5 ms·

Is Y Combinator the University of Internet Startups?

38 points by thomasswift 18y ago

vaksel 18y ago
I think its more of an apprenticeship
pg 18y ago
It's certainly a better metaphor than boot camp. Though, interestingly, in this case the metaphor is accurate even to the misconceptions. This writer thinks that YC's most important role is as a gatekeeper. That's a common misconception about elite universities too. In fact the most valuable thing about going to one is what you learn there, and so it is with YC too, I think. One way to understand where YC's "center of gravity" is would be to measure how I spend my time. If YC's role was simply as a gatekeeper, my job would be done as soon as we'd done interviews to select each new group of startups. Boy would life be easy if that were so! In fact about 98% of the work is still ahead at that point. I tried to explain what we actually do here: http://www.paulgraham.com/ycombinator.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ycombinator.html
- sdurkin 18y ago
  "They could sing campfire songs in all the classes, as long as admissions still worked the same." (or something to that effect) I tend to believe that the most important part of a university is neither the learning, nor the signaling, but rather the networking. The introductions made through university connections tend to prove invaluable over time, and some of the alumns I've spoken with have the same view of YC.
  - pg 18y ago
    In-context version: "It's no coincidence that startups start around universities, because that's where smart people meet. It's not what people learn in classes at MIT and Stanford that has made technology companies spring up around them. They could sing campfire songs in the classes so long as admissions worked the same." (http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html)
    - DaniFong 18y ago
      Don't forget that when you're given some prestigious charge, the human reaction is to try to do something with it. Much of the difference between hackers at MIT and elsewhere may be that at MIT, they're supposed to perform technical wizardry. Elsewhere, there are a lot of people who could do great things, but for some reason or another, don't.
      - furiouslol 18y ago
        Sorry. This was too funny to not post: Meeting someone from Harvard, they will undoubtedly display faux modesty and say something along the lines of, "Oh, I went to school in Boston." I imagine they want me to guess MIT, just so they can say "Harvard" proudly in response, but instead, I say something like, "Hmm. You really look like a Northeastern kind of guy. BU, maybe?" This puts them in their place, and they will scramble away, crying crimson tears all over the floor. More at http://www.radaronline.com/features/2008/07/leveraged_sellout_excerpt_investment_banking_princeton_harva-print.php http://www.radaronline.com/features/2008/07/leveraged_sellou...
      - sdurkin 18y ago
        To whom much is given, much is expected in return. For a lot of people, it certainly adds extra motivation.
        ivankirigin 18y ago
        With Great Suit Comes Great Responsibility http://www.theonion.com/content/node/34279 http://www.theonion.com/content/node/34279
      - aswanson 18y ago
        I always wondered why Princeton does not produce more start ups...no shortage of riches or intelligence in that area. My guess is that the academic climate is centered around pure research...am I far off?
        18y ago
- ivankirigin 18y ago
  Another useful part of universities and YC both is what economists call signaling. Going to a good college sends a message to those looking for people who can compete at that level. Some contend that it is the most valuable part of college for the average person. The YC alums are a significantly under appreciated benefit of YC, though people understand why universities and their alumni networks are good.
- Mystalic 18y ago
  I don't disagree with you that the education's the most important part, especially to the person. The gatekeeping isn't the hard part, but don't underestimate how important it is to the function of a society. Without the university system, we'd probably collapse, even if it is somewhat inefficient. I was trying to bring more to light the trend in how VC is being conducted and get people thinking about how that will affect venture capitalists and especially entrepreneurs. The "gatekeepers" have a defining role in the direction societies take, especially in terms of development.
- netcan 18y ago
  I don't think it's fair to call it a misconception. It is a claim or maybe even an accusation. One that Universities are are commonly accused of. One that is being extended to YC. Universities might similarly defend against this claim by pointing to the resources spent on educating as opposed to filtering. But I don't think that this is necessarily a good defence. If anything, it points to an institution's internal priorities, not its value to potential students. It seems to me that if YC is consistently successful, it can't avoid becoming a filter in the eyes of investors. This would eventually come to affect applicants' perception. If YC increases a company's chance of attracting investors, this might become the motivation for participation. Investors listen to pitches or even invest because of YC's track record. Startups apply because of investors' perception. Similarly, University applicants often think along the lines of creating an impressive resume. This is partly because it is true (an Oxford degree is better at getting jobs then an unknown one) and partly because people tend to undervalue educational potential of things beforehand. Throw in the fact that top Universities get the power to choose the best applicants & it becomes difficult to tell if they are picking winners, creating them or just in control of some bottleneck. In any case, I think it's a point of interest.
  - netcan 18y ago
    Some bait: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/04/secretive-storage-company-dropbox-took-sequoia-funding-in-2007/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/04/secretive-storage-compa...
mattmaroon 18y ago
Well, it's better than American Idol at least.
josefresco 18y ago
YC is less like a university (where they teach building blocks) and more like a highly selective vocational school (where your skills are directly applied)
rokhayakebe 18y ago
YC does not look much like a University. Apart from the application process, there is not much to YC that you can find in traditional academia. YC looks like what a University should be. YC is a model that is constantly changing and ameliorating itself using what it learned in previous semester. At YC there are no professors. There are mentors. OMG. Imagine the amount of knowledge students would actually accumulate if they were taught from a young age to find solutions to problems and not take someone else's answer for it. By the time you get to university you have already developed a curious mind and if you were to use that for 6 years to challenge your own thoughts on any subject and seek your own answers, you will come to the work place with a hell of a ability. Mentors should be available when we need them or to frequently stop and take a look at what students work on and only only suggest how they can do better or how to look at problems in a better fashion YC tells you "Ok, so you want to be the solution to that problem, go ahead wow me". There is no A or B. There is only a continuous effort to fix the problem and after you fix it, keep improving the solution. YC is not like a University, but Universities (Heck the entire Schooling system) can learn from this model.
- brentr 18y ago
  If anything, from what I have read, it seems more like a university at the graduate level. You know of a problem, you have the tools to tackle the problem, but the solution is a big question mark. Your goal is to create a solution. In essence, you are doing original work.
  - furiouslol 18y ago
    true but the diff is that with startups, if you tackle the problem well, you will be heavily rewarded
    - brentr 18y ago
      I don't deny this at all. That's the glory of capitalism! The problem I have is that I can't find a problem that I could do on the cheap legally. I'm heavily involved with finance and market data. I can think of numerous ways something like Bloomberg could be improved, but the costs are prohibitive when you consider all the data feeds. The only other idea I have managed to come up with is a Digg-like site with a social network aspect attached to it. The idea is people submit just like on Digg but they also make recommendations as to what would happen in the market. They then earn a credibility rating based on whether or not their prediction was accurate. The problem with that is this: I don't think there are enough people who would use it to make developing the site worth my time.
sfamiliar 18y ago
There's an additional component other than filtering that YC serves: it provides a pool of talent and experience that helps you out of jams, but without something like 'formal instruction'. The best features of a finishing school and guild (apprentice/journeyman/master) are represented. A community -- not so specialized as a technical or vocational school, but people who are likely to have common drives and purposes, and whose cross-disciplinary skills enhance the whole environment. Maybe a question that needs answering, either by pg or by YC veterans (graduates?) is what additional purpose doesn't YC serve that it needs to?
mrtron 18y ago
I considered going to grad school or taking that money, time and effort and use it to start a company. It was a very easy choice given my current situation. What made it easier was some friends just finished grad school and now have an average job with slightly higher pay - that doesn't sound appealing.

38 points by thomasswift 18y ago

I think its more of an apprenticeship

pg 18y ago

It's certainly a better metaphor than boot camp. Though, interestingly, in this case the metaphor is accurate even to the misconceptions. This writer thinks that YC's most important role is as a gatekeeper. That's a common misconception about elite universities too. In fact the most valuable thing about going to one is what you learn there, and so it is with YC too, I think. One way to understand where YC's "center of gravity" is would be to measure how I spend my time. If YC's role was simply as a gatekeeper, my job would be done as soon as we'd done interviews to select each new group of startups. Boy would life be easy if that were so! In fact about 98% of the work is still ahead at that point. I tried to explain what we actually do here: http://www.paulgraham.com/ycombinator.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ycombinator.html

sdurkin 18y ago
"They could sing campfire songs in all the classes, as long as admissions still worked the same." (or something to that effect) I tend to believe that the most important part of a university is neither the learning, nor the signaling, but rather the networking. The introductions made through university connections tend to prove invaluable over time, and some of the alumns I've spoken with have the same view of YC.
- pg 18y ago
  In-context version: "It's no coincidence that startups start around universities, because that's where smart people meet. It's not what people learn in classes at MIT and Stanford that has made technology companies spring up around them. They could sing campfire songs in the classes so long as admissions worked the same." (http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html)
  - DaniFong 18y ago
    Don't forget that when you're given some prestigious charge, the human reaction is to try to do something with it. Much of the difference between hackers at MIT and elsewhere may be that at MIT, they're supposed to perform technical wizardry. Elsewhere, there are a lot of people who could do great things, but for some reason or another, don't.
    - furiouslol 18y ago
      Sorry. This was too funny to not post: Meeting someone from Harvard, they will undoubtedly display faux modesty and say something along the lines of, "Oh, I went to school in Boston." I imagine they want me to guess MIT, just so they can say "Harvard" proudly in response, but instead, I say something like, "Hmm. You really look like a Northeastern kind of guy. BU, maybe?" This puts them in their place, and they will scramble away, crying crimson tears all over the floor. More at http://www.radaronline.com/features/2008/07/leveraged_sellout_excerpt_investment_banking_princeton_harva-print.php http://www.radaronline.com/features/2008/07/leveraged_sellou...
    - sdurkin 18y ago
      To whom much is given, much is expected in return. For a lot of people, it certainly adds extra motivation.
      - ivankirigin 18y ago
        With Great Suit Comes Great Responsibility http://www.theonion.com/content/node/34279 http://www.theonion.com/content/node/34279
    - aswanson 18y ago
      I always wondered why Princeton does not produce more start ups...no shortage of riches or intelligence in that area. My guess is that the academic climate is centered around pure research...am I far off?
      - 18y ago
ivankirigin 18y ago
Another useful part of universities and YC both is what economists call signaling. Going to a good college sends a message to those looking for people who can compete at that level. Some contend that it is the most valuable part of college for the average person. The YC alums are a significantly under appreciated benefit of YC, though people understand why universities and their alumni networks are good.
Mystalic 18y ago
I don't disagree with you that the education's the most important part, especially to the person. The gatekeeping isn't the hard part, but don't underestimate how important it is to the function of a society. Without the university system, we'd probably collapse, even if it is somewhat inefficient. I was trying to bring more to light the trend in how VC is being conducted and get people thinking about how that will affect venture capitalists and especially entrepreneurs. The "gatekeepers" have a defining role in the direction societies take, especially in terms of development.
netcan 18y ago
I don't think it's fair to call it a misconception. It is a claim or maybe even an accusation. One that Universities are are commonly accused of. One that is being extended to YC. Universities might similarly defend against this claim by pointing to the resources spent on educating as opposed to filtering. But I don't think that this is necessarily a good defence. If anything, it points to an institution's internal priorities, not its value to potential students. It seems to me that if YC is consistently successful, it can't avoid becoming a filter in the eyes of investors. This would eventually come to affect applicants' perception. If YC increases a company's chance of attracting investors, this might become the motivation for participation. Investors listen to pitches or even invest because of YC's track record. Startups apply because of investors' perception. Similarly, University applicants often think along the lines of creating an impressive resume. This is partly because it is true (an Oxford degree is better at getting jobs then an unknown one) and partly because people tend to undervalue educational potential of things beforehand. Throw in the fact that top Universities get the power to choose the best applicants & it becomes difficult to tell if they are picking winners, creating them or just in control of some bottleneck. In any case, I think it's a point of interest.
- netcan 18y ago
  Some bait: http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/04/secretive-storage-company-dropbox-took-sequoia-funding-in-2007/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/09/04/secretive-storage-compa...

mattmaroon 18y ago

Well, it's better than American Idol at least.

josefresco 18y ago

YC is less like a university (where they teach building blocks) and more like a highly selective vocational school (where your skills are directly applied)

rokhayakebe 18y ago

YC does not look much like a University. Apart from the application process, there is not much to YC that you can find in traditional academia. YC looks like what a University should be. YC is a model that is constantly changing and ameliorating itself using what it learned in previous semester. At YC there are no professors. There are mentors. OMG. Imagine the amount of knowledge students would actually accumulate if they were taught from a young age to find solutions to problems and not take someone else's answer for it. By the time you get to university you have already developed a curious mind and if you were to use that for 6 years to challenge your own thoughts on any subject and seek your own answers, you will come to the work place with a hell of a ability. Mentors should be available when we need them or to frequently stop and take a look at what students work on and only only suggest how they can do better or how to look at problems in a better fashion YC tells you "Ok, so you want to be the solution to that problem, go ahead wow me". There is no A or B. There is only a continuous effort to fix the problem and after you fix it, keep improving the solution. YC is not like a University, but Universities (Heck the entire Schooling system) can learn from this model.

brentr 18y ago
If anything, from what I have read, it seems more like a university at the graduate level. You know of a problem, you have the tools to tackle the problem, but the solution is a big question mark. Your goal is to create a solution. In essence, you are doing original work.
- furiouslol 18y ago
  true but the diff is that with startups, if you tackle the problem well, you will be heavily rewarded
  - brentr 18y ago
    I don't deny this at all. That's the glory of capitalism! The problem I have is that I can't find a problem that I could do on the cheap legally. I'm heavily involved with finance and market data. I can think of numerous ways something like Bloomberg could be improved, but the costs are prohibitive when you consider all the data feeds. The only other idea I have managed to come up with is a Digg-like site with a social network aspect attached to it. The idea is people submit just like on Digg but they also make recommendations as to what would happen in the market. They then earn a credibility rating based on whether or not their prediction was accurate. The problem with that is this: I don't think there are enough people who would use it to make developing the site worth my time.

sfamiliar 18y ago

There's an additional component other than filtering that YC serves: it provides a pool of talent and experience that helps you out of jams, but without something like 'formal instruction'. The best features of a finishing school and guild (apprentice/journeyman/master) are represented. A community -- not so specialized as a technical or vocational school, but people who are likely to have common drives and purposes, and whose cross-disciplinary skills enhance the whole environment. Maybe a question that needs answering, either by pg or by YC veterans (graduates?) is what additional purpose doesn't YC serve that it needs to?

mrtron 18y ago

I considered going to grad school or taking that money, time and effort and use it to start a company. It was a very easy choice given my current situation. What made it easier was some friends just finished grad school and now have an average job with slightly higher pay - that doesn't sound appealing.