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We surveyed the founders after the last batch. Their main gripes were: 1. There aren't enough social events, especially early in the cycle. So we're adding m
by pg 16y ago
We surveyed the founders after the last batch. Their
main gripes were:
1. There aren't enough social events, especially early in the
cycle. So we're adding more.
2. Founders were surprised how harsh our feedback was at times.
We may be able to be more diplomatic. But I think the fundamental
problem is that this is a domain where, so far at least, many
participants fail. So if you're truthful, you're often
going to be delivering bad news.
3. The speakers got swarmed after talks, because there were
some founders who schmoozed with all the speakers as a matter
of course, instead of giving priority to others with
specific reasons to talk to that speaker. We have a plan to
fix this.
4. The acoustics in the orange room are a disaster. When the room's full of people talking you have to yell to be heard. Kate is having a huge
sound-absorbing curtain made to fix this.
5. It's too inflexible that office hour slots are exactly 25 minutes.
Different problems need varying amounts of time. So we'll make
the slots adjustable.
6. Founders wanted a more organized way of getting and sharing
feedback about specific investors, so we're going to build
something for that.
7. We have to start teaching founders about fundraising earlier
in the cycle, because investors are approaching them earlier.
- Aqua_Geek 16y ago2. Founders were surprised how harsh our feedback was at times. We may be able to be more diplomatic. But I think the fundamental problem is that this is a domain where, so far at least, many participants fail. So if you're truthful, you're often going to be delivering bad news. Disclaimer: I don't have YC experience. In school, my classmates and I too often experienced the opposite kind of feedback: pat on the back, great job, I thought it was fantastic, etc. What little criticism was given usually came in the format of a "compliment sandwich." Although praise is nice, in general I find that being nice to avoid confrontation or to prevent hurt feelings only promotes complacency and lack of (personal) growth. Not to mention if you tell me something was great when I know it sucks, you've lost all credibility with me. Don't sugar coat it - I have a pretty good general idea of what's working. I find honest feedback more helpful.
- cvg 16y agoI agree that there is too much cheesy positive feedback. If both parties are being honest with themselves and reality, negative feedback should be a driver and something that brings about positive change.
- proexploit 16y agoI agree completely. Positive feedback has very little worth to me, more often then not. I'd love to sit down with the YC team and hear everything "negative/harsh" (aka useful/constructive) they could tell me about my startup.
- JabavuAdams 16y agoSounds like "Crocker's Rules", from the SL4 mailing list. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1810123 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1810123 The problem is that a lot of techies default to doing this to other people, without understanding the others' conventions. Hence the stereotype of the insensitive hacker.
- brc 16y agoI agree completely. One of the biggest problems for anyone, anywhere, is the culture of praise that has developed. Nobody gets told their work is crap anymore, and when it is, it's in a compliment sandwich as you say. There are many instances where I could have done with someone calling me out on something instead of fence sitting or bland agreement masked as praise. The other problem is praise inflation : if everyone gets a 'good job' then it's difficult to know whether you're ahead of the pack or just middling. As long it's not bullying, vindictive or just plain mean, negative criticism is worth 10x positive. It's also better to be drip fed negative feedback from trusted people, so when you get out into the real world, chances are you've heard any negative feedback before and are prepared for it. In a strong individual hurt feelings are going to produce better outcomes. I'm sure that's why the military has boot camp.
- nicholasjbs 16y agoDon't sugar coat it - I have a pretty good general idea of what's working. I find honest feedback more helpful. pg's brutally honest feedback was actually one of my favorite parts of YC. It's wonderfully refreshing.