| I worked in a bootstrapped startup for 10 years. When I left, my network was very narrow (industry focused). I did a hard reset and ended up first working at a YC company and then another SV VC backed startup. When this second startup pivoted they asked if I wanted to stay on or accelerate my vesting. I left because there was something else I wanted to build. But now being connected to this network, the founders of the company I left opened up 8-10 VC calls. Nothing changed about me, my capabilities, my skills, my knowledge. But being plugged in to this network definitely has benefits. The bias is obvious in the tech industry. Lots of companies get funded that aren't true VC scale businesses. I spoke with another YC founder that ended up folding his startup doing an open source product. I asked about his pitch to YC and how he framed his business model and he said he basically didn't have one. As much as we think tech is a meritocracy, there's a lot of bias, nepotism, and favoritism. |