I would like to add that if you read the first link in the article, I admit to serious mistakes. I'm not posting this to paint a rosy picture of what happened.

I would like to add that if you read the first link in the article, I admit to serious mistakes. I'm not posting this to paint a rosy picture of what happened.. it sucked. In fact, that's why me and Patrick agreed to post this... it was a learning experience to all involved. I was a student my whole life until this startup, and I admit to naiveté, but not maliciousness. And though I didn't intend to, I made terrible mistakes that affected the lives of others, especially the interns. At the same time, I saw an opportunity to meet and work with on equal terms with young and talented hackers and undergrads (which was my comfort zone as a graduate student). I was lucky to get into YC (who isn't) and saw an chance to share this luck with others. I was told time and time again by my co-founders that productivity would suffer, especially since we didn't have a solid idea yet, but I thought that the extra energy would help us get to that state in spite of slowed productivity. For purely selfish reasons, I also anticipated that this would make my own summer more enjoyable.