[juwo]

Before you get too excited about this article, realize that if you are not in the YC club, this article was not intended for you.

In other words, the warm encouraging phrases have qualifiers - you have to figure out what they are and if they apply to you.

[euccastro]

For a more broadly targeted, more nuanced version[1] of this I found The Dip, by Seth Godin, quite helpful.

Like this essay, the book gives much advice of the "don't give up" type. But the book also mentions some cases when you should quit: you should quit activities that are a cul-de-sac, those in which you are not committed to become the best, or that don't help you become the best at what you most want to do. The rationale is that current society rewards the very best, ignoring the rest, out of proportion with actual quality/merit. I'm oversimplifying of course.

Obviously, PG doesn't think any of the YC startups is in a cul-de-sac, so he can dispense with that exception and tell all of them to just push forward. If anything, he warns the folks not to 'unquit' school and other attention/commitment escape valves.

[1] Edit: I was focusing on the "don't give up, don't lose focus" part. This essay has other big theme, shame as a motivator, which is not touched in The Dip.

[alex_c]

But that's true for anything you read, online or otherwise. All advice or opinions have qualifiers that you need to evaluate.

[dfranke]

The only qualifiers I see are "smart" and "flexible". If both those things apply to you, then so does the article.

[juwo]

How about this: If you are in the YC club, you and your cofounders, the idea, prototype, business model, user base have passed muster. Your team is in a startup hub like SFO/BOS. You will have the backing, connections and resources of YC.

Otherwise, the qualifiers that apply to any other startup in general, apply.

[dfranke]

If this talk didn't apply to people not accepted by YC, Paul wouldn't have bothered publishing it.

[dfranke]

Ok, I don't want to come off as whining, but I'm just really curious: who downmodded this comment and why? Usually when I get a downmod it's on a statement that's at least somewhat controversial, and I don't understand why this one would be. I can't figure out why anyone except possibly juwo would want to downmod it, and I know it wasn't him because you can't downmod replies to your own posts.

[juwo]

before you follow the herd and blindly down mod my comment:

you dont have to get into YC to succeed, but understand he was talking at an exclusive event - the final YC dinner.

Also understand the odds. He picks teams most likely to succeed. If he rates odds of success as 1/2 (or whatever the article said), and the odds of getting in are 20/400, then the odds of success for you and me, those who didnt get in, is 1/40. Which is 2.5% and vibes with I recall that people generally say that startup odds are 2%.

[pg]

Only if you assume that you can't succeed unless you get funded by YC, which is rather flattering us.

[yamada]

EXACTLY. That is my general point - Don't be naive! If this article was intended as an internal memo, then it would be that - an internal memo. If people at YC meet up all the time I'm sure they could have many opportunities to discuss these issues at their "dinners" ... BUT INSTEAD its being pasted on the web. SO PLEASE, stop the apologetics with this "You need to be qualified for this message". No, you need to be someone on the internet to read this. That is the only qualification. I didn't type a password to get to read this, I don't know Paul, I'm not in YC (and I never "applied"). And as for being smart and flexible ... again. Stroking the egos of young, naive kids who think they have some special predestiny to succeed just because they have good ideas (or not), can put together some code and really, really want it badly. I got news for you. THIS ... IS ... A ... BUSINESS. You're being encouraged to "step up and endure" not because they like you and want to be your friend. Or because they think you'll make it. They want $$$. Then they'll be your friend. What if your idea never pans out? What happens to those people, because statistics-wise, you're more likely to wind up like them then the next Larry Page. Do they still get invited to YC dinners? Does Paul still call them up on their birthdays? Or are they given the ol' "Thank you, come again (when you have another good idea) ... now please leave?" I don't know. I never read about that. Maybe I'm wrong. But I dont' see a link to "guys who tried, failed for whatever reason, no matter how hard they tried, and are meeting on Wednesdays as a support group to motivate each other until they figure out the next idea while they're working at Starbucks." Everybody loves you and invites you to dinner when you're making it. When you fail, you're a stupid loser and nobody likes you. JUST LOOK AT THE CULT-LIKE WORDING of some of these comments ... "this is 'not for everybody' ... it's only for 'smart and flexible' people." Right. It's not for everyone - just the "chosen". "The few, the proud, the "smart and flexible." So if you disagree, by implication you're stupid and rigid? How can you not see this black-and-white 2-bit late night infomercial aspect. "With my system, you too can buy billions of dollars in real-estate with no money down! All you have to do is be very very serious and committed to success! But - this is not for everbody! This is only for "smart and flexible peope. And if you quit your job and risk your career in the next 60 minutes, we'll send you this free pen! Operators are standing by!"