4 ms·

If people need to be coerced or prodded away from a cube job, they are not startup material. Maybe GOOG is the YC entrance exam.

ced 19y ago
Your upbringing has a big influence on the type of career that you'll consider. Someone who is "startup material" might simply not have been exposed to the right stimuli.
- aswanson 19y ago
  If they haven't been exposed, in the area where that ad was posted (Stanford) they are comatose or clueless. In either case, who has time to "stimulate" in a startup context? My guess is a person like that would end up being a net drag on moving quickly and executing.
  - myoung8 19y ago
    You would be surprised how few people at Stanford have any idea what's going on in the tech world. Most people are so caught up in studying for the next exam or finishing the next problem set that they let all these opportunities pass them by.
    - aswanson 19y ago
      You have shattered my illusions of Mecca.
    - brianr 19y ago
      seconded.
    - trekker7 19y ago
      In my opinion, this is true at Berkeley as well.
      - aswanson 19y ago
        Is anyplace in Cali sacred? I feel like Dorothy at the end of the Wizard of Oz. Pull back the curtain on these places, and there's nothing there...
        trekker7 19y ago
        No no, I'm not saying California isn't a good place to be. Let me elaborate. I've been in the Bay Area for about 18 years and I absolutely love it here. If I wasn't raised here I probably wouldn't have gotten interested in startups. You read about this stuff every day in the newspapers, and when you drive around on the highways you pass by the offices of hundreds of companies. As a programmer and an aspiring entrepreneur, I don't think I'd be happy anywhere else. SoCal is also great. I was in a high school business club and we used to go down there all the time for conferences. Santa Monica, San Diego, etc. all kick ass. The way I think of it is, NorCal is where you go to work, and SoCal is where you go to vacation. Like I said, I really don't see myself living anywhere else in the world besides California. I just wish Berkeley students were more enthusiastic about startups.
mwerty 19y ago
Steve Ballmer was prodded away from an MBA.
- aswanson 19y ago
  They should not have prodded.
  - mwerty 19y ago
    why not? seriously.
    - jimbokun 19y ago
      http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6304687408656696643 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6304687408656696643
      - mwerty 19y ago
        I've seen that way too many times. :) I did say seriously...
pg 19y ago
If so, Wozniak was not startup material.
- aswanson 19y ago
  Ah, I knew the Woz would be on the way. I agree, but in his case Jobs had incontrovertible evidence that he could execute: the Apple I, teletype terminals, and probably dozens of other things that he had built. He also had evidence of a large market: the inferior Sol computer was selling at 1000 a month. I am talking about the situation that YC is in, where you don't have great evidence of superior skill and craftmanship and a proven large market.
  - swombat 18y ago
    The evidence is only visible to those who know how to look...
akkartik 19y ago
Most people are not 'startup material'. When you're searching for low-probability events it helps to cast the net as wide as possible. So rather than try to second-guess why every source of people (GOOG offers to Stanford) is unlikely to give you what you want, give every source the chance to stand up and grab an opportunity.
- aswanson 19y ago
  Right. All I am saying is, if a 20 to 22 year old with no commitments is given a) A chance to hit it out the park and get rich or b) Become employee #21,765 at a market rate wage and equivocates, why try to push it any further? You can lead them to the water, but if they don't drink....whatever. At the end of the day it's YC's call and really none of my business. But every now and then I get on my soapbox...
  - greendestiny 19y ago
    Are you really looking at it from the point of view of running a angel investment firm, or from the point of view of a someone not wanting more competition either for YC places or in the startup world?
    - aswanson 19y ago
      green, not sure what you are asking here.
      - greendestiny 19y ago
        Sorry my comment wasn't really very clear. If you were running a YC clone, how would you feel about encouraging people to join startups? I think you're a little quick to dismiss people who aren't initially very keen on startups. Just questioning if perhaps your opinion comes from a place where you don't really want others to see the startup light.
        aswanson 19y ago

ced 19y ago

Your upbringing has a big influence on the type of career that you'll consider. Someone who is "startup material" might simply not have been exposed to the right stimuli.

aswanson 19y ago
If they haven't been exposed, in the area where that ad was posted (Stanford) they are comatose or clueless. In either case, who has time to "stimulate" in a startup context? My guess is a person like that would end up being a net drag on moving quickly and executing.
- myoung8 19y ago
  You would be surprised how few people at Stanford have any idea what's going on in the tech world. Most people are so caught up in studying for the next exam or finishing the next problem set that they let all these opportunities pass them by.
  - aswanson 19y ago
    You have shattered my illusions of Mecca.
  - brianr 19y ago
    seconded.
  - trekker7 19y ago
    In my opinion, this is true at Berkeley as well.
    - aswanson 19y ago
      Is anyplace in Cali sacred? I feel like Dorothy at the end of the Wizard of Oz. Pull back the curtain on these places, and there's nothing there...
      - trekker7 19y ago
        No no, I'm not saying California isn't a good place to be. Let me elaborate. I've been in the Bay Area for about 18 years and I absolutely love it here. If I wasn't raised here I probably wouldn't have gotten interested in startups. You read about this stuff every day in the newspapers, and when you drive around on the highways you pass by the offices of hundreds of companies. As a programmer and an aspiring entrepreneur, I don't think I'd be happy anywhere else. SoCal is also great. I was in a high school business club and we used to go down there all the time for conferences. Santa Monica, San Diego, etc. all kick ass. The way I think of it is, NorCal is where you go to work, and SoCal is where you go to vacation. Like I said, I really don't see myself living anywhere else in the world besides California. I just wish Berkeley students were more enthusiastic about startups.

mwerty 19y ago

Steve Ballmer was prodded away from an MBA.

aswanson 19y ago
They should not have prodded.
- mwerty 19y ago
  why not? seriously.
  - jimbokun 19y ago
    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6304687408656696643 http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6304687408656696643
    - mwerty 19y ago
      I've seen that way too many times. :) I did say seriously...

pg 19y ago

If so, Wozniak was not startup material.

aswanson 19y ago
Ah, I knew the Woz would be on the way. I agree, but in his case Jobs had incontrovertible evidence that he could execute: the Apple I, teletype terminals, and probably dozens of other things that he had built. He also had evidence of a large market: the inferior Sol computer was selling at 1000 a month. I am talking about the situation that YC is in, where you don't have great evidence of superior skill and craftmanship and a proven large market.
- swombat 18y ago
  The evidence is only visible to those who know how to look...

akkartik 19y ago

Most people are not 'startup material'. When you're searching for low-probability events it helps to cast the net as wide as possible. So rather than try to second-guess why every source of people (GOOG offers to Stanford) is unlikely to give you what you want, give every source the chance to stand up and grab an opportunity.

aswanson 19y ago
Right. All I am saying is, if a 20 to 22 year old with no commitments is given a) A chance to hit it out the park and get rich or b) Become employee #21,765 at a market rate wage and equivocates, why try to push it any further? You can lead them to the water, but if they don't drink....whatever. At the end of the day it's YC's call and really none of my business. But every now and then I get on my soapbox...
- greendestiny 19y ago
  Are you really looking at it from the point of view of running a angel investment firm, or from the point of view of a someone not wanting more competition either for YC places or in the startup world?
  - aswanson 19y ago
    green, not sure what you are asking here.
    - greendestiny 19y ago
      Sorry my comment wasn't really very clear. If you were running a YC clone, how would you feel about encouraging people to join startups? I think you're a little quick to dismiss people who aren't initially very keen on startups. Just questioning if perhaps your opinion comes from a place where you don't really want others to see the startup light.
      - aswanson 19y ago