5 ms·

How did you meet your YC app team?

20 points by deltapoint 19y ago

College? Prior collaborations? Pure randomness?

rms 19y ago
Went to college with one partner, went to high school with another, another was a roommate of someone I went to college with.
shadowplay 19y ago
Lobotomy. Now the conversations are much more interesting.
jamiequint 19y ago
Facebook Groups
- deltapoint 19y ago
  Which Facebook group? Is there some special for entrepreneurs/hackers?
  - rms 19y ago
    The biggest one and a good starting point is probably "Web 2.0 (Entrepreneurs)". http://pitt.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2208499259 http://pitt.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2208499259
    - sbraford 19y ago
      the problem seems to be that so many entrepreneurs are already dead set on an idea. unless you find the exact entrepreneur looking to do the exact same thing, you're screwed. i've tried hackrmatchr, etc. it's all guys who have a startup already and want you to work on it... not guys who are open to coming up with something together.
nextmoveone 19y ago
Elementary School, and then High School.
dmpayton 19y ago
One partner is my best bud from high school, the other is my wife (who I also met in high school). Perhaps someone can answer this for me: Would the wife-as-a-partner thing have a negative impact on our chances at YC?
- bootload 19y ago
  "... Would the wife-as-a-partner thing have a negative impact on our chances at YC? ..." Well it sort of depends on the makeup of the team. Imagine your on the Starship Enterprise and you have to beam down to an unknown planet. Who do you want on your team? Well you want Kirk, probably a science officer (Spock) maybe the medical officer (Bones McCoy) , possibly the Coms officer (Uhura) and a maybe a RedShirt to get blasted away if you come across some real nasty situation. [0] So lets assume you are Kirk. The leader, human in touch with his emotions instincts and has the ability to make decisions but passionate and aggressive. Lets assume your other partner is Spock. Total nerd. At best unable to read human nuance, emotion at worst totally miss the poker move Kirk thinks up to save the day. At best he/she coolly out-logics the best Roumlan, Klingon or Borg enemies they face. Then there is Bones. Bones is also all empathy, human and the thinking conscience always trying to get out of sticky situations with the least harm. [1] For each episode all three at some times came into conflict to resolve a difficult situation. Sometimes it was Spock and Bones butting heads over the most direct decision compared to the decision that caused least harm. Another time it's Spock advising Kirk not to take such rash action as trying to remove all the Tribbles as they do sooth the crew and saved the day as in "The Trouble with Tribbles" [2] I guess what I'm trying to say is your wife may have the latent skills you need in your team that has to be identified. Identify her character skills. Is it all logical and calm like Spock? Passionate, rash and gambler and decision maker like Kirk? Or is she able to read into people and situations that baffle both Kirk and Spock as Bones can? You need all three character types to succeed in any Starship (I mean startup) adventure, and YC interviews can also be included. Each personality contribute to produce a successful outcome. Choose the wrong combo and you'll be just another RedShirt in the application process. PS My experience is that if you can determine this you can work to plug the gaps. Not all people are creators interested in building. But they may be logical analytical and empathetic at the same time. [0] You can substitute these "old-skool" trekky characters with NexGen Pikard for Kirk, Warf/Data for Spock and maybe Troi for Bones ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trouble_with_Tribbles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trouble_with_Tribbles
myoung8 19y ago
He's my roomate in college.
Harj 19y ago
our mothers introduced us. he's my cousin.
SwellJoe 19y ago
I used to hire him to work on software projects for my previous company (and we worked on Webmin together--him doing the hard work, me complaining a lot). He was the best developer I ever worked with, and after seven years, I finally figured out the smartest thing was to partner up and start something new with him.
danielha 19y ago
We made a website together in 7th grade. It was a different website than now, though.
luxiou 19y ago
I followed him around and healed him in WoW.
- Alex3917 19y ago
  Don't take this the wrong way, but you'd make an awesome girlfriend. :-)
  - alaskamiller 19y ago
    wait... is he a girl?
    - Alex3917 19y ago
      Not as far as I know.
edawerd 19y ago
Coworker.
rkabir 19y ago
Buddy from college. We hung out enough so that my ambition rubbed off on him, and his positive spirit and good humor rubbed off on me. We've also pulled a good many late nights together working. I don't think you can truly know someone until you've been sleep deprived together.
anson 19y ago
He'd follow me around and heal me in WoW.
- blored 19y ago
  Awkward.
dhouston 19y ago
via a mutual friend at MIT who was also a yc founder. we lucked out in that it turned out to be a good fit.
nostrademons 19y ago
Lived across the hall in college.

20 points by deltapoint 19y ago

College? Prior collaborations? Pure randomness?

rms 19y ago

Went to college with one partner, went to high school with another, another was a roommate of someone I went to college with.

shadowplay 19y ago

Lobotomy. Now the conversations are much more interesting.

jamiequint 19y ago

Facebook Groups

deltapoint 19y ago
Which Facebook group? Is there some special for entrepreneurs/hackers?
- rms 19y ago
  The biggest one and a good starting point is probably "Web 2.0 (Entrepreneurs)". http://pitt.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2208499259 http://pitt.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2208499259
  - sbraford 19y ago
    the problem seems to be that so many entrepreneurs are already dead set on an idea. unless you find the exact entrepreneur looking to do the exact same thing, you're screwed. i've tried hackrmatchr, etc. it's all guys who have a startup already and want you to work on it... not guys who are open to coming up with something together.

nextmoveone 19y ago

Elementary School, and then High School.

dmpayton 19y ago

One partner is my best bud from high school, the other is my wife (who I also met in high school). Perhaps someone can answer this for me: Would the wife-as-a-partner thing have a negative impact on our chances at YC?

bootload 19y ago
"... Would the wife-as-a-partner thing have a negative impact on our chances at YC? ..." Well it sort of depends on the makeup of the team. Imagine your on the Starship Enterprise and you have to beam down to an unknown planet. Who do you want on your team? Well you want Kirk, probably a science officer (Spock) maybe the medical officer (Bones McCoy) , possibly the Coms officer (Uhura) and a maybe a RedShirt to get blasted away if you come across some real nasty situation. [0] So lets assume you are Kirk. The leader, human in touch with his emotions instincts and has the ability to make decisions but passionate and aggressive. Lets assume your other partner is Spock. Total nerd. At best unable to read human nuance, emotion at worst totally miss the poker move Kirk thinks up to save the day. At best he/she coolly out-logics the best Roumlan, Klingon or Borg enemies they face. Then there is Bones. Bones is also all empathy, human and the thinking conscience always trying to get out of sticky situations with the least harm. [1] For each episode all three at some times came into conflict to resolve a difficult situation. Sometimes it was Spock and Bones butting heads over the most direct decision compared to the decision that caused least harm. Another time it's Spock advising Kirk not to take such rash action as trying to remove all the Tribbles as they do sooth the crew and saved the day as in "The Trouble with Tribbles" [2] I guess what I'm trying to say is your wife may have the latent skills you need in your team that has to be identified. Identify her character skills. Is it all logical and calm like Spock? Passionate, rash and gambler and decision maker like Kirk? Or is she able to read into people and situations that baffle both Kirk and Spock as Bones can? You need all three character types to succeed in any Starship (I mean startup) adventure, and YC interviews can also be included. Each personality contribute to produce a successful outcome. Choose the wrong combo and you'll be just another RedShirt in the application process. PS My experience is that if you can determine this you can work to plug the gaps. Not all people are creators interested in building. But they may be logical analytical and empathetic at the same time. [0] You can substitute these "old-skool" trekky characters with NexGen Pikard for Kirk, Warf/Data for Spock and maybe Troi for Bones ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trouble_with_Tribbles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trouble_with_Tribbles

myoung8 19y ago

He's my roomate in college.

Harj 19y ago

our mothers introduced us. he's my cousin.

SwellJoe 19y ago

I used to hire him to work on software projects for my previous company (and we worked on Webmin together--him doing the hard work, me complaining a lot). He was the best developer I ever worked with, and after seven years, I finally figured out the smartest thing was to partner up and start something new with him.

danielha 19y ago

We made a website together in 7th grade. It was a different website than now, though.

luxiou 19y ago

I followed him around and healed him in WoW.

Alex3917 19y ago
Don't take this the wrong way, but you'd make an awesome girlfriend. :-)
- alaskamiller 19y ago
  wait... is he a girl?
  - Alex3917 19y ago
    Not as far as I know.

edawerd 19y ago

Coworker.

rkabir 19y ago

Buddy from college. We hung out enough so that my ambition rubbed off on him, and his positive spirit and good humor rubbed off on me. We've also pulled a good many late nights together working. I don't think you can truly know someone until you've been sleep deprived together.

anson 19y ago

He'd follow me around and heal me in WoW.

blored 19y ago
Awkward.

dhouston 19y ago

via a mutual friend at MIT who was also a yc founder. we lucked out in that it turned out to be a good fit.

nostrademons 19y ago

Lived across the hall in college.