skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Yeah, theres a ton of startups in all these areas. One must find a totally different approach or do something different.
Oddly enough, yes. I often think of things they could do better. One would be to let their hackers just release stuff they build, without worrying that it would harm the Google brand. Initial releases are often lame. If you insist something is great before it can be released, you kill a lot of ideas before they have time to grow. And I suspect Google's brand is judged by the best stuff they do, not the worst. If they told people they were just letting their hackers launch whatever they wanted, and that most of it would be bad, users would understand.
I think another difference is that there are companies absorbing the risk and associated losses. As was noted in another one of Paul's essays, big companies tend to be good at extracting revenue from an existing product but not so good on boldness and innovation.

There are a variety of business models to try once you've made something people want. Sometimes it is ads (myspace) sometimes it is merchandise (homestarrunner) or a combination of the two (penny-arcade). Maybe your content is worth a subscription (hotornot). Maybe you sell books or offer training and advanced services (SysInternals/Winternals).

Another argument for not worrying about the business model, if it is your intent to be acquired, is that your product may wind up more flexible. 3 different companies might use 3 different ways to make money from your product. Again, the distinction is that it's already profitable companies doing the buying, rather than the Stock Market At Large.
Are you kidding me? You have to make things the people on your thesis committee want. There's only 4 of them, but you have to have 100% satisfaction.
Flickr and YouTube each dramatically changed their business idea - PG's policy of only asking about an idea out of politeness makes sense...
How to Make Money Without a Job (mp3)
Doubtful, this is your traditional consulting model. I've been in consulting now for 10+ years. It's a good business and definitely beats the pants out of a corporate job, but it's no software startup. Consulting is essentially a relationship business, not a technology business.
Haha, well at least you fixed the 'not enough applications problem'! I would have submitted but I can't move this summer, although I think just getting feedback from yCombinator would be worth it to me. To bad time is your most precious commodity.
Nice. It was fun hanging out with them. It was like a whole other startup school, by watching them work.
While I've been dreaming of dropping out of college before I even entered it, I have to admit much of my ideas have come directly from my college experience. If I dropped out, sat at the apartment trying to think of the next big idea I doubt I would have too many.

I do think the case to drop out becomes much stronger once you have an idea launched and showing potential.
FYI this was submitted 6 hours earlier here: http://news.ycombinator.com/comments?id=6850
That may be true, but you can work for 5+ years at a problem, fully supported by your university, without having to worry about pleasing anyone in the short term. There is no need to worry about releases or fickle customers. And in the end, success is virtually guaranteed. So I would have to agree that grad school is more "friendly" than starting a startup, where you have to start worrying about the viability of your work within a few months (at least in the YC model).
Experience is good. ("I still think 23 is a better age than 21.")

But the best way to gain experience would be pursuing a startup. ("But the best way to get experience if you're 21 is to start a startup. So, paradoxically, if you're too inexperienced to start a startup, what you should do is start one.")

So from my view, it isn't so much that there's a bias towards first timers, it's that there isn't a bias against first timers.

[Quotes from Paul's newest: http://www.paulgraham.com/notnot.html]
I'm cool with consulting. As you point out, it's relationship-based, which means that it probably doesn't obsolete as quickly as a business based solely on technology.

In your business, have you been able to take the IP you developed and create your own product?
I agree, I love working on hard problems. Sort of. What I've found is that I tend to make decisions for a variety of reasons, and am most decisive when I have a either broad convergence of motivation, or a singularly powerful one.

If you're asking yourself wether to pursue a job at google or starting a startup, you'll want to try enumerating as many reasons as you can for each one. You won't likely get a definitive answer, but the excercise will get you thinking about what other things are important to you. If you're lucky, one will turn up to be the obvious choice.

In my case, I have slid technically to the point that preparing for one is the same as preparing for the other.
I noticed that too after I submitted. But when you click on their link it doesn't go to the techcrunch article.
the logo says it all
Not everything, though, is as blissful as it sounds. There are times when I wish I had taken the beating and went along with the standard template. I haven't told my parents that I have left university to pursue the startup dream...it wouldn't be wise to tell them unless they felt the opportunity cost of pursuing a startup is greater than getting a job. So every other day, they believe I leave off to study at my University when really I just go sit in the library and code Shuzak (our startup) :p This way, they will be really happy if I got accepted into YC but not disappointed if I didn't.

The consequence of having left University is that I am now super determined to make this successful; I have burned the ships behind me...so if our startup drowns, so will we.
Yes that is the interesting question, but how do you answer it?

By enumerating what you want and comparing that with the support and restriction a steady job offers.
It's true that you don't have to prove yourself after the first semester of grad school, but there are many "release"-like hoops you have to jump through in those 5+ years. The main one is your thesis proposal. I also had to do a plan of study a couple years before that; nowadays, my school (Northeastern) instead makes you publish a paper (and you're encouraged to publish multiple papers). There's also all the things your advisor asks you to do as his research assistant, which isn't always directly connected to your thesis work.

Your adviser, committee members, and conference/journal reviewers are all "fickle customers". And these aren't customers who came to you because they want your product, these are more or less assigned to you and you're stuck with them (unless you change departments or schools). It's true that you get a stipend, but I'm not sure that counts as "full support". And while the drop-out rate is obviously lower than the startup failure rate, it's far from zero.

Still, I agree that grad school is less scary than a startup. But don't think it's not all about pleasing others, with many non-trivial deadlines and constraints.
Contextuality on mobile devices
That's a great post. We all know that some places are overloaded, but it's nice to have a concise list like that.

Quality and differentiation usually win out though. Hopefully somebody here is working in one of these areas and we can see it. I guess heySan! and Zenter come to mind, now that I think of it.
This past "startup" weekend, we got a chance to bounce our idea off a bunch of different people. I got some really good feedback and wrote down every suggestion I received as soon as I could.

Let people know what you're doing so you know if you're doing something worthwhile. Remember: if they don't get what you're doing, it's certainly not their fault. Don't get haughty and cry that they're not sharing your vision. Let a potential user tell you what they want.
His name is Victory Darwin. Holy crap.
Tell me specifically what kind of connections, expert advice and guidance google wants, and I can tell you whether I'd be a viable second choice or not. :-)
Look at them so easily and distinctly categorize all the different spaces of the web.

I'm sure we'll be seeing plenty of successful startups that significantly overlap several of these categories. Don't look to strictly find a set that your company falls into; just solve a problem no one has adequately solved before.
Right on, man. Have fun.
Yeah Woz and Jobs were a great combo. It amazes me how well they matched.

It seems harder to identify a good "Jobs" type person. Good presentation skills... Couldn't you just get a smooth talking MBA type? An MBA that is good with technology? A smooth talking engineer with an MBA?
I am Aur Saraf.

YC can be scaled to any size very simply.

So simply, in fact, that had I met the criteria, I'd ask Paul to sponsor me in setting up YC Israel.

YC can be scaled by both growing and duplication (creating copies that operate in different locations):

What do you need to run a YC "chapter"? Some of you might reply "Paul Graham". Well, I appreciate that, but it's wrong. The only resource needed to run a YC chapter that isn't abundant is people with the enthusiasm and experience needed to guide young entrepreneurs.

But what does YC produce? Exactly that.

Paul, you remarked lately that the reason you run YC is probably that you don't need money and do want to work with people you like. Well, take any hacker that has successfully sold a start up and he'd probably want the same.

So young hacker =} YC =} experienced entrepreneur {= YC

When I'll exit my business (or stabilize it and stay within), I'll call Paul and ask to found YC Israel. For now, I have other work to do :)

Aur Saraf
I can't say that I've quit my job, but Paul Graham does make some interesting points.

The question that is stuck in my head is "what should I do if I have an idea for a Web service, but have no technical 'know-how?'" Is it worth approaching YCombinator?
Seven Companies That Aren't Rumored to be Buying Palm, But Really Should Be
You ask about founding a startup, joining one, and whether YC cares if you have some startups under your belt.

You have already created a few businesses yourself, at least two of which are active and very likely more profitable right now than most YC companies are at this point. It's very likely that very few founders of YC companies have any business experience what-so-ever.

I think you are way too impressed by what some MIT guys are doing (in general) and should have more confidence in your own abilities. I would suggest to treat life like an adventure and go for whatever startup idea you have as soon as possible.

What would you be your goal? To save up some money? In that case, it would be better to work at a startup than as employee number twelve-hundred. In reality, you should leverage your business experience and customer-relations skills to create your own startup as the next thing you do in life.

I will try to move to San Francisco as soon as I can. I think you (or I) will gain a lot of experience networking with other startups on their own level while in the Silicon Valley, without having to necessarily work for any of them. Remember, as soon as you become employee #5 at one of startups (big or small), you are no longer a co-founder and nobody will see you on the same level.

What are you waiting for?
Offline Web App vs. Online Desktop App
I'm reminded of the quote that goes something like "don't let your schooling get in the way of your education."

The reason I think this applies is because engineering isn't really like what is taught in schools. It's probably the best you can do with 1 professor for 200 students.

But to answer the question, I would definitely be interested in doing engineering as a profession. Really I want to always be doing what interests me.

I like how Woz described it in his interview from "Founders at Work". He says that he loved working at HP and he wanted to work there for life. I'd want to find something like that.
Update: I haven't tried all those tips myself :).
I have asked relatives and friends only,
but writing in this blog my ideas become clear and it is inspirational for new ideas too.
I really like the focus PG now has on funding groups with quality people, not just an impressive demo. I was very surprised when I heard him say they will accept applications with the idea "I have no idea". The realization that you can have an outstanding group of founders but not a complete product yet and still get accepted into YC is very encouraging. Startup ideas often change and he recognizes that.

I just hope this still remains the case with SO many applications (most with solid demos I imagine..). Its probably very easy to get lost in the sea of impressive startup demos.
dude wtf? who writes web apps that don't work w/ firefox anymore? it's not like I'm running lynx.
I should point out that it's $1 million in scholarships and not just a single scholarship.

"The 12-week online program costs $7,000 and has the potential for a value of over $50,000." I'd rather do my own online research, read recommended books, and meet with entrepreneurs than spend money on this. How do they price it at a value of over $50,000?
Hello. My name is Aur Saraf.

If you want to change the world, you have two ways to do it:

1) By force - in this case, don't do it. Waste of energy on anti-productivity.

2) By creating something people REALLY REALLY want (like your examples) - in that case, yes. Create a company. Find someone as enthusiastic as you. If you create something people want, money will come.

Email me for details, I'm a gmailer and my nick is SonOfLilit.
joost on AppleTV
I meant you don't need to make something people genuinely want, as it would solve a problem they have. You have to prove to the committee that you put in a decent amount of effort, but that's about it.
Hello. My name is Aur Saraf.

No, this won't happen. We're drifting AWAY form that, not TOWARD it, in the last 50 years.

And yet, a revolution in education WILL come. Some day, someone WILL figure out that generic schools are stupid and will provide a better solution en masse, and creating a better solution is trivial.

But there's no money in education. Why? Because it's declared government business.

Therefore, he who will do that will sweat blood and do it just because he's so passionate about it.

Myself, I'd rather work small - pick a few good ones, instill in them the proper ideas and virality, so that they do the same.

Aur Saraf
Great point. I told my parents when I was 21, "I could make more money working at McDonald's than what I'm doing right now. The point is, everybody who has a small business or sold a startup, no matter what age they are right now, they started their quest for independence when they were 18, or 25. And, the only way to get experience at anything is to do it."

The great thing about software is how few Americans are doing it. There are many bright programmers in Asia but unfortunately their economies, political barriers, and upbringing preclude them from starting their own businesses. This is even true in places like England and France.

And, of those who are in America or are born in the US, very few even want to start a company, with the amount of money some companies pay (and the catered lunches, and all that jazz.)

So, there are very few of us who understand that it is our duty in life to start our own businesses, figure out the logistics, and then hire all these smart people around the world who deserve to work for great and smart people like us. It is not a choice to create a new startup. It is our duty, because 99% of American programmers are either too content with their life or only dedicate 2 hours a day to creating something (plus have no understanding of what exactly they are trying to accomplish so they give up early), and the other programmers in other countries have no hope of ever starting a business, no matter how good their grades are, or how smart and ambitious they are.

It is our duty to create startups that solve some problem and help people, and give people jobs.

Also, remember that you may think you're getting 100% of the experience working for a startup or running a part-time business, but unless you make it your only source of income, you are not really giving it 100%. This also means you are not receiving 100% of the experience someone else (like a competitor) is getting out of their full-time effort.
Food bloggers dish up plates of spicy criticism (Yelp's far reaching influence)
Seems like a cool concept though. It could have some better widespread use when they make it 'myspace compatible'.
Wait, so where do I apply?
I just wanted to follow up and let everyone know how we ended up answering this question. Hopefully this helps somebody out there.

The more we thought about it, the more we realized that we had no idea what the company would really be worth after three months. It was just too hard for us to figure out a number that we could defend. Other people are probably better at this than us.

So instead we thought about why we wanted to create the startup in the first place. In a nutshell, we want to work really hard on cool problems that we love and get rewarded for it. Someone buying our company basically takes this away from us (since we would already be working on something cool that we love, and we wouldn't get to work on it anymore).

So we asked ourselves: how much money would we want to ensure that we could work hard on cool problems we love again? In other words, how much money would we need to go back to square one and start another startup?

For us, we basically decided we wanted enough money to work on any problem we want for a few years, plus enough money to fund our next startup when we come up with an idea we're excited about. That's the best way we found to attach a dollar figure to what we want. You may have other factors to consider, but for us, it worked pretty well.

In any case, thanks a ton for all the good responses and feedback. It definitely helped us.
Personally, I love Yelp. I've discovered some great hole-in-the-wall places that make me feel like I'm in the know. Some critics can be exceptionally harsh, though, and it's interesting to witness the quick impacts they have on businesses.
Enter Zenter: "We want to be the Gmail of PowerPoint."
Hello, I am Aur Saraf.

Early French Gendarmes earned their bread capturing criminals and charging the populace for the service (as freelancer professionals, not employees of the government).

That model worked for them.

Could it work for Web2.0? Could an online "gendarme" find a way to police all social networks?

This is definitely something users would want, as far as we only filter for really bad spam/trolls/bullies that are hated by everyone (otherwise flames will rise over net neutrality and free speech).

The problem is that the net doesn't have jails. I can think up a few solutions.

This is an idea for the taking, offered as a public service since it doesn't match my taste and criteria.

If you DO take it, please track down my email and tell me so that I could smile over it.

Aur Saraf
Definitely not. I don't even have a four year degree, much less one from an Ivy League school, and my co-founder went to some school in Australia that I didn't even identify on the application, because I didn't know the name and had no time to check. (Our company was in WFP2007.)

But if I were offering advice from what I know today, I'd say, "Go to a famously good school. It'll pay for itself in one to five years, depending on your path after college, and after that it's all gravy."

I dunno what goes into the application vetting process, but I'll give the YCs credit for being extremely fair in the interview process. I met most of the other folks in Boston for the interview process (and spoke with many of them for a lot longer than the 15 minutes the YCs did), and while most who made it that far were impressive, the ones actually picked for the program were exactly the ones I would have picked as being most likely to succeed. And, interestingly, an MIT group that I met was turned down.
I was excited when PG said you don't have to be smart to startup [Vote up if true]
Correction (as above): It's true that you don't have to make something people want at all in many fields (c.f. theoretical math), but many in engineering probably use it to make something people just don't want immediately enough for you to get funding and make a product before said funding runs out.
No offense, but if your parents are paying a dime for your schooling, you should probably tell them you aren't going.
And leave a comment here if you come to News.YC for news and not content-free polls!
Another approach is to let PG take care of it and get back to working on something that matters, whatever that may be;-)
There are a lot of time trackers/project management/todo list things, too... I've been finding that out with my Stuff To Do application:-/
That's right out of a "disruptive innovation" paper I read recently.

Nice to know the company I'm in with regards to my reading material!
Ligatures and Kerning (The way text is displayed) can effect how people feel after using/reading a website.
On Reddit, I recall one day in which there were 4 polls on the front page, and two other posts complaining about the polls.

For the most part, we all agree that polls don't belong as part of the comment system. PG has offered to write dedicated poll code.

Let's try to band together to avoid filling up the stories with Polls, Stories Complaining about polls, then complaining about complaining about polls, and the like. ;)

-Colin
Enough already with Justin.TV. It is completely lame.
this must be the most pessimistic article I've ever read in my life by the most pessimistic writer out there!

If Paul Buchheit thought like this, we would never have GMail.
"Gmail of Powerpoint"? Am I the only one who is struggling to make sense of what that means?
Here's my big question for Paul, and for everyone. How does one afford to start a startup? Does everyone do it by eating Ramen and maxing out their credit cards? Wouldn't you hear about more people who had their life left in ruins with $50k in debt when their website went under? I'm not talking about the cost of running and developing your business. I'm merely worried about rent, food, and Health Insurance!

I work a day job and am diligently developing multiple startup ideas with a few friends, but these will obviously never get off the ground until we quit our jobs. How do you do this without massive savings for six months or a year? What if you don't become profitable for 2 or 3 years?

My best solution so far has been to trick myself and go back to get my MBA this fall. I can live off loans and spend all my free 'college' time developing our sites. I've had a lot of entrepreneurs tell me that this is a bad decision, and that I should just quit and go to town on the web.

Could someone please suggest some means that would allow me and my fellow co-founders to do this?
Hello. I am Aur Saraf.

Simply put, no.

Start ups are about work, not ideas. Ideas flow freely with some people (like me) that just have about one idea per day worth implementation.

The skill to bring a product to life is the critical part.

Still, since you shouldn't drop the idea of starting a start up, you should either find someone with the technical know how (track down my email and email me for help in that) or go for an idea where you can contribute 100%.

Just my opinion, of course, though I highly doubt anyone would disagree (yes, this is a challenge).

Aur Saraf
I feel uneasy about (what PG just said) "just release stuff they build, without worrying...".
Isnt it showing disrespect for the user? If I do my very best for you, it is saying that I respect you.
Oddly enough, it is in enterprise software that I find great care taken to see that a certain level of quality is reached. I myself try to write code that I would feel comfortable saying it is of decent quality. (of course, my 'good' code may be your nightmare).
:) http://www.google.com/support/contact/bin/request.py?bdpg=1