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It is unbelievably amazing that YC went from literally a gleam in jl's (and pg's) eye to something that is a clear leader in not only incubators but entrepreneu

by Jun8 15y ago

It is unbelievably amazing that YC went from literally a gleam in jl's (and pg's) eye to something that is a clear leader in not only incubators but entrepreneurial thought as well. A case of clearly superior vision getting its due. Such vision to success proportionality is not so common, I think.

bambax 15y ago
> Such vision to success proportionality is not so common, I think I'm not sure of what you mean, but I would argue that vision is everything, and that vision well executed has to bring success. When we say that execution is hard, we really mean that execution that implements a vision is hard. Execution without vision is really easy (it's entropy). Vision is harder, because it's not just an idea (a wish), but a deep insight into the future and how to get there. Those pictures of young YC remind me of Burano — an island next to Venice that stayed in a kind of "pristine" state: Venice before Venice.
- Jun8 15y ago
  You're somewhat right, vision is crucial. However, it is a necessary but not sufficient condition for success, that's what I meant. Classic (somewhat cliche) example is the early Xerox vision, but I see this everyday youthful energy and vision (and I'm not talking about myself :-) being squashed by various factors in large corporations. In startups the vision to success black box is simpler, but is by no means a linear relationship.
davidw 15y ago
> A case of clearly superior vision getting its due PG & Company have clearly done a "bang up job", as they say in the UK, but... is it genuinely a 'vision'? I don't know them and their plans well enough to say, but it seems that there is some hill climbing going on there too. "Of course what we decided to start was a lot less ambitious than YC is now."
- Jun8 15y ago
  I think the operational details naturally were arrived at by hill climbing (or descent), as you suggest. However, I suggest that you read pg's early essays, most of the basic vision that went into YC, the no-nonsense "make something that people want" approach is there. That's why YC was successful, if they didn't start from such an initial condition they would have been just another incubator and there are hundreds of them.

by Jun8 15y ago

bambax 15y ago

> Such vision to success proportionality is not so common, I think I'm not sure of what you mean, but I would argue that vision is everything, and that vision well executed has to bring success. When we say that execution is hard, we really mean that execution that implements a vision is hard. Execution without vision is really easy (it's entropy). Vision is harder, because it's not just an idea (a wish), but a deep insight into the future and how to get there. Those pictures of young YC remind me of Burano — an island next to Venice that stayed in a kind of "pristine" state: Venice before Venice.

Jun8 15y ago
You're somewhat right, vision is crucial. However, it is a necessary but not sufficient condition for success, that's what I meant. Classic (somewhat cliche) example is the early Xerox vision, but I see this everyday youthful energy and vision (and I'm not talking about myself :-) being squashed by various factors in large corporations. In startups the vision to success black box is simpler, but is by no means a linear relationship.

davidw 15y ago

> A case of clearly superior vision getting its due PG & Company have clearly done a "bang up job", as they say in the UK, but... is it genuinely a 'vision'? I don't know them and their plans well enough to say, but it seems that there is some hill climbing going on there too. "Of course what we decided to start was a lot less ambitious than YC is now."

Jun8 15y ago
I think the operational details naturally were arrived at by hill climbing (or descent), as you suggest. However, I suggest that you read pg's early essays, most of the basic vision that went into YC, the no-nonsense "make something that people want" approach is there. That's why YC was successful, if they didn't start from such an initial condition they would have been just another incubator and there are hundreds of them.