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Very awesome. This seems like a healthy step in a direction I'm personally excited about: YC as a university (vs. YC as a mini VC).

larrys 12y ago
"I'm personally excited about: YC as a university" YC isn't a university (today) and I don't see a particular reason it should try to model itself in that fashion so as to draw comparisons. It's a different entity in itself and should try to foster that new category rather than try to compete in an existing category for attention and/or respect.
- mbesto 12y ago
  It's worth noting that YC's characteristics are slowly creeping into university territory. Facets and characteristics that make YC and universities successful: - Strong alumni endowment (both capital and mentoring) - Reliant heavily on personal networks and connections to vet at scale - Critical of personal merit on application process - Application process are almost identical (mostly criticized on paper, followed by a very short interview) Couple all of this with the reality that: - Many famous tech entrepreneurs are known for dropping out of school (Zuck, Gates, etc) - Peter Thiel (and the PayPal mafia) are on a mission to fund children and have them skip uni - pg's view of university life as a model for allowing smart people the time and freedom to create innovative new products. I don't disagree that they are different entities, but in perhaps viewing through a particular lens, one could argue that there is little that separates how they behave at scale. Food for thought -- let's negate the application process for a second -- if you're a parent, would you send your child to a university that will cost $150k with no guarantee (but high likelihood) of a job afterward or would you rather drop $150k into your son/daughter's startup to then be advised by some of the most successful modern day business people. I mean, life isn't all about working, but, well, it is.
  - argonaut 12y ago
    Interviews generally play a negligible role in college admissions, whereas the YC interviews are the deciding factor in admission.

larrys 12y ago

"I'm personally excited about: YC as a university" YC isn't a university (today) and I don't see a particular reason it should try to model itself in that fashion so as to draw comparisons. It's a different entity in itself and should try to foster that new category rather than try to compete in an existing category for attention and/or respect.

mbesto 12y ago
It's worth noting that YC's characteristics are slowly creeping into university territory. Facets and characteristics that make YC and universities successful: - Strong alumni endowment (both capital and mentoring) - Reliant heavily on personal networks and connections to vet at scale - Critical of personal merit on application process - Application process are almost identical (mostly criticized on paper, followed by a very short interview) Couple all of this with the reality that: - Many famous tech entrepreneurs are known for dropping out of school (Zuck, Gates, etc) - Peter Thiel (and the PayPal mafia) are on a mission to fund children and have them skip uni - pg's view of university life as a model for allowing smart people the time and freedom to create innovative new products. I don't disagree that they are different entities, but in perhaps viewing through a particular lens, one could argue that there is little that separates how they behave at scale. Food for thought -- let's negate the application process for a second -- if you're a parent, would you send your child to a university that will cost $150k with no guarantee (but high likelihood) of a job afterward or would you rather drop $150k into your son/daughter's startup to then be advised by some of the most successful modern day business people. I mean, life isn't all about working, but, well, it is.
- argonaut 12y ago
  Interviews generally play a negligible role in college admissions, whereas the YC interviews are the deciding factor in admission.