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Where's the love? Very critical slashdot comments on PG and YC newsweek article: "... what an arrogant twat."
- boris 19y agoI do think the remark about 5 minute IQ test is a bit arrogant. I am not sure if Paul really said this (haven't read the article) or it was just journalism as usual...
- Goladus 19y agoI'd recommend taking quotes from a news article with a grain of salt. It's out of context, and you don't get to hear tone of voice or see the expression on his face. My impression is that there are lots of insecure people who are way overreacting to that comment. He took the sentence "we think the deal we offer is great for the startup companies" and made a geeky joke out of it.
- nostrademons 19y agoHe did explain further on news.YC: http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=21791 http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=21791 It's still hard to tell tone of voice over the Internet, but it sounds like he was serious about the IQ test part.
- Benja 19y agoYep, but then he explained it even further and made clear that the quote didn't quite make clear what he said :-) http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=21967 http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=21967 I've had the same reaction as boris when reading the original quote. But what he was talking about was the case where someone turns them down because of the valuation. And I can see Paul's point there, actually.
- leisuresuit 19y agobesides, how do you FAIL an IQ test? you probably get a 40 or something if you can drool.
- nickb 19y agoThat comment is by Ian Clarke, a founder of a bunch of failed startups. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Clarke_%28computer_scientist%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Clarke_%28computer_scientist%29 He's just jealous/jadded/overly-arrogant. Safely ignore him :)
- rms 19y agoCo-founder status on Revver isn't bad... we can safely ignore him because everyone here understands the value provided by Y Combinator.
- staunch 19y ago
- omouse 19y agoAt least he's persistent :D
- maxklein 19y agoI once tried to contribute to freenet. Yes, Ian is absolutely arrogant and rude, and he is the reason his startups fail.
- BitGeek 19y agoYou didn't make an argument, you just engaged in personal attack.
- BitGeek 19y agoI think this comment shows everything that is asinine and vapid about the YC "community". Ian Clarke invented freenet... the most successful peer-to-peer privacy network. And whether his businesses have been successful or not (I don't know, but I know you don't) he's been more successful than the members of this community. He has far more users than reddit, for instance. Its amazing that every disagreement or criticism of YC is met with the "you're a failure" or "you're jealous" or "you're bitter" response. Never a response on the point. This is what has me increasingly believing that YC is a cult of personality-- its adherents don't make arguments, they repreat mantra. Their motivation is not intellectual honesty-- but defense of their idol. Please, prove me wrong! These are the classic comebacks of kids. Is this community made up of college students? Is that the problem?
- davidw 19y agoYou guys still bother reading the comments on slashdot?
- ralph 19y agoI'd rather they did that than just copy the off-topic stories from there to news.yc.
- sabat 19y agoWho the hell even reads slashdot anymore? It's been years, for me. Digg and Reddit pick up the stuff I actually want to know about, and I don't have to put up with Cmdr Taco's government-conspiracy pontifications.
- ecuzzillo 19y agoUh, so, just to clarify, you a) like reading Reddit, and b) don't like government conspiracy pontifications? Right.
- sabat 19y agoThe difference between Slashdot and Reddit is: - Reddit is a big group of paranoids ;-) rather than just one gun-toting Michigan hick, and - the government "conspiracy" stories on Reddit are, by and large, true or close to true, whereas on ./ they're complete mis-readings of stories or out-and-out BS. It's a matter of degree, in other words.
- reitzensteinm 19y agoSlashdot commenters mindlessly bash subject of article. News at 11.
- BitGeek 19y agoYC fans mindlessly bash anyone who disagrees. Nothing different here.
- greendestiny 19y agoThanks to SwellJoe for setting it out straight, really why I bothered posting this - so slashdotters could have an inside opinion on the process. Yes they are angry sheep, but they are our geek brethren. http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=234583&cid=19110535 http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=234583&cid=19110535
- BitGeek 19y agoDo you realize how patronizing you're being?
- greendestiny 19y agoYes. Well done for picking it up.
- byrneseyeview 19y agoIt's odd that they criticize the amounts raised so often: $15K for 5% means YC's average bet is that the output of one project from two coders is worth $300K. How many of the slashdot commenters think they could take a summer off with a buddy and make $300K worth of software?
- Sam_Odio 19y agoAnd that's not including the risk premium and required risk-free return, both of which have been implicitly priced into the contract. To stay competitive, VCs often require an expected annual return on new investments of 30-40%. Because YC invests at such an early stage, I would suspect that their required return should be much higher. A 50% discount rate would lead to significantly larger average valuations @ 5% equity ($15k invested): $450,000 after first year; $675,000 at second year; $1 million at third year. Since any later financing would dilute their stake, the expected post-money valuations should be even larger.
- BitGeek 19y agoOH MY GOD! Its like you're brainwashed! Let me ask you this- - you're buying a car. You're going to use this car to deliver papers and make some money delivering pizza on the side. You're going to build a little business here that's worth 10 times the value of the car after a year or two. Do you go to the bank who gives you %100 of the purchase price of the car in exchange for %9 interest each year? Or do you go to the local loan shark who charges you ("to stay competitive, of course") %30-%40 of the value of the loan, plus-- if you decide to sell the car-- 4 times the value of the loan at liquidation? YC says you go to the loan shark and pay %400 for your money. Slashdot "Trolls" say "that's way too much"... and you think they are engaging in bad math?!?!
- byrneseyeview 19y agoYC doesn't say that. YC isn't competing with the larger VCs, and as far as I know large VCs wouldn't deal with a company the size of a YC candidate. Also, the bank isn't giving you a list of customers whose credit card statements show pizza and newspaper purchases in the last year. Your analogy doesn't work; YC is buying equity just like anyone else. They're getting it cheap because they're paying for a couple undergrads to work for the summer -- your analogy would work if the bank would only give the loan if you had an established business and promised to work full-time for years. Since we have the math, there's no reason to make up emotionally charged analogies. YC values these companies at somewhere between $100K ($10K for 10%) and $1.5 million ($15K for 1%). They do some legal work, and offer lots of advice and connections. Obviously, this isn't a good deal for everyone (given the industry I'm in, for example, I'd probably pass on YC), but if you're having trouble understanding why anyone would accept it, you may just have trouble thinking like a smart, ambitious, well-informed twenty-something. And judging by the quality of your writing, age is not what sets you apart.
- juwo 19y agowhy should it matter to any of you? pg does not need (nor appreciates) any of us to be his defenders. If we can help each other out some on this newsgroup (and I am willing to), that is all that is necessary. [gets back to work].