4 ms·

PG's point about the size of the YC founders pool makes me curious what the effects of hitting some kind of Dunbar number will be.

pg 17y ago
I wonder about that too, but we may not hit a limit. I think limits like Dunbar's number are consequences of hierarchical structure, and the YC founder network is completely distributed.
- Alex3917 17y ago
  Dunbar's number generally applies to communities that are organized around content or ideology. So for example, a web forum gets too large for everyone to agree on what's on topic or off topic, so it splits in two. Or a democratically run government can't agree on whether the society should be gemeinschaft or gezellschaft. The YC network is more like a dating site than a polis, so while there may be some limiting factor I don't think it would be Dunbar's number.
  - alanthonyc 17y ago
    The YC network is more like a dating site than a polis Is this true? I may have a utopian view of things, but my impression is that of a community that helps each other out in order to make this new model of work succeed. If my impression is accurate, then I can see how the society could change or break down once it gets past a certain size. Cliques, subgroups, etc. could form. I see this support group structure as one of the main reasons to apply to YC. The money would be useful, but the support would be invaluable.
    - Alex3917 17y ago
      "My impression is that of a community that helps each other out in order to make this new model of work succeed." In YC when you have a problem you generally find another startup who can help and then pair off with them to work alone, like on a dating site. Alternatively, there other seed programs where all the startups sit around a big table and talk about each person's problems one at time. This is more like a polis, because different discussions create value for different people. The latter exposes you to more new ideas, but it also wastes enormous amounts of time. (And a lot of these new ideas don't end up sticking because you haven't already tried yourself and failed first.) I think the YC model probably maximizes your chances of success after three months, but only if you already have a pretty good chance of succeeding. If you still have a bunch of missing skills you need to fill in, then looking into non-YC options might make more sense.
      - alanthonyc 17y ago
        I see. Thanks for the feedback, it's nice to know a little bit more about it.

pg 17y ago

I wonder about that too, but we may not hit a limit. I think limits like Dunbar's number are consequences of hierarchical structure, and the YC founder network is completely distributed.

Alex3917 17y ago
Dunbar's number generally applies to communities that are organized around content or ideology. So for example, a web forum gets too large for everyone to agree on what's on topic or off topic, so it splits in two. Or a democratically run government can't agree on whether the society should be gemeinschaft or gezellschaft. The YC network is more like a dating site than a polis, so while there may be some limiting factor I don't think it would be Dunbar's number.
- alanthonyc 17y ago
  The YC network is more like a dating site than a polis Is this true? I may have a utopian view of things, but my impression is that of a community that helps each other out in order to make this new model of work succeed. If my impression is accurate, then I can see how the society could change or break down once it gets past a certain size. Cliques, subgroups, etc. could form. I see this support group structure as one of the main reasons to apply to YC. The money would be useful, but the support would be invaluable.
  - Alex3917 17y ago
    "My impression is that of a community that helps each other out in order to make this new model of work succeed." In YC when you have a problem you generally find another startup who can help and then pair off with them to work alone, like on a dating site. Alternatively, there other seed programs where all the startups sit around a big table and talk about each person's problems one at time. This is more like a polis, because different discussions create value for different people. The latter exposes you to more new ideas, but it also wastes enormous amounts of time. (And a lot of these new ideas don't end up sticking because you haven't already tried yourself and failed first.) I think the YC model probably maximizes your chances of success after three months, but only if you already have a pretty good chance of succeeding. If you still have a bunch of missing skills you need to fill in, then looking into non-YC options might make more sense.
    - alanthonyc 17y ago
      I see. Thanks for the feedback, it's nice to know a little bit more about it.