4 ms·

Sam Altman Taking Over As President Of Y Combinator

87 points by hodgesmr 13y ago

mathattack 13y ago
Congrats! Big step up for him. Big step for PG too. I think the new division of labor should allow each to specialize at what they're good at.
paul 13y ago
I love that PG thinks in historical terms. It's exciting to view yc as an institution that could outlive all of us, just as the great universities have.
pak 13y ago
Is this the reason that so many of his recent posts were promoted on here? Was the intention to build the cachet of some widely read essays so he could credibly step in for PG? HN stories for his blog start about a year ago, a little after this article says the idea originally was floated (mid-2012), and they have pretty consistently frontpaged: http://hn.algolia.com/#!/story/sort_by_date/prefix/0/blog.samaltman.com http://hn.algolia.com/#!/story/sort_by_date/prefix/0/blog.sa... It makes me wonder if it was a coordinated, planned effort.
- karlhwhite 13y ago
  ...or were they well-written and well-received, signaling the reasons why this choice makes sense?
  - pak 13y ago
    Your hypothesis and the one I floated aren't mutually exclusive. My idea doesn't necessitate a conspiracy or playing with the points/ranking, which PG is rather quick to deny in his reply to me. It could have just been a plan for Sam to release blog posts over a period of time and try to get them read. I'm curious if this was a conscious effort to build something akin to http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html given the role he was being groomed for. Of course, I'm also always curious about the way this site really works on the inside. I do find it ironic that the piece that got the most upvotes (AI, with ~570) was one that Sam admitted he hardly worked on: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7268247 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7268247 In that comment, he claims he is simply blogging to "practice writing." From the vantage point of this announcement two days later, that sounds coy, even obtuse.
- lowglow 13y ago
  I mean, they own the platform, they have active mods, and constantly float YC related news to the top and suppress news with particular keywords or from particular domains.
- jfoster 13y ago
  Not everything has to be a conspiracy, and even if you miss a conspiracy, what's the worst that happens?
- pg 13y ago
  No. We didn't manipulate the scores of these (or any other) posts. Presumably the reason Sam started writing a lot in 2012 was the same reason I started trying to recruit him then: he was finished working for Green Dot.
dhruval 13y ago
Congrats to Sam! I think Looking forward to reading more thoughtful writing from PG. It has really changed my perspective on things over the years.
ChrisNorstrom 13y ago
But...but... Will PG still be at the interviews? I think that's what I'm afraid of most with this change. Paul had a sort of incite about people. What about Jessica Livingston? What if she follows. I'm happy for Sam and PG but, I feel it just won't be the same without him doing interviews and reviewing applications. Perhaps I'm being selfish (or have abandonment issues), I've always dreamed of one day seeing him at the interview table, whether rejected or accepted. "they have 3 rooms [interviewing] at the same time. Each room has 2-3 partners in it. I got the one with Garry Tan and Paul Buchheit - it was super chill. We had a great conversation. They didn't drill me (or interrupt me) or anything. We covered most topics I wanted to cover. They let me guide the conversation. On the other hand, PG and Harj (and other partners / venture partners) are in the two other rooms. Last year, I interviewed with PG (and 6 other people). It was hell. They kept saying my idea was bad, and we were arguing (it turns out that they were right...my idea was bad)." That's why I like PG, he's upfront and brutally honest.
bane 13y ago
Congratulations to all. I hope this means we'll see a bit more pg around here too!
ulfw 13y ago
Sam is a very intelligent, likeable and knowledgeable guy. Best man for the job. Congrats!

87 points by hodgesmr 13y ago

Congrats! Big step up for him. Big step for PG too. I think the new division of labor should allow each to specialize at what they're good at.

paul 13y ago

I love that PG thinks in historical terms. It's exciting to view yc as an institution that could outlive all of us, just as the great universities have.

pak 13y ago

Is this the reason that so many of his recent posts were promoted on here? Was the intention to build the cachet of some widely read essays so he could credibly step in for PG? HN stories for his blog start about a year ago, a little after this article says the idea originally was floated (mid-2012), and they have pretty consistently frontpaged: http://hn.algolia.com/#!/story/sort_by_date/prefix/0/blog.samaltman.com http://hn.algolia.com/#!/story/sort_by_date/prefix/0/blog.sa... It makes me wonder if it was a coordinated, planned effort.

karlhwhite 13y ago
...or were they well-written and well-received, signaling the reasons why this choice makes sense?
- pak 13y ago
  Your hypothesis and the one I floated aren't mutually exclusive. My idea doesn't necessitate a conspiracy or playing with the points/ranking, which PG is rather quick to deny in his reply to me. It could have just been a plan for Sam to release blog posts over a period of time and try to get them read. I'm curious if this was a conscious effort to build something akin to http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html given the role he was being groomed for. Of course, I'm also always curious about the way this site really works on the inside. I do find it ironic that the piece that got the most upvotes (AI, with ~570) was one that Sam admitted he hardly worked on: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7268247 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7268247 In that comment, he claims he is simply blogging to "practice writing." From the vantage point of this announcement two days later, that sounds coy, even obtuse.
lowglow 13y ago
I mean, they own the platform, they have active mods, and constantly float YC related news to the top and suppress news with particular keywords or from particular domains.
jfoster 13y ago
Not everything has to be a conspiracy, and even if you miss a conspiracy, what's the worst that happens?
pg 13y ago
No. We didn't manipulate the scores of these (or any other) posts. Presumably the reason Sam started writing a lot in 2012 was the same reason I started trying to recruit him then: he was finished working for Green Dot.

dhruval 13y ago

Congrats to Sam! I think Looking forward to reading more thoughtful writing from PG. It has really changed my perspective on things over the years.

ChrisNorstrom 13y ago

But...but... Will PG still be at the interviews? I think that's what I'm afraid of most with this change. Paul had a sort of incite about people. What about Jessica Livingston? What if she follows. I'm happy for Sam and PG but, I feel it just won't be the same without him doing interviews and reviewing applications. Perhaps I'm being selfish (or have abandonment issues), I've always dreamed of one day seeing him at the interview table, whether rejected or accepted. "they have 3 rooms [interviewing] at the same time. Each room has 2-3 partners in it. I got the one with Garry Tan and Paul Buchheit - it was super chill. We had a great conversation. They didn't drill me (or interrupt me) or anything. We covered most topics I wanted to cover. They let me guide the conversation. On the other hand, PG and Harj (and other partners / venture partners) are in the two other rooms. Last year, I interviewed with PG (and 6 other people). It was hell. They kept saying my idea was bad, and we were arguing (it turns out that they were right...my idea was bad)." That's why I like PG, he's upfront and brutally honest.

bane 13y ago

Congratulations to all. I hope this means we'll see a bit more pg around here too!

ulfw 13y ago

Sam is a very intelligent, likeable and knowledgeable guy. Best man for the job. Congrats!