5 ms·

>Please be nice to them. For you their launch may be "yet another YC startup," but for each individual startup this is their big moment. I'm usually quite plea

by Animus7 15y ago

>Please be nice to them. For you their launch may be "yet another YC startup," but for each individual startup this is their big moment. I'm usually quite pleased with what comes out of YC. That said, in this competitive market, I don't think that being nice (just because) helps anyone the week after launch. I personally look forward to the day HN tears apart my project so I can say I truly learned something.

mrkurt 15y ago
The biggest lessons I've ever learned from people shredding things I've put in front of them is that the people doing the shredding are rarely helpful, if you discount skin thickening exercises anyway. I suspect "be nice" is more about how people talk to each other than the content of what they're saying.
- hashbo 15y ago
  I have to agree 100%. There’s a huge difference between honest helpful critique and semi-bullying criticism which is often a feeble attempt of someone to make people feel better about how little they have risked and achieved in their lives - and if not it’s usually just a simple pissing competition. ‘Shredding’ someone’s work is usually as helpful as breaking someone’s window and trashing their home to show they are at risk of being burgled. Point out the weaknesses like you would point out to your own offspring because a new business is like a child - it’s vulnerable and needs some protection and love at first. In time it will be able to stand up for itself. 'Shredding' a startup when it’s little is like bullying a kid when it’s young to show them how vicious the world is. Sorry for the very mixed metaphors :-)
InfinityX0 15y ago
He doesn't mean be nice to them even if they have a shitty project. He means don't let the onslaught of launches actually partially sour your perception - use your un-saturated viewpoint that is then cognizant of the bias saturation imbues - to determine your true opinion of their service. Which - if still bad then - should be correctly harsh and honest.
- zackattack 15y ago
  No, you're wrong. He means be nice to them because they're WITH HIM.
  - felipemnoa 15y ago
    No, he means, if you are going to criticize something, use constructive criticism. i.e. Don't just say, your product sucks.
    - szermer 15y ago
      What he really said was: "I'm usually quite pleased with what comes out of YC. That said, in this competitive market, I don't think that being nice (just because) helps anyone the week after launch. I personally look forward to the day HN tears apart my project so I can say I truly learned something."
    - zackattack 15y ago
      I don't think Paul wants anyone to criticize YC companies. A potential customer asking for changes is different. I am actually not sure there is any value to criticism. "Constructive criticism" seems like a sneaky way to assert authority and drain, without providing any real value.
      - jokermatt999 15y ago
        I didn't downvote you, but I completely disagree. Criticism is telling someone there's something wrong with their project. Constructive criticism is telling someone what specific things should be changed, and in a helpful manner. "Your home page sucks" Criticism, not useful. "You should have a better call to action on your home page. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here." Constructive criticism, very useful. It tells someone what's wrong so that it can be fixed. If they're very nice, they'll add a suggestion too. It's foolish to ignore someone's advice just because they're criticizing your project. Often times, if they're criticizing civilly, it's because they want the project to succeed. If you brush them off as "haters", you're just doing yourself a disservice. Honestly examine all criticism you receive. Yes, plenty of it will be useless criticism from people who want to bring you down, but if you don't pay attention to the ones that care, you're throwing away valuable advice and only hurting yourself.
zackattack 15y ago
"in this competitive market"? And just what market are you referring to?
patio11 15y ago
That said, in this competitive market, I don't think that being nice (just because) helps anyone the week after launch. There is a difference between false praise and every thread looking like "What's this?! You dare call yourself a startup? You're attempting to solve a problem which other people have attempted to solve before, and your solution looks like something two guys could have made in three months! Why are you in YC and not me?!" Ideally, we'd be aiming for constructive advice. "I would not use this" can be constructive advice, but it isn't most of the time I have heard it here.
alorres 15y ago
I thought it meant something like "don't be a dick to them just because they're one of the many launches." I mean constructive criticism is always good if you're trying to help them, not make them abandon entrepreneurship and the internet.
davidw 15y ago
If you have something negative to say, write it as if you were speaking to someone in person. Read what you've written again, with the Comic Book Guy voice. Does it sound in-character? Then it's probably unnecessarily harsh.

by Animus7 15y ago

mrkurt 15y ago

The biggest lessons I've ever learned from people shredding things I've put in front of them is that the people doing the shredding are rarely helpful, if you discount skin thickening exercises anyway. I suspect "be nice" is more about how people talk to each other than the content of what they're saying.

hashbo 15y ago
I have to agree 100%. There’s a huge difference between honest helpful critique and semi-bullying criticism which is often a feeble attempt of someone to make people feel better about how little they have risked and achieved in their lives - and if not it’s usually just a simple pissing competition. ‘Shredding’ someone’s work is usually as helpful as breaking someone’s window and trashing their home to show they are at risk of being burgled. Point out the weaknesses like you would point out to your own offspring because a new business is like a child - it’s vulnerable and needs some protection and love at first. In time it will be able to stand up for itself. 'Shredding' a startup when it’s little is like bullying a kid when it’s young to show them how vicious the world is. Sorry for the very mixed metaphors :-)

InfinityX0 15y ago

He doesn't mean be nice to them even if they have a shitty project. He means don't let the onslaught of launches actually partially sour your perception - use your un-saturated viewpoint that is then cognizant of the bias saturation imbues - to determine your true opinion of their service. Which - if still bad then - should be correctly harsh and honest.

zackattack 15y ago
No, you're wrong. He means be nice to them because they're WITH HIM.
- felipemnoa 15y ago
  No, he means, if you are going to criticize something, use constructive criticism. i.e. Don't just say, your product sucks.
  - szermer 15y ago
    What he really said was: "I'm usually quite pleased with what comes out of YC. That said, in this competitive market, I don't think that being nice (just because) helps anyone the week after launch. I personally look forward to the day HN tears apart my project so I can say I truly learned something."
  - zackattack 15y ago
    I don't think Paul wants anyone to criticize YC companies. A potential customer asking for changes is different. I am actually not sure there is any value to criticism. "Constructive criticism" seems like a sneaky way to assert authority and drain, without providing any real value.
    - jokermatt999 15y ago
      I didn't downvote you, but I completely disagree. Criticism is telling someone there's something wrong with their project. Constructive criticism is telling someone what specific things should be changed, and in a helpful manner. "Your home page sucks" Criticism, not useful. "You should have a better call to action on your home page. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here." Constructive criticism, very useful. It tells someone what's wrong so that it can be fixed. If they're very nice, they'll add a suggestion too. It's foolish to ignore someone's advice just because they're criticizing your project. Often times, if they're criticizing civilly, it's because they want the project to succeed. If you brush them off as "haters", you're just doing yourself a disservice. Honestly examine all criticism you receive. Yes, plenty of it will be useless criticism from people who want to bring you down, but if you don't pay attention to the ones that care, you're throwing away valuable advice and only hurting yourself.

zackattack 15y ago

"in this competitive market"? And just what market are you referring to?

patio11 15y ago

That said, in this competitive market, I don't think that being nice (just because) helps anyone the week after launch. There is a difference between false praise and every thread looking like "What's this?! You dare call yourself a startup? You're attempting to solve a problem which other people have attempted to solve before, and your solution looks like something two guys could have made in three months! Why are you in YC and not me?!" Ideally, we'd be aiming for constructive advice. "I would not use this" can be constructive advice, but it isn't most of the time I have heard it here.

alorres 15y ago

I thought it meant something like "don't be a dick to them just because they're one of the many launches." I mean constructive criticism is always good if you're trying to help them, not make them abandon entrepreneurship and the internet.

davidw 15y ago

If you have something negative to say, write it as if you were speaking to someone in person. Read what you've written again, with the Comic Book Guy voice. Does it sound in-character? Then it's probably unnecessarily harsh.