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This incompetence excuse puts YC in a bad spotlight too, because it makes them look like they are funding people with exact zero software development experience

This incompetence excuse puts YC in a bad spotlight too, because it makes them look like they are funding people with exact zero software development experience.

pghatedphones 1y ago
Isn't YC supposed to offer guidance and sage advice, not just be a cash machine for naive young developers?
- thiht 1y ago
  They're also supposed to do their due diligence before investing.
  - ignoramous 1y ago
    Paul Graham once wrote that startups are pretty hard to game unlike academia for top grades or a big company for promotions. In a twist of fate, YC itself seems to be gamed like those broken companies. So this is the third counterintuitive thing to remember about startups: starting a startup is where gaming the system stops working. Gaming the system may continue to work if you go to work for a big company. Depending on how broken the company is, you can succeed by sucking up to the right people, giving the impression of productivity, and so on. https://www.paulgraham.com/before.html https://www.paulgraham.com/before.html / https://archive.vn/UKky8 https://archive.vn/UKky8
    - jltsiren 1y ago
      When you institutionalize an ad hoc process, you turn it into a system that can be gamed. YC did that for startups, and it was already pretty obvious in 2014 when Paul Graham wrote that essay. Every other government was claiming to support startups and that their corner of the world would become the next Silicon Valley.
- wordofx 1y ago
  No. YC just throws money at the wall and sees what sticks. They fund some trash, and trash people.
miki123211 1y ago
TBH, I know plenty of people with software development experience, who I think are genuinely pretty good at converting ideas to code, but who wouldn't have any idea what Apache or GPL mean.
- whilenot-dev 1y ago
  Every init-command requires you to define or at least review a license for your project, so I would refrain from calling that one "software development experience".
aleph_minus_one 1y ago
> because it makes them look like they are funding people with exact zero software development experience. Being a great software developer does not make you a lawyer (not even a bad lawyer).
- d1sxeyes 1y ago
  Forking an open source repo and claiming you built something in 4 days does not make you a great software developer either though.
  - aleph_minus_one 1y ago
    > claiming you built something in 4 days That is why when such a marketing claim comes up, the first question to ask is from which base they built the respective product in 4 days, and which kind of additional value the respective company added during this process.
- senko 1y ago
  You don't need to be a lawyer to understand you can't just copy others' IP without checking if you're allowed to. By your argument, I can just torrent moviez and appz because I'm not a lawyer and can't be bothered with minutae of copyright law.
  - aleph_minus_one 1y ago
    > By your argument, I can just torrent movies and appz becuase I'm not a lawyer and can't be bothered with minutae of copyright law. Indeed, there exist people who argue that in many areas law has become so complicated and unclear what is allowed or not that you cannot thus expect from ordinary citizens to obey the laws anymore - even if these citizens are willing to. Thus politicians do have an obligation to make the laws as clear, logical and comprehensible as possible, otherwise they loose their legitimization of expecting citizens to obey them.
    - senko 1y ago
askl 1y ago
Aren't VCs based on the principle of throwing money in as many directions as possible and hoping something turns out to be a unicorn?
- bpt3 1y ago
  That's what they do in practice, but not what they claim to do. This is what happens when you have people without sufficient domain experience making decisions.

This incompetence excuse puts YC in a bad spotlight too, because it makes them look like they are funding people with exact zero software development experience.

pghatedphones 1y ago

Isn't YC supposed to offer guidance and sage advice, not just be a cash machine for naive young developers?

thiht 1y ago
They're also supposed to do their due diligence before investing.
- ignoramous 1y ago
  Paul Graham once wrote that startups are pretty hard to game unlike academia for top grades or a big company for promotions. In a twist of fate, YC itself seems to be gamed like those broken companies. So this is the third counterintuitive thing to remember about startups: starting a startup is where gaming the system stops working. Gaming the system may continue to work if you go to work for a big company. Depending on how broken the company is, you can succeed by sucking up to the right people, giving the impression of productivity, and so on. https://www.paulgraham.com/before.html https://www.paulgraham.com/before.html / https://archive.vn/UKky8 https://archive.vn/UKky8
  - jltsiren 1y ago
    When you institutionalize an ad hoc process, you turn it into a system that can be gamed. YC did that for startups, and it was already pretty obvious in 2014 when Paul Graham wrote that essay. Every other government was claiming to support startups and that their corner of the world would become the next Silicon Valley.
wordofx 1y ago
No. YC just throws money at the wall and sees what sticks. They fund some trash, and trash people.

miki123211 1y ago

TBH, I know plenty of people with software development experience, who I think are genuinely pretty good at converting ideas to code, but who wouldn't have any idea what Apache or GPL mean.

whilenot-dev 1y ago
Every init-command requires you to define or at least review a license for your project, so I would refrain from calling that one "software development experience".

aleph_minus_one 1y ago

> because it makes them look like they are funding people with exact zero software development experience. Being a great software developer does not make you a lawyer (not even a bad lawyer).

d1sxeyes 1y ago
Forking an open source repo and claiming you built something in 4 days does not make you a great software developer either though.
- aleph_minus_one 1y ago
  > claiming you built something in 4 days That is why when such a marketing claim comes up, the first question to ask is from which base they built the respective product in 4 days, and which kind of additional value the respective company added during this process.
senko 1y ago
You don't need to be a lawyer to understand you can't just copy others' IP without checking if you're allowed to. By your argument, I can just torrent moviez and appz because I'm not a lawyer and can't be bothered with minutae of copyright law.
- aleph_minus_one 1y ago
  > By your argument, I can just torrent movies and appz becuase I'm not a lawyer and can't be bothered with minutae of copyright law. Indeed, there exist people who argue that in many areas law has become so complicated and unclear what is allowed or not that you cannot thus expect from ordinary citizens to obey the laws anymore - even if these citizens are willing to. Thus politicians do have an obligation to make the laws as clear, logical and comprehensible as possible, otherwise they loose their legitimization of expecting citizens to obey them.
  - senko 1y ago

askl 1y ago

Aren't VCs based on the principle of throwing money in as many directions as possible and hoping something turns out to be a unicorn?

bpt3 1y ago
That's what they do in practice, but not what they claim to do. This is what happens when you have people without sufficient domain experience making decisions.