4 ms·

I'd rather make the system based on trusting people. Also, paranoia about secrecy is one of our selection criteria. E.g. every cycle there are a few applicati

by pg 17y ago

I'd rather make the system based on trusting people. Also, paranoia about secrecy is one of our selection criteria. E.g. every cycle there are a few applications that say they won't tell us any details about what they're doing without an NDA. We thereupon instantly hit "next." People who think their startup's success is going to follow from their immensely valuable secret idea are disproportionately likely to have bad ideas. I'm guessing it will be similar in this case, and that anyone who would be freaked out by YC alumni reading their application is probably someone we wouldn't have funded anyway.

rokhayakebe 17y ago
It shouldn't be a problem as long as you select fairly successful YC entrepreneurs who are too busy running their own startup. On the other end if you select someone who has sold out and is relaxing, or someone who's startup is not doing well and is ready to jump ship, then it will create a conflict. EDIT: Either ways you guys review mine. If someone finds it good enough, they would want to work with and not against.
SwellJoe 17y ago
Not to mention that the ability to raise additional money after YC would be significantly impeded by being cagey about the ideas behind the company. Almost every investor I've ever heard speak on the subject has said they simply do not sign NDAs. If someone expects YC to sign an NDA, they would likely expect every other potential investor to sign an NDA...and that's not going to happen. I suspect that investors not being willing to sign NDAs is at least as much attributable to the fact that people who want random people to sign NDAs have too much confidence that their idea alone has value, and thus won't understand that execution is vital, and likely will not be willing to evolve their idea as the market demands. Well, that, and "idea" people are just generally useless and annoying. So, asking for an NDA is a sign that you're a useless non-starter who won't be able to build a company or compete in the market (because your idea has to be public before you can do anything with it; if you're concerned that your only advantage is secrecy, then it seems likely to me that failure is imminent).
jpwagner 17y ago
Well you are ignoring half of the potential problem. Even smart people have different opinions: what if an applicant thinks someone you chose to read their application is naive (or worse, an idiot)? Also seems just plain fair that applicants be aware of their audience.
- abossy 17y ago
  Do you honestly feel PG and co. are incapable of selecting people that aren't naive nor idiots?
  - jpwagner 17y ago
    Not sure if you did it on purpose, but your double negative is the converse of my sentiment. Do I think YC is capable of making poor selections?...Absolutely.
    - swombat 17y ago
      Capable? sure. Likely? no. YC makes funding decisions after a few short interviews and an application, and they seem to do pretty well with those. I would imagine that after working with some founders for months, they have zero likelihood of selecting a naive idiot.
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neurotech1 17y ago
Not to mention that most successful do not have the the time to segway off on someone else vague but 'brilliant' idea. I know electrical engineers who have zero interest in Schematics/PCB files etc -ready to manufacture - because the time to complete a project is excessive for something that is not their core focus.

by pg 17y ago

rokhayakebe 17y ago

It shouldn't be a problem as long as you select fairly successful YC entrepreneurs who are too busy running their own startup. On the other end if you select someone who has sold out and is relaxing, or someone who's startup is not doing well and is ready to jump ship, then it will create a conflict. EDIT: Either ways you guys review mine. If someone finds it good enough, they would want to work with and not against.

SwellJoe 17y ago

Not to mention that the ability to raise additional money after YC would be significantly impeded by being cagey about the ideas behind the company. Almost every investor I've ever heard speak on the subject has said they simply do not sign NDAs. If someone expects YC to sign an NDA, they would likely expect every other potential investor to sign an NDA...and that's not going to happen. I suspect that investors not being willing to sign NDAs is at least as much attributable to the fact that people who want random people to sign NDAs have too much confidence that their idea alone has value, and thus won't understand that execution is vital, and likely will not be willing to evolve their idea as the market demands. Well, that, and "idea" people are just generally useless and annoying. So, asking for an NDA is a sign that you're a useless non-starter who won't be able to build a company or compete in the market (because your idea has to be public before you can do anything with it; if you're concerned that your only advantage is secrecy, then it seems likely to me that failure is imminent).

jpwagner 17y ago

Well you are ignoring half of the potential problem. Even smart people have different opinions: what if an applicant thinks someone you chose to read their application is naive (or worse, an idiot)? Also seems just plain fair that applicants be aware of their audience.

abossy 17y ago
Do you honestly feel PG and co. are incapable of selecting people that aren't naive nor idiots?
- jpwagner 17y ago
  Not sure if you did it on purpose, but your double negative is the converse of my sentiment. Do I think YC is capable of making poor selections?...Absolutely.
  - swombat 17y ago
    Capable? sure. Likely? no. YC makes funding decisions after a few short interviews and an application, and they seem to do pretty well with those. I would imagine that after working with some founders for months, they have zero likelihood of selecting a naive idiot.

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neurotech1 17y ago

Not to mention that most successful do not have the the time to segway off on someone else vague but 'brilliant' idea. I know electrical engineers who have zero interest in Schematics/PCB files etc -ready to manufacture - because the time to complete a project is excessive for something that is not their core focus.