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This was a surprisingly bad essay (and I generally enjoy PG’s essays). It claims to be about “what PG has learned from YC users (startup founders)”, but basical

by yashap 4y ago

This was a surprisingly bad essay (and I generally enjoy PG’s essays). It claims to be about “what PG has learned from YC users (startup founders)”, but basically just says “founders are wrong, YC is amazing,” then descends into a YC elevator pitch. There’s really nothing concrete about what he’s learned from users, other than “they have similar problems” (with zero information about what those problems are) and “they’re wrong about what’s important for their businesses” (again with zero details). If anything, this reads like an essay of someone who aggressively DOESN’T listen to his users.

zigman1 4y ago
Glad I'm not the only one.
brk 4y ago
I don't entirely disagree, but I think the takeaway is that the right path is not always intuitive, experience matters, and that it is hard for founders to trust advisors at times. This one probably could have been 50% shorter, which would make it 200% more effective in communicating the message. PG needs an editor :)
PaulHoule 4y ago
My take was the opposite. Here he is talking about something he knows something about which isn't always the case.
metadat 4y ago
Life is a journey. I remember when I first encountered and read one of Paul's essays circa 2012. They were like a breath of fresh air! The clever, apparently data-driven analysis and freely imparted wisdom, wow. His writing came across as so intelligent and I concluded he must be a nice and decent person - just like me, maybe even a better version. For a twenty-something who'd already worked at a slew of startups, the essays contained some useful advice for life. Then over the years, over time, something changed. What used to read and be interpreted in a way I deemed "correct" now comes across as arrogant, elitist, dismissive, and overly broad. I no longer find the essays informative. It's kind of like the Polar Express holiday story; the bell no longer rings for me. https://polarexpress.fandom.com/wiki/Silver_bell https://polarexpress.fandom.com/wiki/Silver_bell Paul, thank you for inspiring me, your writing helped me in my twenties. Sometimes things were right for a certain period of time and then inevitably become dated as new wisdom and revelations unfold and the landscape changes.
- metacritic12 4y ago
  Interestingly, I found his essays in the early 2000s, and thought the same about it back then, when I was a teenager. Part of it is that pg's essays are inspiration-porn adjacent, and I think teens and twenties have the highest affinity for such items. Part of it is that pg used to be able to comment on anything he wanted to in society freely. His followers were all fans and bought into his style of thinking. There were no haters because pg wasn't sufficiently famous for them to score points by dunking on him. It's a shame he's achieved such silencing status. I wish he could post his deeper thoughts and observations under one or more pen names.
- majani 4y ago
  I've gone through the same process with pg's essays. Might be the fact that I've come to realize that the reality of the Silicon Valley VC scene is so far removed from the rest of the world that I need to take any advice coming from there with a pinch of salt. Also might just be me growing bored of someone ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

by yashap 4y ago

zigman1 4y ago

Glad I'm not the only one.

brk 4y ago

I don't entirely disagree, but I think the takeaway is that the right path is not always intuitive, experience matters, and that it is hard for founders to trust advisors at times. This one probably could have been 50% shorter, which would make it 200% more effective in communicating the message. PG needs an editor :)

PaulHoule 4y ago

My take was the opposite. Here he is talking about something he knows something about which isn't always the case.

metadat 4y ago

Life is a journey. I remember when I first encountered and read one of Paul's essays circa 2012. They were like a breath of fresh air! The clever, apparently data-driven analysis and freely imparted wisdom, wow. His writing came across as so intelligent and I concluded he must be a nice and decent person - just like me, maybe even a better version. For a twenty-something who'd already worked at a slew of startups, the essays contained some useful advice for life. Then over the years, over time, something changed. What used to read and be interpreted in a way I deemed "correct" now comes across as arrogant, elitist, dismissive, and overly broad. I no longer find the essays informative. It's kind of like the Polar Express holiday story; the bell no longer rings for me. https://polarexpress.fandom.com/wiki/Silver_bell https://polarexpress.fandom.com/wiki/Silver_bell Paul, thank you for inspiring me, your writing helped me in my twenties. Sometimes things were right for a certain period of time and then inevitably become dated as new wisdom and revelations unfold and the landscape changes.

metacritic12 4y ago
Interestingly, I found his essays in the early 2000s, and thought the same about it back then, when I was a teenager. Part of it is that pg's essays are inspiration-porn adjacent, and I think teens and twenties have the highest affinity for such items. Part of it is that pg used to be able to comment on anything he wanted to in society freely. His followers were all fans and bought into his style of thinking. There were no haters because pg wasn't sufficiently famous for them to score points by dunking on him. It's a shame he's achieved such silencing status. I wish he could post his deeper thoughts and observations under one or more pen names.
majani 4y ago
I've gone through the same process with pg's essays. Might be the fact that I've come to realize that the reality of the Silicon Valley VC scene is so far removed from the rest of the world that I need to take any advice coming from there with a pinch of salt. Also might just be me growing bored of someone ¯\_(ツ)_/¯