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This is not obvious to me at all. I admit I have difficulty conceiving of advice so compelling I'd travel to America to receive it. Fair enough I guess. Peopl

This is not obvious to me at all. I admit I have difficulty conceiving of advice so compelling I'd travel to America to receive it. Fair enough I guess. People pay what they think it is worth. That's capitalism; no argument from me. I am not trolling. Carry on.

dannyr 17y ago
The travel expenses is reimbursed by YC up to a certain amount. It's no expense for the founders except time. I'm curious what led you to Hacker News if you don't see the value of YC more than the money.
- pyre 17y ago
  Lots of people (me included) are on Hacker News because of the community and the quality of articles (as compared to Digg, Slashdot, Programming.Reddit, etc).
pg 17y ago
It shouldn't be that difficult to imagine. It's a very old tradition to travel long distances in search of specialized knowledge. Practically every famous medieval scholar did. But of course the tradition is way older than that. In the mid 6th century BC Pythagoras went to study in Egypt, and his biographer Porphyry said "It was from his stay among these foreigners that Pythagoras acquired the greater part of his wisdom."
- tomjen2 17y ago
  Sure, but the world has changed in the several centuries since. Today travelling across the world to receive information isn't something most people would do - or even think about. After all, the price of information has crashed even more than stocks in Lehrman Brothers.
  - netcan 17y ago
    That's not the point being made. The point is that the concept of travelling for wisdom should be familiar. Like fighting dragons to get princesses.
  - pg 17y ago
    Actually travelling great distances as part of one's education is more common, not less. I wouldn't be surprised if at least a million people a year move to distant towns to go to college or grad school every year in the US alone.
- n-named 17y ago
  From wikipedia: """It is not easy to determine how far Pythagoras was indebted to the Egyptian priests, or indeed, whether he learnt anything from them. There was nothing in the symbolical mode of representation which the Pythagoreans adopted, which bore the distinct traces of an Egyptian origin.""" And further: """The philosophy and the institutions of Pythagoras exhibit what might easily have been developed by a Greek mind exposed to the ordinary influences of the age."""
ghshephard 17y ago
It's beyond advice. It's the energy, community, contacts, drive, and exposure that you get to a community of like minded entrepreneurs. Getting _into_ that community is something that may change you for the rest of your life. Even just going for the _interview_ may be a life changing experience, regardless of whether you are funded. In Silicon Valley, you see something similar in companies - there is this massive meritocracy and cross pollination that takes place. Companies get successful. Employees vest out and go form new companies. Then they reach back into their (metaphorical) Rolodex and pull colleagues from years passed who went through the most intense interview ever - working side-by-side for multiple years. It's why I recommend anyone from outside the valley interested in technology, particularly early in their career, to take any job they can get with a good valley company, and pay absolutely no attention to their salary. None. Once you are established, the money will follow. But it's all about getting in the door, taking that first step. YC is one of those first steps for startup founders.

dannyr 17y ago

The travel expenses is reimbursed by YC up to a certain amount. It's no expense for the founders except time. I'm curious what led you to Hacker News if you don't see the value of YC more than the money.

pyre 17y ago
Lots of people (me included) are on Hacker News because of the community and the quality of articles (as compared to Digg, Slashdot, Programming.Reddit, etc).

pg 17y ago

It shouldn't be that difficult to imagine. It's a very old tradition to travel long distances in search of specialized knowledge. Practically every famous medieval scholar did. But of course the tradition is way older than that. In the mid 6th century BC Pythagoras went to study in Egypt, and his biographer Porphyry said "It was from his stay among these foreigners that Pythagoras acquired the greater part of his wisdom."

tomjen2 17y ago
Sure, but the world has changed in the several centuries since. Today travelling across the world to receive information isn't something most people would do - or even think about. After all, the price of information has crashed even more than stocks in Lehrman Brothers.
- netcan 17y ago
  That's not the point being made. The point is that the concept of travelling for wisdom should be familiar. Like fighting dragons to get princesses.
- pg 17y ago
  Actually travelling great distances as part of one's education is more common, not less. I wouldn't be surprised if at least a million people a year move to distant towns to go to college or grad school every year in the US alone.
n-named 17y ago
From wikipedia: """It is not easy to determine how far Pythagoras was indebted to the Egyptian priests, or indeed, whether he learnt anything from them. There was nothing in the symbolical mode of representation which the Pythagoreans adopted, which bore the distinct traces of an Egyptian origin.""" And further: """The philosophy and the institutions of Pythagoras exhibit what might easily have been developed by a Greek mind exposed to the ordinary influences of the age."""

ghshephard 17y ago

It's beyond advice. It's the energy, community, contacts, drive, and exposure that you get to a community of like minded entrepreneurs. Getting _into_ that community is something that may change you for the rest of your life. Even just going for the _interview_ may be a life changing experience, regardless of whether you are funded. In Silicon Valley, you see something similar in companies - there is this massive meritocracy and cross pollination that takes place. Companies get successful. Employees vest out and go form new companies. Then they reach back into their (metaphorical) Rolodex and pull colleagues from years passed who went through the most intense interview ever - working side-by-side for multiple years. It's why I recommend anyone from outside the valley interested in technology, particularly early in their career, to take any job they can get with a good valley company, and pay absolutely no attention to their salary. None. Once you are established, the money will follow. But it's all about getting in the door, taking that first step. YC is one of those first steps for startup founders.