5 ms·

I learned several interesting things from Sam's post actually (I'm Jessica, one of the founders of Y Combinator). I hadn't known that women really want more YC

by jl 13y ago

I learned several interesting things from Sam's post actually (I'm Jessica, one of the founders of Y Combinator). I hadn't known that women really want more YC women in the interviews. That would have been hard at first, when I was the only female, but now we have enough female partners to do this. I was also surprised to hear that women actually believed that we try to fund people who look like Zuckerberg. I thought that was just something that trolls liked to claim was our strategy.

calibraxis 13y ago
Once could be ignored as sloppiness. But he wrote: "One advantage startups have over established companies is that there are no discrimination laws about starting businesses. For example, I would be reluctant to start a startup with a woman who had small children, or was likely to have them soon. But you're not allowed to ask prospective employees if they plan to have kids soon. [...] Whereas when you're starting a company, you can discriminate on any basis you want about who you start it with." (http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html) Or he says: "I see a couple of guys walking down the street and I think, oh, they look like they'd make good founders or bad founders, right, as the case may be. [...] The right kind of nerdy. Like, these guys in this room are not suits, but they're not schlubs either. These are fierce nerds. You have to be somewhat intimidating looking, and that's what these guys are. [...] Yeah, yeah. They're like the kind of people Julius Caesar was afraid of." (http://www.wbur.org/npr/155005546/failure-the-f-word-silicon-valley-loves-and-hates http://www.wbur.org/npr/155005546/failure-the-f-word-silicon...) Or that hilarious cherry-picked stat YC came up with: "at least one female founder." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/03/04/y-combinators-lady-problems-in-three-charts/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/03/04...) If YC people can't see this, that doesn't bode well for their self-critical thinking skills. (But at least Paul Graham's fairly open about what he thinks, and looks good compared to HN posters.)
- ladytron 13y ago
  Exactly. Why I never bothered applying. I have been reading HN for a long long time. I have a memory.

by jl 13y ago

calibraxis 13y ago

Once could be ignored as sloppiness. But he wrote: "One advantage startups have over established companies is that there are no discrimination laws about starting businesses. For example, I would be reluctant to start a startup with a woman who had small children, or was likely to have them soon. But you're not allowed to ask prospective employees if they plan to have kids soon. [...] Whereas when you're starting a company, you can discriminate on any basis you want about who you start it with." (http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html http://www.paulgraham.com/start.html) Or he says: "I see a couple of guys walking down the street and I think, oh, they look like they'd make good founders or bad founders, right, as the case may be. [...] The right kind of nerdy. Like, these guys in this room are not suits, but they're not schlubs either. These are fierce nerds. You have to be somewhat intimidating looking, and that's what these guys are. [...] Yeah, yeah. They're like the kind of people Julius Caesar was afraid of." (http://www.wbur.org/npr/155005546/failure-the-f-word-silicon-valley-loves-and-hates http://www.wbur.org/npr/155005546/failure-the-f-word-silicon...) Or that hilarious cherry-picked stat YC came up with: "at least one female founder." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/03/04/y-combinators-lady-problems-in-three-charts/ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/03/04...) If YC people can't see this, that doesn't bode well for their self-critical thinking skills. (But at least Paul Graham's fairly open about what he thinks, and looks good compared to HN posters.)

ladytron 13y ago
Exactly. Why I never bothered applying. I have been reading HN for a long long time. I have a memory.