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Nice, but, very few of those individuals have started a startup in the past five years, or even ten years. What exactly do they KNOW that is going to help you,

Nice, but, very few of those individuals have started a startup in the past five years, or even ten years. What exactly do they KNOW that is going to help you, the founder? I don't think this is the ideal lineup for a day of talks about How to Start a Startup in the fall of 2014. The past few years have been particularly brutal for starting a startup. Mostly because there are so many others doing the same thing, and most of them are vying for the same funding dollars you're vying for. Thousands upon thousands of people are trying and have tried, and most have failed, and all have stories to tell. That is the norm, that is the most likely outcome: failure. Instead, you'll hear from billionaires and superachievers and tech celebrities none of whom have been hungry, driven with a vision, struggling to build something new, fighting the good fight, any time recently. They're disconnected, imho. Go ahead and downvote, I know, it's YC heresy, but so be it.

muneeb 12y ago
There is the argument that you can't learn much from failure. You could've failed for 6-7 reasons in reality and can have a theory about the 2-3 reasons for your failure with some overlap between the two. Successful people however had a series of small wins and small failures and got to experience the difficulties/challenges at each level of success.
_sentient 12y ago
I can't speak for the rest of the lineup, but I know that YC partners see hundreds of startups run through their program each year. The aggregate value of that is significant, and there are very few patterns they haven't already encountered. Having seen so many iterations of the startup process, I'd argue that they are eminently qualified to give advice on the subject. I'd certainly prefer it over some random, anecdotal account from a founder who just happened to be in the trenches recently.
- muneeb 12y ago
  +1 to this. YC partners are in a unique position
TimJRobinson 12y ago
If I was learning to swim I'd rather be taught by a great swimming coach who's taught many hundreds of swimmers before and seen the common mistakes / challenges than by another great swimmer.
jamesmthomp 12y ago
You can guarantee this will contain worthwhile advice regardless of whether it lives up to the title of "How to Start a Startup".
pyb 12y ago
Your criticism is a very contrived, as it seems to me that YC have been careful to ensure that most of the speakers are recent entrepreneurs. The VCs on the course are also former entrepreneurs.

muneeb 12y ago

There is the argument that you can't learn much from failure. You could've failed for 6-7 reasons in reality and can have a theory about the 2-3 reasons for your failure with some overlap between the two. Successful people however had a series of small wins and small failures and got to experience the difficulties/challenges at each level of success.

_sentient 12y ago

I can't speak for the rest of the lineup, but I know that YC partners see hundreds of startups run through their program each year. The aggregate value of that is significant, and there are very few patterns they haven't already encountered. Having seen so many iterations of the startup process, I'd argue that they are eminently qualified to give advice on the subject. I'd certainly prefer it over some random, anecdotal account from a founder who just happened to be in the trenches recently.

muneeb 12y ago
+1 to this. YC partners are in a unique position

TimJRobinson 12y ago

If I was learning to swim I'd rather be taught by a great swimming coach who's taught many hundreds of swimmers before and seen the common mistakes / challenges than by another great swimmer.

jamesmthomp 12y ago

You can guarantee this will contain worthwhile advice regardless of whether it lives up to the title of "How to Start a Startup".

pyb 12y ago

Your criticism is a very contrived, as it seems to me that YC have been careful to ensure that most of the speakers are recent entrepreneurs. The VCs on the course are also former entrepreneurs.