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Article also ignore’s that very few founders succeed Has anyone ever plotted the lifespan of YC companies from each cohort? Most of them end up dead…

fantasizr 23d ago
Imagine a university's pitch to their students in this model, most of you will fail but that's the nature of what we do now.
pj_mukh 23d ago
N=1 but my dead VC funded YC company taught me more about the ins and outs of what it takes to run a complex successful engineering and sales operation than any number of years in business school or grinding in consultancies. YMMV you do have to have a different less nihilistic mindset but it really is a bit of a Neo in the Matrix moment because it lets you see through a bit of the corporate veneer to see the complex mess of personal and group foibles that run our major corporations. In the end it also ends up making you a 10x more effective worker if that’s where you end up even if just to protect your mental health by being able to explain what’s going on.
- gogo61 23d ago
  Have you studied in a business school or grinded in consultancies?
  - pj_mukh 23d ago
    Yes obviously. But just to caveat, its not YC or VC funding that is critical. It’s the act of building something and trying to sell it that is.
- ignoramous 23d ago
  > VC funded YC company taught me more ... really is a bit of a Neo in the Matrix moment ... ends up making you a 10x more effective corporate worker if that’s where you end up No doubt there are learnings worth a lifetime, and changes that alter careers. You hope, the sense of superiority the experience seems to breed is not merely a coping mechanism, but an exercise in positive self-image [0] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34053801 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34053801
  - pj_mukh 23d ago
    “the sense of superiority the experience seems to breed” Mostly an extremely online problem, not a real world one. More so the nature of the medium in fact. Evidenced by how you edited out the “dead” in front of VC funded when you were quoting me. You read the tone you want to read.
    - ignoramous 23d ago
      > Mostly an extremely online problem Do consider re-reading my comment after a while. > You read the tone you want to read. Please, don't gaslight.
      - pj_mukh 22d ago
        “the sense of superiority the experience seems to breed" I dont know how re-reading is going to help me see this sentence differently. I am just telling you my lived experience shows me this prior is simply not true. That's all.
cultofmetatron 23d ago
> Most of them end up dead… wait till you see what happens to a lot of forbes 30 under 30
elevatortrim 23d ago
But only one of them need to succeed for PG to make a lot of money.

fantasizr 23d ago

Imagine a university's pitch to their students in this model, most of you will fail but that's the nature of what we do now.

pj_mukh 23d ago

N=1 but my dead VC funded YC company taught me more about the ins and outs of what it takes to run a complex successful engineering and sales operation than any number of years in business school or grinding in consultancies. YMMV you do have to have a different less nihilistic mindset but it really is a bit of a Neo in the Matrix moment because it lets you see through a bit of the corporate veneer to see the complex mess of personal and group foibles that run our major corporations. In the end it also ends up making you a 10x more effective worker if that’s where you end up even if just to protect your mental health by being able to explain what’s going on.

gogo61 23d ago
Have you studied in a business school or grinded in consultancies?
- pj_mukh 23d ago
  Yes obviously. But just to caveat, its not YC or VC funding that is critical. It’s the act of building something and trying to sell it that is.
ignoramous 23d ago
> VC funded YC company taught me more ... really is a bit of a Neo in the Matrix moment ... ends up making you a 10x more effective corporate worker if that’s where you end up No doubt there are learnings worth a lifetime, and changes that alter careers. You hope, the sense of superiority the experience seems to breed is not merely a coping mechanism, but an exercise in positive self-image [0] [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34053801 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34053801
- pj_mukh 23d ago
  “the sense of superiority the experience seems to breed” Mostly an extremely online problem, not a real world one. More so the nature of the medium in fact. Evidenced by how you edited out the “dead” in front of VC funded when you were quoting me. You read the tone you want to read.
  - ignoramous 23d ago
    > Mostly an extremely online problem Do consider re-reading my comment after a while. > You read the tone you want to read. Please, don't gaslight.
    - pj_mukh 22d ago
      “the sense of superiority the experience seems to breed" I dont know how re-reading is going to help me see this sentence differently. I am just telling you my lived experience shows me this prior is simply not true. That's all.

cultofmetatron 23d ago

> Most of them end up dead… wait till you see what happens to a lot of forbes 30 under 30

elevatortrim 23d ago

But only one of them need to succeed for PG to make a lot of money.