> "They receive unconditional love, acceptance, and attention from a charismatic..." You should have been at my team's first meeting; it was like this, but the

> "They receive unconditional love, acceptance, and attention from a charismatic..." You should have been at my team's first meeting; it was like this, but the opposite. Informal founder feedback sessions have been similar. The carebear environment the author described wouldn't work anyway - the VCs would destroy us. Actually most accounts of actual cult experiences describe a never-ending cycle of harsh criticism intended to break down the followers sense of self, followed by love from the charismatic leader. So, to an extent you're validating what Daniel is saying. Any elite group is going to have some cultlike qualities. The real hard part comes when you are attempting to determine if you are benefiting from the emotional programming you are receiving, and if not when you should leave. I really doubt that YCombinator is a cult, if it were you'd see the leadership ordering founders to give up their own projects and work on projects the leadership favours and ratcheting up the share of equity demanded, and generally see people getting taken advantage of. And if it were seriously going wrong you'd see ostracism and megalomania.