[uptownfunk]

The real question is, do I want to be in a room with 99 other people who wanted to be selected for this so much that they produced a video with answers to these questions? This whole thing is self-selecting for they type of person I'd rather not be having dinner with.

YC produces a ton of great resources that are very helpful, but this is one that makes me scratch my head.

[z2]

Anecdotally, having gone through some selective institutions, I've seen this more than a couple times (though maybe this also says something about myself too...). My unfounded theory is that gatekeepers (e.g. admissions, HR) are inherently fool-able because they don't live the 'greatness' in candidates they seek to find. As a result, while most who get in have traits correlated with future success, others are simply great at advertising having those traits without any real hard-won skills.

I'm curious how someone who is not a physicist can tell if someone has the potential to 'finally solve physics.'

[iandanforth]

In other places YC has described this as bullshitting and their answer is Jessica. They claim (at least publicly) that she significantly shifts the ratio to favor people with real skill over those who are good at advertising it.

http://foundersatwork.posthaven.com/the-social-radar-what-i-...

[JohnJamesRambo]

My first criteria would be show everyone the door that thought they could "finally solve physics."

[endorphone]

What type of person is that? I'm honestly at a loss because it asks for nothing more than a simple narrative for why this opportunity fits the candidate, where the complexity of the video can be "turn on my phone's front camera and recorded for 60 seconds".

Is that a type of person? Is it a bad type of person? I don't understand the insinuation.

[freehunter]

Many cultures/subcultures/microcultures place high value on being humble. This is the exact opposite of humble, it's blatant self-promotion. That's not necessarily a bad thing, in fact it's very much required in business, in interviews, in admissions, etc. But it does rub against those cultures who value humility and frown upon self-promotion.

As an example I grew up in a poor farming town in the Midwest. Everyone drove an older pickup. Occasionally someone's truck would break and they'd buy a new one. It was the gossip of the town, look at Mr So-and-So flaunting his wealth, his farm must be doing great, what's his secret, why is he showing off? A few years later his truck is dusty and dented and rusty but someone else's truck breaks and they get a new one, and now they're the talk of the town.

Recently I drove back into that town in my BMW... I should have known better. My grandparents called me afterwards to let me know how everyone in town is talking about them, my grandparents, for raising such a braggart of a grandson that he'd drive around town in a BMW. Doesn't matter how much money you have, you don't buy a nice car because it's self promotion.

Not saying it's right or wrong, but some cultures try to avoid people who brag about their own accomplishments. This goes hand in hand with other comments saying they wish they could nominate someone because some people would never nominate themselves.

[shafyy]

Exactly this. I grew up in Switzerland. Talking about why you're great would raise a lot of eyebrows. I live in SF now, and in my experience everyone is "bragging" all the time. I know that it's not bragging in that sense, but it just seems like that to me.

When I'm pitching (or applying to YC or whatever), it's really hard for me to talk about my achievements in that way. I just feel bad doing it. Naturally, I do it less. For investors or partners that are used to people telling them why they are the next Steve Jobs 24/7, and assuming I'm doing the same, think I'm the dumbest person ever.

[endorphone]

I will give that false humility is rampant, but it's incredible (and perhaps ironic) in the context because so many seem to be saying "Well I wouldn't want to be with these people." That is the opposite of humility.

Virtually all of life is self-promotion (however massaged and clouded we make it -- we see humility as a virtue because it's great if everyone else just gets out of the way), and sideways mechanisms to do it do little but feed into raw dishonesty. And let me say that I have pretty strong social anxiety so this contest has no draw for me, but I have no animosity for those who it fits.

As an aside, I grew up in a small, blue-collar working town, and it operates very similar to your description. But it isn't that people value humility, but rather that they impose their own limitations and hangups on others. It was the crab mentality.

Regardless, there are many paths to changing the world. Even if we accept the notion that only the bad wouldn't cow under humility, to quote Ahad Ah'Em (Asher Ginzberg) - "Men With Self-Confidence Come and See and Conquer". There is a high correlation between people who have a sometimes inflated confidence and those who actually affect real change.

[DoreenMichele]

"Men With Self-Confidence Come and See and Conquer"

Women with self confidence get put in a damned if you do, damned if you don't bind. They have substantial challenges trying to self promote. I'm convinced it's mostly systemic, not innate to women per se.

[dannylandau]

First time I've seen a quote from Ahad AhEm on HN.

[clairity]

isn't that one of the reasons you get a bmw, to exude class and status? otherwise, there are plenty of other sports sedans you could get, like a ford fusion sport or something, that embody different social messaging.

this isn't a critique of your choice of cars, but your reaction is interesting. some people in that situation would have their ego boosted. others would't care much either way. but this clash of cultural values seems to be a point of contention.

with that said, we each find our own balance between braggart and self-effacing behavior. neither extreme is particularly ideal. being social is all about negotiating esteem with each other if anything.

[freehunter]

You're entirely correct. I'm just using that point to highlight that where I live right now, it's expected that I brag about how successful I am (like someone applying to YC 120), but some people could be uncomfortable with this because a BMW in a small town attracts the wrong kind of attention.

It's a big change of culture to to want to draw attention to your success rather than drawing attention away from it.

[xchaotic]

It's the other extreme, but Sweden is the same. If more of the world was like that, we wouldn't have subprime crisis

[hoaw]

I think an events like this challenges people's slightly suppressed sense of egalitarian randomness (random egalitarianism?) they favor in place of equality.

[shanghaiaway]

They're optimizing for people who are good at storytelling. Storytelling is emphasized on at Ivy league admissions and MBA admissions. So that's the type of people they'll get.

[rblion]

well, shoot. I was going to apply but now I'm thinking TechStars is probably better. YC is great but I'm probably 'too dumb' because I don't look like a typical candidate on paper.

Peter Thiel has some interesting thoughts on the decline of SV. Interesting times to be an inventor.

[keiferski]

It’s just a 60 second video answering 3 fairly straightforward questions. What’s so difficult about that?

[kickopotomus]

There are 2 underlying implications: one due to the submission format and the other due to the framing of the questions. Answering self-promoting questions on video is more conducive to Type A personalities over Type B. This is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it is ironic for a convention where network strengthening is the primary goal since Type As generally don't need as much help networking as Type Bs.

[johan_larson]

Yes, if someone set up a honeypot to catch egomaniacs it would look just like that page.

[gist]

> do I want to be in a room with 99 other people who wanted to be selected for this so much that they produced a video with answers to these questions?

No value to meeting any of these people? Even if just for future contacts that could be beneficial or ideas? I am not seeing much downside to this at all. If I had the time I'd fly out on my own dime and just hang around and 'press the flesh'.

[staticautomatic]

I share the parent's sentiment. I don't expect everyone to share this opinion, but personally I think of it like applying for a job at a big management consultancy. Do I want to do a bunch of stupid shit and pretend to be a "thought leader" so that I can expand my network to include a bunch of people who don't share my belief that the interview process is such a lot of stupid shit that it's not worth doing?