I already spend a lot of time talking to early stage startups (it's really important that we understand them well); this seemed like a good way to formalize that in a way that helps them too.
(That is, my hope is that this is good for Stripe, for YC, and for the startups.)
In general, I'm very leery of distracting time commitments, and I don't sit on any boards or anything like that. I think this is a (pretty rare) example of one that makes sense for all parties.
I guess its the spirit of giving back. Y Combinator helped shape Stripe, get it investors, and all that, so he is kinda carrying the torch forward. I don't know him personally, but seeing the rate at which Stripe is growing, he must feel pretty strongly towards YC to have this level of commitment for it. YC ftw!
hire yourself out of every job, filling every spot with someone superior to you at the task and you will have 1) opened up your time 2) a superior company
To be a successful founder or CEO you have to grow a startup support system (a Mafia) around your startup. An active network of other entrepreneurs, investors, experts, can lead to opportunities for the company and mutually-supported survival when you really need it. You have to give before you get. Giving back to the startup community rises the tide for all boats in the long run. The wider the network, the better the CEO/Founder, the better off the company and its team.
I agree with you. It reminds me of an interview about Steve Jobs.
I don't have the link, but one of his executives was offered a BOD position in another company. Upon asking Jobs if he can take the board seat, Jobs told him he was barely making it at Apple as is...
I also don't buy the example of Musk and others, I think we have context as to how much better each of these companies would have run if they had put 110% of their efforts into just one.
Steve Jobs managed to be pretty effective as CEO of both Pixar and Apple at the same time for a while. Admittedly, his involvement at Pixar was mainly strategic whilst he was running Apple, but still.
Though Jobs was obviously the exception to so many rules.
CEOs and other high-level execs do take board positions in other companies, so the time commitment is not unusual. Admittedly, they're not usually startup execs.
(That is, my hope is that this is good for Stripe, for YC, and for the startups.)
In general, I'm very leery of distracting time commitments, and I don't sit on any boards or anything like that. I think this is a (pretty rare) example of one that makes sense for all parties.