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I just wanted to say, thank you for pointing this out. The other half of it, though, is that you’re being sort of unfair. Airbnb isn’t boring. YC’s goal was to

I just wanted to say, thank you for pointing this out. The other half of it, though, is that you’re being sort of unfair. Airbnb isn’t boring. YC’s goal was to make a tremendous amount of money. Without that, none of their other ambitions would succeed. Enough of their bets had to be right. In that sense, it seems like YC was a success in their original mission. One does not kill google simply by wishing it. That said, yes, you’re right about the special treatment. But that’s what the real world is like. It’s not meant to be a court with a judge. http://www.paulgraham.com/judgement.html http://www.paulgraham.com/judgement.html You (like me, once) can be uncomfortable with the idea of special treatment, but it’s hard to argue with the result. After all, Airbnb IPO’d. EDIT: By the way, if you’d like to chat privately about the old days, feel free to DM me on Twitter. That 2008-era was interesting, and I remember you were there for it. I’m curious to get more of your impressions.

dang 6y ago
It's not true—there was no special treatment. I was there, and it was very clear that they were applying just like everybody else. To say otherwise is cynical bullshit, and you guys should really pause before reinforcing talented-but-disadvantaged people's worry that they don't have a shot. They do have a shot, and if you had any idea how hard YC works not to overlook applicants who show up without special connections, you'd be ashamed of yourselves.
- sillysaurusx 6y ago
  But.. they didn't apply like everybody else. pg made an /apply2 endpoint specifically for them: https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1337011619268882432 https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1337011619268882432 I doubt they were given special treatment afterwards. Their interview probably went like everyone else's. But how can it be true that there was no special treatment beforehand, when it was a special /apply2 endpoint? Of course talented-but-disadvantaged people have a shot. None of this is to say that they don't, and no one implied that special connections were a requirement. I know how hard YC works not to overlook those. My position is that there's nothing wrong with it being a special exception. Instacart seemed to be, too. But that's different than saying there was no exception.
  - dang 6y ago
    Where does it say that he made /apply2 specifically for them?
    - sillysaurusx 6y ago
      The email asked for a special exception. "Are the YC applications for the next round completely, 100% closed? ... They missed the deadline" pg replied with a link to let them apply, in spite of the fact that the round was closed. It was an exception to the normal rules. And the exception was accessed by having a personal intro from a YC founder.
      - dang 6y ago
        You didn't answer my question, which I assume means you had no reason to say "pg made an /apply2 endpoint specifically for them". The rest here is also false. The round was not closed. Application deadlines have never been enforced at YC. By accepting their late application he was treating them the same as anybody else. Even the point about the intro email is overstated; I did that too upthread, but now that I think of it, it's obvious that pg would have replied the same way to any email he got at that moment: tell them to apply fast, be concise, etc. No good startup investor would say "sorry, you missed the deadline" because they all know that missing outliers for dumb reasons is the biggest mistake they can make, the one that matters more than all the others put together. So really what this all boils down to is that Justin had pg's email address, and I don't think that's what the people arguing "special treatment" in this thread were talking about.
        sillysaurusx 6y ago
        This isn't true. I was told by pg that the current round was closed, and to try next cycle. It was in '08, if I remember correctly. That was near the beginning of the YC program, but that's different from "never." You know pg better than any of us here. Does /apply2 sound like an endpoint he'd make for the general public? The naming practically screams "special case." Why don't we just ask pg? He'd reply to you. I trust pg implicitly. He's been many things, but never a liar. For what it's worth, I completely agree with your points -- it would be dumb to reject their application due to timing, especially when you're getting such a strong signal from a YC founder that this application is worth paying attention to.

dang 6y ago

It's not true—there was no special treatment. I was there, and it was very clear that they were applying just like everybody else. To say otherwise is cynical bullshit, and you guys should really pause before reinforcing talented-but-disadvantaged people's worry that they don't have a shot. They do have a shot, and if you had any idea how hard YC works not to overlook applicants who show up without special connections, you'd be ashamed of yourselves.

sillysaurusx 6y ago
But.. they didn't apply like everybody else. pg made an /apply2 endpoint specifically for them: https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1337011619268882432 https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1337011619268882432 I doubt they were given special treatment afterwards. Their interview probably went like everyone else's. But how can it be true that there was no special treatment beforehand, when it was a special /apply2 endpoint? Of course talented-but-disadvantaged people have a shot. None of this is to say that they don't, and no one implied that special connections were a requirement. I know how hard YC works not to overlook those. My position is that there's nothing wrong with it being a special exception. Instacart seemed to be, too. But that's different than saying there was no exception.
- dang 6y ago
  Where does it say that he made /apply2 specifically for them?
  - sillysaurusx 6y ago
    The email asked for a special exception. "Are the YC applications for the next round completely, 100% closed? ... They missed the deadline" pg replied with a link to let them apply, in spite of the fact that the round was closed. It was an exception to the normal rules. And the exception was accessed by having a personal intro from a YC founder.
    - dang 6y ago
      You didn't answer my question, which I assume means you had no reason to say "pg made an /apply2 endpoint specifically for them". The rest here is also false. The round was not closed. Application deadlines have never been enforced at YC. By accepting their late application he was treating them the same as anybody else. Even the point about the intro email is overstated; I did that too upthread, but now that I think of it, it's obvious that pg would have replied the same way to any email he got at that moment: tell them to apply fast, be concise, etc. No good startup investor would say "sorry, you missed the deadline" because they all know that missing outliers for dumb reasons is the biggest mistake they can make, the one that matters more than all the others put together. So really what this all boils down to is that Justin had pg's email address, and I don't think that's what the people arguing "special treatment" in this thread were talking about.
      - sillysaurusx 6y ago
        This isn't true. I was told by pg that the current round was closed, and to try next cycle. It was in '08, if I remember correctly. That was near the beginning of the YC program, but that's different from "never." You know pg better than any of us here. Does /apply2 sound like an endpoint he'd make for the general public? The naming practically screams "special case." Why don't we just ask pg? He'd reply to you. I trust pg implicitly. He's been many things, but never a liar. For what it's worth, I completely agree with your points -- it would be dumb to reject their application due to timing, especially when you're getting such a strong signal from a YC founder that this application is worth paying attention to.