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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. The

by 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?

by zach 10y ago

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?