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Ask HN: Is it a big problem if Garry Tan thinks he couldn't get into YC now?

• unimpressive 8y ago
  Not necessarily. YC isn't exactly a non-profit, and having the opportunity to take stronger opportunities to market is probably pretty exciting for them.
• DoreenMichele 8y ago
  YC started in Cambridge. This was never aimed at some Average Joe on the street.
• tomhoward 8y ago
  Garry is saying the 2008-version of him and his company wouldn't get into the 2018 Y Combinator, which may well be true. But a version of Garry who'd been born 10 years later and grown up/started his career in the time since 2008 would very likely make it into YC. The reason founders/companies applying to YC now are so much more polished and formidable than those of 10 years ago is that everyone's had the benefit of the past decade of startup knowhow being so much more widely available and easily accessible than it was back then. All the blogs, books, videos and living case studies playing out for everyone to observe, along with vastly more powerful software development frameworks and technology platforms, means that everyone now has a much more solid foundation from which to start their own thing. So whilst the bar may be higher, the launch pad is also a lot higher.
• thiago_fm 8y ago
  It has never been the type of incubator for average people. PG even himself has a text about beating the averages. It is meant for rich kids, or that studied in good colleges, or already has a business that is so good that doesn't really need them. All the 3 types of people that generally will do good no matter what and were born doing well(even the "self-made", generally are very talented at handling life in general). As somebody else mentioned, it isn't a non-profit and the way the system works is that great at money making people want to meet with its pairs. YC does run some charity-type of business or invest in companies that aren't a moneymaking machine, but it's out of some kind of Ayn Randian-esque AnCap egoistic charity. Maybe to make its main business less questionable by the fanboys. Which you definitely must be, if you want to get into YC. So, wrapping up, it was never the type of charity that would take the average hacker to build a good product that would change the world for good. I hope you people are honest with yourself enough so I don't get thumbs down due to my comment, because it is true. Maybe leave it there alone if you don't agree, just so other people think about it. HN can be very good for the average hacker, because they can inform themselves about tech stuff and get a bit closer to what the people I've mentioned above are doing and try to be like them and maybe get into other incubator... but YC is for top breed people. Reading HN did well for me, I've been reading it for a looong time and it changed my life. But I didn't get into YC, nor ever had money to try to create a company. This is for people with priviledges.