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Yea this Plato thing seems pretty bizarre and I completely agree that it's silly for the mentors to use it. Maybe there's a small value of just meeting people t

Yea this Plato thing seems pretty bizarre and I completely agree that it's silly for the mentors to use it. Maybe there's a small value of just meeting people through it, but I think existing meetup groups can solve that problem pretty well. The quibble I have with the author: if this was a for-profit company that _hadn't_ taken VC funding, would he be more OK with donating his time to them? I think his objection makes sense regardless of company taking funding and I don't think he needs to keep emphasizing them taking funding to get his point across.

duckfang 5y ago
It's not just VC finding. It's YCombinator funding. From https://tracxn.com/d/companies/platohq.com https://tracxn.com/d/companies/platohq.com Jun 01, 2016 : $120K : Seed : Y Combinator How many predatory and scammy companies does YC have to fund, before we directly question YC itself?
- SQueeeeeL 5y ago
  Wait, do people assume YCombinator has any standard to their funding? I thought we all knew that it was just a hype machine wrapped around a bog standard VC group. Of course they'll fund them, it has a sick name and an idea you can state in 60 seconds, so Plato will probably get sold to a textbook manufacturer or something for 70 billion dollars because it's 2021 and nothing makes sense
  - paulcole 5y ago
    > do people assume YCombinator has any standard to their funding Some people for sure assume this and it’s a testament to the work YC has put into marketing and PR. Just look at HN — a mammoth content marketing project — for a VC fund. Just enough YC propaganda mixed in to where people still believe it’s impartial Hacker News.
    - redis_mlc 5y ago
      > Just look at HN — a mammoth content marketing project — for a VC fund. HN has become a leftist/Marxist, post-fact echo chamber. I don't see that as good PR. The actual founders use YC's internal BookFace, not HN.
  - Grustaf 5y ago
    > Wait, do people assume YCombinator has any standard to their funding That is basically the whole point of YC, that their investment gives you a stamp of approval.
burnished 5y ago
you're not uncomfortable with the practice of relying on customers notion that the company is paying mentors, but taking 100% of the fee?

duckfang 5y ago

It's not just VC finding. It's YCombinator funding. From https://tracxn.com/d/companies/platohq.com https://tracxn.com/d/companies/platohq.com Jun 01, 2016 : $120K : Seed : Y Combinator How many predatory and scammy companies does YC have to fund, before we directly question YC itself?

SQueeeeeL 5y ago
Wait, do people assume YCombinator has any standard to their funding? I thought we all knew that it was just a hype machine wrapped around a bog standard VC group. Of course they'll fund them, it has a sick name and an idea you can state in 60 seconds, so Plato will probably get sold to a textbook manufacturer or something for 70 billion dollars because it's 2021 and nothing makes sense
- paulcole 5y ago
  > do people assume YCombinator has any standard to their funding Some people for sure assume this and it’s a testament to the work YC has put into marketing and PR. Just look at HN — a mammoth content marketing project — for a VC fund. Just enough YC propaganda mixed in to where people still believe it’s impartial Hacker News.
  - redis_mlc 5y ago
    > Just look at HN — a mammoth content marketing project — for a VC fund. HN has become a leftist/Marxist, post-fact echo chamber. I don't see that as good PR. The actual founders use YC's internal BookFace, not HN.
- Grustaf 5y ago
  > Wait, do people assume YCombinator has any standard to their funding That is basically the whole point of YC, that their investment gives you a stamp of approval.

burnished 5y ago

you're not uncomfortable with the practice of relying on customers notion that the company is paying mentors, but taking 100% of the fee?