[LarsDu88]

Lets go back to the beginning of YC. You can find a photo of the very first class. In that very first class, you'll see the AirBnb guys, the Twitch guys, the Reddit founders, and Sam frickin Altman. When you have 18 years of connections with virtually every successful YC startup, and happen to run the most disruptive company of the past 15 years, money and influence seeks you out.

[jakderrida]

Good answer. He basically fostered a reputation for having access to the connections you need. Same time, that don't mean he'll entertain any old idea. I thought he was lunatic for taking over at OpenAI and thought their idea was crazy. But he knew better than me.

[chaostheory]

Agree and you have a very reasonable comment, and I’m not sure why others don’t agree.

Just one possible correction: the AirBnB guys were about 4 years later than the 1st batch. I don’t think any of them were in the 1st batch with a different startup like the Twitch crew.

[LarsDu88]

My bad. Yes they weren't in the first batch. But hot damn being in that first batch was pretty big. Being the right place at the right time is incredibly important. Also, to be the specific kind of person to do YC so early on should probably not be undersold either.

[chaostheory]

Agree with you again. It’s not just timing and location either. It’s also your Alma matter in both education and the firms you worked at. If you create a resume for the typically YC member, over 90% of them went to an Ivy League level school and worked at a FAANG, MAGMA or whatever firm has great mindshare or prestige

[7e]

Being in the first batch wasn’t being in the right place at the right time. Look at all the failures in that batch.

YC succeeded in collecting all the companies that were going to be founded anyway, but were too inexperienced/naive to get real VC money. YC took a big cut of all of them for peanuts.

And they exploit those types of founders to this day. It’s a sweatshop wrapped up in a cult of the fruit-fly startup. The odds of success are low, but YC has a share every lottery ticket, so they come out ahead even though most everyone they support fails.

Altman realized what a great business that is, so he wisely pivoted away from his failed startup to exploit startups instead.

[stodor89]

Also Aaron Swartz, if we're thinking of the same photo. The world would no doubt be a better place if the powers that be hadn't suicided him.