8 ms·

Welcome Kevin, Michael, Steve, Dalton, and Andrew

argonaut 13y ago
This might explain why Andrew is on the team: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5311724 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5311724
aaronblohowiak 13y ago
>and till recently "and 'til recently" or "and until recently"
- tokenadult 13y ago
  Incorrect. The word "till" is perfectly fine English. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/till http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/till
AmericanOP 13y ago
Pretty cool. I wonder what the startup pantheon will achieve as it matures.
nedwin 13y ago
An all star cast. Particularly good to see another designer and to have someone with IPO experience.
dougzor 13y ago
Having worked with Kevin for 2 years at SurveyMonkey, he'll make a great addition to YC, congrats Kevin!
hkmurakami 13y ago
I imagine many of us will want to bash on Andrew Mason but I've decided to take a contrary position. I had a negative flinch reaction towards seeing Andrew Mason's name, given the performance of Groupon over the last few years, but then I remembered that he was the one who got that low barrier to entry, commodity business to its previously enviable position in the first place. That kind of experience of ultra-rapid ramp up and sales will surely be valuable to more than a few YC companies. I don't agree with some of the things he did (ex: preferential exits for himself and other execs) but I wish him the best in his new role.
- nraynaud 13y ago
  I came to bash him, he should not be flung as an example for young people. His behavior was toxic. That he would get a second chance in a lowly job under tight supervision, and showing good behavior for a few years, yes. But here it's putting someone who cheated accounting to mis-represent the value of his company to investors directly advising decision-makers. He also let his sales people lie to customer businesses. It's not even about what he does or says anymore (for a while, time will pass), it's about flinging a guy who struck it rich by cheating in front of aspiring entrepreneurs. He could repeat "don't cheat" as much as he wants, his position is the single proof that cheating works, it's more powerful that words. here is an explanation of the accounting thing: http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2012/08/14/memo-to-sec-end-groupons-shady-accounting/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2012/08/14/memo-to-se...
  - SurfScore 13y ago
    Marc Andreessen explained the use of those metrics on Rap Genius: “As someone who was in the room as an observer at the Groupon board when the decision to use these metrics was made, I think Groupon was honestly trying to provide additional information that investors would find useful, which mirrored the way management thought about running the business. However, no good deed goes unpunished, and widespread media paranoia about business metrics still lingering from the 2000 dot com crash combined with other missteps on Groupon’s part combined to make the use of those non-standard metrics highly controversial and ultimately negative for the company.”
    - nraynaud 13y ago
      They could have added them on the side. But they where trying to tap public markets and avoid revealing the operating costs at the same time. Going to Wall Street is optional, but going there is a huge commitment and those bankers act in a very predictable manner.
    - jgalt212 13y ago
      Andreessen is full of crap here. Plain and simple. These metrics were more about deception than perception. Mind you these comments came from the same guy who called for an end to "Bullshit Metrics." MA has no credibility. http://allthingsd.com/20121217/andreessen-and-mixpanel-call-for-an-end-to-bullshit-metrics/ http://allthingsd.com/20121217/andreessen-and-mixpanel-call-...
ableal 13y ago
Hosted at https://posthaven.com/ https://posthaven.com/ "Simple, easy blogs for $5 a month, forever." Interesting.
- jackowayed 13y ago
  Their blog had been on Posterous. Posterous shut down. One of their partners made Posthaven to replace Posterous and to never shut down. Not a shocking choice.
mehuln 13y ago
Congrats to all, and especially, Michael who rocks!
- mwseibel 13y ago
  thanks!
bryanh 13y ago
Kevin is an investor in Zapier and we've got to say he has been outstandingly awesome. Before committing he came over to our place and hung out with us (and didn't bat an eye when my dog Tuna tried to pull off his socks multiple times, how embarrassing!). It's wonderful that he shares some of what made Wufoo great (still one of the many startups we look up to). He has a really sharp eye for product and a unique counter-view to the "raise a load of money, it's the only way" sort of thinking the valley sometimes promotes. A great addition for sure. Congrats to YC, Kevin, Michael, Steve, Dalton, and Andrew.
orangethirty 13y ago
I wonder how this will impact App.net. Any commentary on that?
- dalton 13y ago
  It doesn't change anything from my perspective, that is the idea behind part-time vs. full-time. The other part-time partners all have fulltime jobs as well.
  - orangethirty 13y ago
    Good. I'd say it should help. Not that you need it, but all counts. (: Good luck with YC. I've always seen you as a stand up guy, after that episode with FB wanting to buy you out and you declining. Takes character to do that. Something rarely seen in SV.
keiferski 13y ago
Just curious (and feel free not to answer due to privacy concerns), but does "partner" imply an ownership stake in YC, a la a law firm partner?
- pg 13y ago
  In our case yes.
rdl 13y ago
Wow, congratulations on all of this to everyone (Harj leaving is kind of a surprise, he's awesome).
greattypo 13y ago
Awesome. Andrew Mason built an impressive 5,000+ person sales force from 0-60 in a matter of years – something very few people have ever done. I'm hoping he brings this experience to YC so sales-heavy YC companies with similar growing pains can benefit from his experience.
- evgen 13y ago
  Absolutely. YC needs someone with deeper experience in cheating investors and walking away with a pile of cash. Anyone who can sell something as obviously close to a Ponzi scheme as Groupon was and cash out before the music stops will add a new set of skills to the YC team that was previously lacking.
reaclmbs 13y ago
Congrats to all! Well done.
kyro 13y ago
pg, was there anything in particular about these 4 individuals' video submissions that gave them an edge over other applicants?
cshesse 13y ago
Wow, is Steve Huffman the coolest guy ever?
- the_economist 13y ago
  He is definitely in the top 10.
6thSigma 13y ago
Harj was very active on Quora, Twitter, and other sites answering YC-related (as well as general startup) questions, so I hope some other YC partners step up and fill that role with him leaving. On that note, thank you Harj and good luck! And congratulations to the new full and part-time YC partners!
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
reaclmbs 13y ago
Many in this thread have failed to consider these facts: Groupon is no longer the same company it was 4 years ago; you might be biased by being anchored to a $20 IPO price, which you should actually blame on the investment "banksters"; thousands of merchants are grateful for the relationship they have with the company; at least one YCombinator company has been purchased by Groupon. I bought Groupon in after hours on this announcement and I am proud to post my trade publicly.
irollboozers 13y ago
Qasar Younis is not getting the recognition he deserves, really sharp guy who will add a lot to future YC companies. Overall, congrats to all involved.
bifrost 13y ago
Dalton (and a few other really awesome people) made of my favorite app! In fact its what initiated my transition from "just a phone" to a "smartphone", that app was PicPlz. I look forward to Dalton's vision for YC.
jacquesm 13y ago
One of these days YC will launch their late stage fund financed through one or two successful exits and IPO's. That will re-define the VC market as much as YC has changed the world for start-ups and seed capital. Harj leaving is at least as important as the five new entrants, I'm very curious what he's going to do next. Andrew Mason is a pretty brave pick given the amount of backlash that could create, ethical choices aside he's a smart fellow, there are probably far more people in the start-up scene that would be happy to work with him than there are that would rather stay clear. His farewell note was a class act and sketched the man in a different light for me, but still does not detract from fundamental issues in the groupon model. YC is making bigger and bigger strides, wished I had a better crystal ball :)
6ren 13y ago
How long til you guys found a new company, that creates y-combinators?

This might explain why Andrew is on the team: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5311724 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5311724

aaronblohowiak 13y ago

>and till recently "and 'til recently" or "and until recently"

tokenadult 13y ago
Incorrect. The word "till" is perfectly fine English. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/till http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/till

AmericanOP 13y ago

Pretty cool. I wonder what the startup pantheon will achieve as it matures.

nedwin 13y ago

An all star cast. Particularly good to see another designer and to have someone with IPO experience.

dougzor 13y ago

Having worked with Kevin for 2 years at SurveyMonkey, he'll make a great addition to YC, congrats Kevin!

hkmurakami 13y ago

I imagine many of us will want to bash on Andrew Mason but I've decided to take a contrary position. I had a negative flinch reaction towards seeing Andrew Mason's name, given the performance of Groupon over the last few years, but then I remembered that he was the one who got that low barrier to entry, commodity business to its previously enviable position in the first place. That kind of experience of ultra-rapid ramp up and sales will surely be valuable to more than a few YC companies. I don't agree with some of the things he did (ex: preferential exits for himself and other execs) but I wish him the best in his new role.

nraynaud 13y ago
I came to bash him, he should not be flung as an example for young people. His behavior was toxic. That he would get a second chance in a lowly job under tight supervision, and showing good behavior for a few years, yes. But here it's putting someone who cheated accounting to mis-represent the value of his company to investors directly advising decision-makers. He also let his sales people lie to customer businesses. It's not even about what he does or says anymore (for a while, time will pass), it's about flinging a guy who struck it rich by cheating in front of aspiring entrepreneurs. He could repeat "don't cheat" as much as he wants, his position is the single proof that cheating works, it's more powerful that words. here is an explanation of the accounting thing: http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2012/08/14/memo-to-sec-end-groupons-shady-accounting/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2012/08/14/memo-to-se...
- SurfScore 13y ago
  Marc Andreessen explained the use of those metrics on Rap Genius: “As someone who was in the room as an observer at the Groupon board when the decision to use these metrics was made, I think Groupon was honestly trying to provide additional information that investors would find useful, which mirrored the way management thought about running the business. However, no good deed goes unpunished, and widespread media paranoia about business metrics still lingering from the 2000 dot com crash combined with other missteps on Groupon’s part combined to make the use of those non-standard metrics highly controversial and ultimately negative for the company.”
  - nraynaud 13y ago
    They could have added them on the side. But they where trying to tap public markets and avoid revealing the operating costs at the same time. Going to Wall Street is optional, but going there is a huge commitment and those bankers act in a very predictable manner.
  - jgalt212 13y ago
    Andreessen is full of crap here. Plain and simple. These metrics were more about deception than perception. Mind you these comments came from the same guy who called for an end to "Bullshit Metrics." MA has no credibility. http://allthingsd.com/20121217/andreessen-and-mixpanel-call-for-an-end-to-bullshit-metrics/ http://allthingsd.com/20121217/andreessen-and-mixpanel-call-...

ableal 13y ago

Hosted at https://posthaven.com/ https://posthaven.com/ "Simple, easy blogs for $5 a month, forever." Interesting.

jackowayed 13y ago
Their blog had been on Posterous. Posterous shut down. One of their partners made Posthaven to replace Posterous and to never shut down. Not a shocking choice.

mehuln 13y ago

Congrats to all, and especially, Michael who rocks!

mwseibel 13y ago
thanks!

bryanh 13y ago

Kevin is an investor in Zapier and we've got to say he has been outstandingly awesome. Before committing he came over to our place and hung out with us (and didn't bat an eye when my dog Tuna tried to pull off his socks multiple times, how embarrassing!). It's wonderful that he shares some of what made Wufoo great (still one of the many startups we look up to). He has a really sharp eye for product and a unique counter-view to the "raise a load of money, it's the only way" sort of thinking the valley sometimes promotes. A great addition for sure. Congrats to YC, Kevin, Michael, Steve, Dalton, and Andrew.

orangethirty 13y ago

I wonder how this will impact App.net. Any commentary on that?

dalton 13y ago
It doesn't change anything from my perspective, that is the idea behind part-time vs. full-time. The other part-time partners all have fulltime jobs as well.
- orangethirty 13y ago
  Good. I'd say it should help. Not that you need it, but all counts. (: Good luck with YC. I've always seen you as a stand up guy, after that episode with FB wanting to buy you out and you declining. Takes character to do that. Something rarely seen in SV.

keiferski 13y ago

Just curious (and feel free not to answer due to privacy concerns), but does "partner" imply an ownership stake in YC, a la a law firm partner?

pg 13y ago
In our case yes.

rdl 13y ago

Wow, congratulations on all of this to everyone (Harj leaving is kind of a surprise, he's awesome).

greattypo 13y ago

Awesome. Andrew Mason built an impressive 5,000+ person sales force from 0-60 in a matter of years – something very few people have ever done. I'm hoping he brings this experience to YC so sales-heavy YC companies with similar growing pains can benefit from his experience.

evgen 13y ago
Absolutely. YC needs someone with deeper experience in cheating investors and walking away with a pile of cash. Anyone who can sell something as obviously close to a Ponzi scheme as Groupon was and cash out before the music stops will add a new set of skills to the YC team that was previously lacking.

reaclmbs 13y ago

Congrats to all! Well done.

kyro 13y ago

pg, was there anything in particular about these 4 individuals' video submissions that gave them an edge over other applicants?

cshesse 13y ago

Wow, is Steve Huffman the coolest guy ever?

the_economist 13y ago
He is definitely in the top 10.

6thSigma 13y ago

Harj was very active on Quora, Twitter, and other sites answering YC-related (as well as general startup) questions, so I hope some other YC partners step up and fill that role with him leaving. On that note, thank you Harj and good luck! And congratulations to the new full and part-time YC partners!

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

reaclmbs 13y ago

Many in this thread have failed to consider these facts: Groupon is no longer the same company it was 4 years ago; you might be biased by being anchored to a $20 IPO price, which you should actually blame on the investment "banksters"; thousands of merchants are grateful for the relationship they have with the company; at least one YCombinator company has been purchased by Groupon. I bought Groupon in after hours on this announcement and I am proud to post my trade publicly.

irollboozers 13y ago

Qasar Younis is not getting the recognition he deserves, really sharp guy who will add a lot to future YC companies. Overall, congrats to all involved.

bifrost 13y ago

Dalton (and a few other really awesome people) made of my favorite app! In fact its what initiated my transition from "just a phone" to a "smartphone", that app was PicPlz. I look forward to Dalton's vision for YC.

jacquesm 13y ago

One of these days YC will launch their late stage fund financed through one or two successful exits and IPO's. That will re-define the VC market as much as YC has changed the world for start-ups and seed capital. Harj leaving is at least as important as the five new entrants, I'm very curious what he's going to do next. Andrew Mason is a pretty brave pick given the amount of backlash that could create, ethical choices aside he's a smart fellow, there are probably far more people in the start-up scene that would be happy to work with him than there are that would rather stay clear. His farewell note was a class act and sketched the man in a different light for me, but still does not detract from fundamental issues in the groupon model. YC is making bigger and bigger strides, wished I had a better crystal ball :)

6ren 13y ago

How long til you guys found a new company, that creates y-combinators?