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note: typing on a smart.phone sucks balls. ha ha! I knew you would have commented on this article and tried to debase it even before I opened the comment secti

note: typing on a smart.phone sucks balls. ha ha! I knew you would have commented on this article and tried to debase it even before I opened the comment section! it seems to me that the entire business of YC relies on there being a market for the exact type of start ups that this article describes as a waste of human talent. It is in your (pg's) best interest to kill this article because if there is a bubble, and it pops, YC will be a major loser. Your credibility would be destroyed because YC would be seen as a primary finder of companies.that.have no long term.value. . YC needs a liquid market of shitty start ups to get vc funding in order to function. I'm sure you are aware that even the tinyest hint of.trouble.can pop bubbles, which is.why you purged this.article. I laughed at your decision to kill the article for a couple of reasons. first, this means that you are aware of the bubble and also aware that in order to prevent new companies from being discouraged from applying to YC you need a zero tolerance policy on even the hint of it showing its ugly head. by banning this article you have confirmed to me that there is a bubble and it is about ready to pop. second, this says a lot about your character and your priorities as a person. you are ok with draconian anti free flow of information banning if an idea goes against your personal interests. for.someone who funds tech start ups, you seem.to.have forgotten.how.the internet works. the Truth will get out. supposedly the voting system.of.hackernews should have prevented a false idea from.getting.to.the front page. if this idea was truly as false as you say it is in your reasons to ban it, it never would have been upvoted. and yet you had to ban it. third, this means that you truly don't give a shit about the.companies or the people that you fund. you know that it the.bubble.is.close.to.popping and.that.it may not be in their best long term interests to apply to YC, but you want their talent anyways so you can profit, so you continue.to cultivate the idea that their stupid business idea is not a problem as.long.as.they pivot.enough.times to.find a similiar, slightly less stupid idea to try to sell to Google or.whoever. I've been thinking about it for a while, but your response to this.article has confirmed.to.me that I will.never apply to YC. You are not a person who I would want to take advice.from, let alone have any say over.my.life. or how I run my business. I wish you luck, though, and I hope.you can continue to find enough chumps.to.apply to.YC so you can continue.to.fund hackernews.and I can read interesting articles.for.free... so thanks.for.that, anyways. edit: I know you (pg) won't respond, and I know you will probably shadow ban my account, and I know this comment will be downvoted into oblivion. I also know that you, pg, will read.it and know that I see through your bullshit. and if I can see it, so can others.

pg 14y ago
When formulating this elaborate theory, did you stop to ask yourself why it would be in our interest to fund shitty startups when all the returns are concentrated in the most successful ones?
- bovik 14y ago
  If you're actually willing to engage in this discussion, then here's your answer. YC and (other "incubators" like it) are basically opportunistically exploiting cheap/free labor of thousands of naive (mostly) young developers to play the lotto on the cheap. You throw in a laughably small amount of money for a good chunk of equity, encourage your young charges to go forth on a steady diet of ramen noodles and ketchup -- burning through 100 hour weeks to experiment with 100's of different(mostly bullshit) trendy catchwords of the day.You only need to get lucky to be able to flip a few of these companies to the next level of VC's or acquirers to make back your money multiple times over. Rest of the blood, sweat, lost sleep and trashed health of the thousand of other fools that failed is no sweat off your back. Care to publish aggregate statistics on the percentage of yc backed startups became profitable businesses compared to rest of the industry? EDIT: Apparently I was mistaken. He's not actually looking to engage in a real discussion of yc's business model.
  - ryanx435 14y ago
    you will probably be interested in this article that appeared ok Forbes awhile ago, entrepreneurs are the new labor: www.forbes.com/sites/venkateshrao/2012/09/03/entrepreneurs-are-the-new-labor-part-i/ its a long read, but worth it. it basically covers and expounded.upon the ideas you presented in your comment, that the incubators are exploiting the entrepreneurs
    - bovik 14y ago
      Just read Parts I and II of that article. Really interesting perspective. I've been talking to some recent YC "grads" in the valley and the amount of brainwashing they seem to have undergone is just shocking. And yet, so many more keep flocking to them year after year like lambs to the slaughter. Amazing.

pg 14y ago

When formulating this elaborate theory, did you stop to ask yourself why it would be in our interest to fund shitty startups when all the returns are concentrated in the most successful ones?

bovik 14y ago
If you're actually willing to engage in this discussion, then here's your answer. YC and (other "incubators" like it) are basically opportunistically exploiting cheap/free labor of thousands of naive (mostly) young developers to play the lotto on the cheap. You throw in a laughably small amount of money for a good chunk of equity, encourage your young charges to go forth on a steady diet of ramen noodles and ketchup -- burning through 100 hour weeks to experiment with 100's of different(mostly bullshit) trendy catchwords of the day.You only need to get lucky to be able to flip a few of these companies to the next level of VC's or acquirers to make back your money multiple times over. Rest of the blood, sweat, lost sleep and trashed health of the thousand of other fools that failed is no sweat off your back. Care to publish aggregate statistics on the percentage of yc backed startups became profitable businesses compared to rest of the industry? EDIT: Apparently I was mistaken. He's not actually looking to engage in a real discussion of yc's business model.
- ryanx435 14y ago
  you will probably be interested in this article that appeared ok Forbes awhile ago, entrepreneurs are the new labor: www.forbes.com/sites/venkateshrao/2012/09/03/entrepreneurs-are-the-new-labor-part-i/ its a long read, but worth it. it basically covers and expounded.upon the ideas you presented in your comment, that the incubators are exploiting the entrepreneurs
  - bovik 14y ago
    Just read Parts I and II of that article. Really interesting perspective. I've been talking to some recent YC "grads" in the valley and the amount of brainwashing they seem to have undergone is just shocking. And yet, so many more keep flocking to them year after year like lambs to the slaughter. Amazing.