3 ms·

be young, kidless and have parents to sponsor your living expences :) (or have steel stomach to live off of pizza)

• pclark 16y ago
  YC founders have been mature, with children and without a 'living expenses sponsor' and succeeded. Quit coming up with excuses and just apply :)
  • fedd 16y ago
    our wives would kill us! :) and sell organs to pay for kindergartens, schools and huggies
    • dctoedt 16y ago
      > our wives would kill us! :) and sell organs to pay for kindergartens, schools and huggies You didn't specify whose organs they'd sell, but I think we can guess ....
• jnovek 16y ago
  My co-founder and I are approaching 30, married and my co-founder has 2 kids. We were in the W2010 YC group. Neither of us had anyone to "sponsor" our living expenses. Yes, we were at a disadvantage compared to younger founders when it came to cost of living, but now that StartFund is investing $150k into every YC company, that disadvantage is erased. By the way, we were not the oldest founders in our round. Furthermore, in my opinion, we also had a huge advantage over some of the younger guys -- applicable experience. Most of the younger guys had to stay inside a realm that was familiar to geeks (social media, technology, etc.) whereas we're able to attack a market that most young folks can't touch (old media, newspapers, magazines, radio stations, etc). At times it has been hard on our marriages, but at the end of the day our spouses both see that we're living our dream and they're happy for us (plus, it probably doesn't hurt that we have a chance of being wealthy some day).
  • ojbyrne 16y ago
    Approaching 30 is still young.
    • jnovek 16y ago
      It's old enough to have the problems that someone older than 30 might have, for example: kids, a mortgage, health care, a retirement plan.
  • Wolf_Larsen 16y ago
    Hey, I'm married with a kid and applying. Do you have any advice for making that work well? Did you bring your families with you to the Bay or did they stay home?
    • jnovek 16y ago
      First and foremost -- focus building your company and put together a great application! Have "the talk" about what you'll do if you are funded after you get an interview. That being said, Lloyd's family stayed home and Rachel came with me. In retrospect (and with more money) we might have done things differently. One thing to keep in mind is that I prefer to work at home when I can and Lloyd likes to maintain a strict separation between work and family, so those things contributed to our decisions. There aren't many times in life when you'll work harder than when you're in YC, so your preferred working style should be part of what informs your decision to bring or be away from your family.
      • Wolf_Larsen 16y ago
        "First and foremost -- focus building your company and put together a great application!" Always! "There aren't many times in life when you'll work harder than when you're in YC, so your preferred working style should be part of what informs your decision to bring or be away from your family." That looks like an answer to me. Thanks.