool.org pricing: https://www.google.com/search?q=site:startupschool.org+pricing https://www.google.com/search?q=site:startupschool.org+prici... > Startup School > Curriculum > Ctrl-F pricing: https://www.startupschool.org/curriculum https://www.startupschool.org/curriculum YC Library: https://www.ycombinator.com/library https://www.ycombinator.com/library /? YC Library : pricing: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/search?query=Pricing https://www.ycombinator.com/library/search?query=Pricing

Maro 1y ago

There's also people who are driven, don't have a real-world situation that pins them to their location, but don't believe that they need to move to SF to do a startup, because they shouldn't have to..

solumos 1y ago

Because San Francisco is a truly singular place that drastically increases your odds of success in starting a venture-backed company by simply existing there (even temporarily).

morpheuskafka 1y ago

To be fair, it is a 3mo batch. The better analogy would be a long business trip or on site project, not a remote vs. in office job. Moreover, for better or worse, the all day every day work culture typical of venture-backed startups isn't really compatible with being a new parent etc. anyway.