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Crypto Will Do to YC What YC Did to VC
Picked this up from a different thread. Thought this needs more discussion!
- smt88 9y agoThis is not dissimilar from the argument that cash would become obsolete because of crypto. That hasn't happened because people don't mind trading some money or freedom for a little more security. Free markets are not pleasant to most people. Also, don't forget that we're seeing ICOs potentially being treated as securities, and they're likely to be just as regulated as traditional investing mechanisms. These regulations will likely be practical to enforce, because most startups will want to do business in the US, China, and/or Europe. I think ML is a much bigger threat to YC, as machine models have been shown to be better than humans at picking successful companies. (Humans have lots of pesky biases that aren't based in reality.) What if there were an ETF of startups? You'd need a team of humans to gather and enter data as best they could, but an algorithm could do the rest at a lower cost.
- fspear 9y agoDo you have any examples of these ML models? I wonder if similar models can be applied to pick ICO's worthy of investment.
- smt88 9y agohttps://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zmep4y/mit-researchers-offer-algorithm-for-picking-winning-startups https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zmep4y/mit-resear... https://qz.com/561206/algorithms-make-better-hiring-decisions-than-humans/ https://qz.com/561206/algorithms-make-better-hiring-decision... I don't think it would work for ICOs, assuming that they're open to the public. As we've seen, prices seem to be pretty irrational when everyone is trying to jump on the hype train.
- itamarst 9y agoVC firms still exist. Some of them are funding my employer, for example. So what exactly did YC do to VC?
- hijinks 9y agoNothing.. YC is more about the networking and advice opportunities that open up then the money you get