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I have to say I have been baffled why Sam Altman is held in such high regard by YC and its community. He co-founded Loopt in the first batch of YC. It was sold

I have to say I have been baffled why Sam Altman is held in such high regard by YC and its community. He co-founded Loopt in the first batch of YC. It was sold years later for less than the money the investors had put into it. So it basically failed and lost money. Except for the co-founders, they walk away with a few million each. Nice pay for at best an average performance. He then becomes CEO of YC. But YC is already a well established and successful outfit at that point so there is hardly any risk involved. The chief requirement is just to not screw up a good thing. So far he has managed to do that. Along the way he makes many more millions because as a YC insider he gets to invest at the earliest stage for the best looking start-ups. I have nothing against the man and I do not begrudge him his millions but lets stop thinking he is a genius. He is an average entrepreneur that has had an amazing slice of luck by being in on YC at its start and making the most of it. I'm sure he is a smart, hard working and a nice bloke. But he is not a genius.

gms 10y ago
What if you were made CEO of Apple tomorrow? It's already well established and successful, so there is hardly any risk involved there?
- k__ 10y ago
  Doesn't your assumption (leading YC is hard) rise the question why he got that job even more, if we assume he performed average in his startup and lost investors money?
- mandeepj 10y ago
  Yes, there is. https://steveblank.com/2016/10/24/why-tim-cook-is-steve-ballmer-and-why-he-still-has-his-job-at-apple/ https://steveblank.com/2016/10/24/why-tim-cook-is-steve-ball...
zach 10y ago
The shortcomings of this noxious but common "prove you're a genius by your ROI" attitude is exactly why Y Combinator has been as successful as it has been. There is no mystery here. PG, JL, TLB and RTM obviously thought highly of many people when entering YC, even more highly when they got to see them up close, and even more so as they worked closely with them. They see their value. And that's why Sam Altman is the CEO of YC. Believe it or not, the YC partners and leadership are actually better judges of ability than the market. It could never work otherwise.
- hueving 10y ago
  >Believe it or not, the YC partners and leadership are actually better judges of ability than the market. It could never work otherwise. Not quite. Many of the best startups choose to apply to YC because of this perception that YC is so good. Startups are not like stocks, investing in them is not something you can just click a button to do. So regular 'beat the market' reasoning doesn't apply. Once a place is considered a great place to take good ideas, a relatively stupid person can pick between them pretty easily and get a good outcome. Because so many good companies think to apply to YC, YC has a pretty good success rate, thus perpetuating the idea that YC is so good.
- conanbatt 10y ago
  > Believe it or not, the YC partners and leadership are actually better judges of ability than the market. It could never work otherwise. Doesnt match > It was sold years later for less than the money the investors had put into it.
  - robotresearcher 10y ago
    No contradiction. YC likes Altman more than the market liked Altman's company. YC sees more potential than was manifest in that startup. I have no opinion on his brilliance, just pointing out there's no mismatch.
- randallsquared 10y ago
  > Believe it or not, the YC partners and leadership are actually better judges of ability than the market. And how would you measure that?
olalonde 10y ago
> I'm sure he is a smart, hard working and a nice bloke. But he is not a genius. I'd extend this observation to 99% of founders and CEOs.
sytse 10y ago
> The chief requirement is just to not screw up a good thing. I think Sam went way beyond that and took big steps with things like open ai > a YC insider he gets to invest at the earliest stage for the best looking start-ups Sam was investing himself before joining YC as CEO. I can find only https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/hydrazine-capital/investments https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/hydrazine-capital/in... but there might be some great investments missing from there. Disclosure: YC founder and fan of Sam's work as CEO
tim333 10y ago
>baffled why Sam Altman is held in such high regard I don't know him personally but Paul Graham does and thinks him exceptional so in absence of other info I'll trust take his word - http://paulgraham.com/5founders.html http://paulgraham.com/5founders.html
haaen 10y ago
Altman became president of the YC partnership, with a newly created board of overseeers. Nowhere near to a CEO that makes all the decisions by himself.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

gms 10y ago

What if you were made CEO of Apple tomorrow? It's already well established and successful, so there is hardly any risk involved there?

k__ 10y ago
Doesn't your assumption (leading YC is hard) rise the question why he got that job even more, if we assume he performed average in his startup and lost investors money?
mandeepj 10y ago
Yes, there is. https://steveblank.com/2016/10/24/why-tim-cook-is-steve-ballmer-and-why-he-still-has-his-job-at-apple/ https://steveblank.com/2016/10/24/why-tim-cook-is-steve-ball...

zach 10y ago

The shortcomings of this noxious but common "prove you're a genius by your ROI" attitude is exactly why Y Combinator has been as successful as it has been. There is no mystery here. PG, JL, TLB and RTM obviously thought highly of many people when entering YC, even more highly when they got to see them up close, and even more so as they worked closely with them. They see their value. And that's why Sam Altman is the CEO of YC. Believe it or not, the YC partners and leadership are actually better judges of ability than the market. It could never work otherwise.

hueving 10y ago
>Believe it or not, the YC partners and leadership are actually better judges of ability than the market. It could never work otherwise. Not quite. Many of the best startups choose to apply to YC because of this perception that YC is so good. Startups are not like stocks, investing in them is not something you can just click a button to do. So regular 'beat the market' reasoning doesn't apply. Once a place is considered a great place to take good ideas, a relatively stupid person can pick between them pretty easily and get a good outcome. Because so many good companies think to apply to YC, YC has a pretty good success rate, thus perpetuating the idea that YC is so good.
conanbatt 10y ago
> Believe it or not, the YC partners and leadership are actually better judges of ability than the market. It could never work otherwise. Doesnt match > It was sold years later for less than the money the investors had put into it.
- robotresearcher 10y ago
  No contradiction. YC likes Altman more than the market liked Altman's company. YC sees more potential than was manifest in that startup. I have no opinion on his brilliance, just pointing out there's no mismatch.
randallsquared 10y ago
> Believe it or not, the YC partners and leadership are actually better judges of ability than the market. And how would you measure that?

olalonde 10y ago

> I'm sure he is a smart, hard working and a nice bloke. But he is not a genius. I'd extend this observation to 99% of founders and CEOs.

sytse 10y ago

> The chief requirement is just to not screw up a good thing. I think Sam went way beyond that and took big steps with things like open ai > a YC insider he gets to invest at the earliest stage for the best looking start-ups Sam was investing himself before joining YC as CEO. I can find only https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/hydrazine-capital/investments https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/hydrazine-capital/in... but there might be some great investments missing from there. Disclosure: YC founder and fan of Sam's work as CEO

tim333 10y ago

>baffled why Sam Altman is held in such high regard I don't know him personally but Paul Graham does and thinks him exceptional so in absence of other info I'll trust take his word - http://paulgraham.com/5founders.html http://paulgraham.com/5founders.html

haaen 10y ago

Altman became president of the YC partnership, with a newly created board of overseeers. Nowhere near to a CEO that makes all the decisions by himself.

deleted 10y ago

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