akharris

19 ms·

151.
by akharris 9y ago
Thanks - programming is another area where I feel this dynamic at work. It's such a vast and interesting and hard space.
152.
by akharris 9y ago
I haven't been able to figure out anything quantitative for this, but I can look at my recent pictures and see that they're better than my old ones. That's a start, at least.
153.
by akharris 9y ago
Whoops! Thanks for catching the typo. Much appreciated.
154.
by akharris 9y ago
The program isn't actually just - or even mainly - about the act of pitching. There's an entire process around running a successful fundraise that changes from round to round and company to company. Pitching is part of that proces
155.
by akharris 9y ago
- Duration depends on the requirements of the company - No real classes, this is rolling - No cost to the cap table - Have to be a Y company
156.
by akharris 9y ago
That's definitely part of our plan. We'd like to expose both data and some of the tools we're building.
157.
Mistakes in time(blog.ycombinator.com)
106 points by akharris 9y ago|17 comments
158.
Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter(nytimes.com)
5 points by akharris 9y ago|2 comments
159.
by akharris 9y ago
I think the numbers make sense with or without the total number of investments figure since the large outcomes in venture are driven by a small number of companies, and not the pack. That said, the total number of companies funded isn'
160.
by akharris 9y ago
"Startup" is more a state of mind than an exact coordinate in age and size. There are brand new companies that wouldn't call themselves startups, and companies worth 10s of billions of dollars that are commonly referred to as
161.
by akharris 9y ago
In your case, that's true. Farmers is a reciprocal, meaning that the policyholders own it. Not all car insurance companies work this way.
162.
by akharris 9y ago
That's one of the hardest questions to answer. In order to generate profits for shareholders the carriers have to generate return on their float. That was "easy" during the big bull market that started in the 80s, but has bec
163.
by akharris 9y ago
One example - startups that are looking to sign large enterprise contracts are often prevented from doing so because they don't carry a sufficient level of errors and commissions (E&O) insurance to satisfy customer requirements. Ge
164.
by akharris 9y ago
Health insurance is a very different business than P&C and one that I've spent a lot less time researching. Each customer interaction at least 3 participating actors (patient, provider, payer), each of which have different incentiv
165.
by akharris 9y ago
I agree with you that there are going to be challenges in building these companies, but not all of existing players aren't as openly hostile as I think you expect. I've spoken with a lot of P&C folks at different companies, an
166.
Thoughts on Insurance(blog.ycombinator.com)
518 points by akharris 9y ago|413 comments
167.
What Founder Friendly Actually Means(blog.ycombinator.com)
3 points by akharris 9y ago|0 comments
168.
Fooled by Experts(aaronkharris.com)
7 points by akharris 9y ago|0 comments
169.
by akharris 10y ago
Nope - we accept plenty of companies at that stage.
170.
by akharris 10y ago
Demo video would be best, but you can also include login info in your application.
171.
by akharris 10y ago
Aw thanks! I had a lot of fun doing it, but I think the podcast is done. We've started doing other cool things, though, like video office hours: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ-uHSnFig5PdSeZT05If...
172.
by akharris 10y ago
I wouldn't think too much about it. While I look at referrals when they exist, they don't change my mind one way or the other. The rest of the application is way more important.
173.
by akharris 10y ago
Just describe what you're doing and how your team is split as you do here. I'd also want to know what the milestones are, and what that means in terms of pay and equity for the team members.
174.
by akharris 10y ago
There is a rating system. It works in two tiers. The first set of grades is given by a set of alum reviewers. That puts anywhere from 3-10 votes on an application. The ones with enough passing votes then get reviewed by partners. We then vo
175.
by akharris 10y ago
Depends how far along you are. Feel free to describe both.
176.
by akharris 10y ago
We only read applications that have been fully submitted.
177.
by akharris 10y ago
For enterprise companies, this is definitely useful, but not definitive.
178.
by akharris 10y ago
It's pretty much impossible to figure out if a company is a $1B or $10B company when reading an application. We use this as more of a thought experiment than anything else. When I read an application, I force myself to imagine a world
179.
by akharris 10y ago
We don't have an exact formula. When I look at an application, I try to figure out how much time is being spent on the co and work off of that. Obviously it's different for full time vs. part time and many vs. few. However, if an
180.
by akharris 10y ago
We do our best to prevent information sharing to competing companies. Partners who see applications don't disclose the details of those applications to companies that might be competitive. There is always a chance, though, that an alum

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