| > this feature makes it sound as an evil trick Its not an evil trick, but it is playing on human emotion, and our inherent decision weighting when presented with uncertainty and risk. You look at what its like being a college grad, realize how much trepidation there is about graduation and finding a job, and you shape an offer that: a) Lets you get rid of that uncertainty very early (compared to normal hiring cycles)
b) Makes the "commitment" not seem very severe.
c) Alludes to financial stability (another big source of uncertainty, particularly with how big college loans are now)
d) Promises to make future risks less severe (good references from a prestigious job) The only thing it doesn't really cover on top "What I Want from a Job" lists is "will I enjoy the work?", and most new grads are still so inexperienced that they have no idea what kind of work they would actually "like". It still amazes me a bit how much of life and getting people to do what you want basically boils down to uncertainty / risk mitigation. You don't need an active carrot or a stick, you just need to change the landscape so your choice is the only, or obvious, low-risk choice that makes them feel more "secure". In some ways, YC even plays to this, as it offers guaranteed initial funding (lower entry risk), a beachhead to a wide range of funding sources (lower future risk), and low commitment risk (you've only got a small window of 3 months). They may even have ways to lower the pre-decision uncertainty or to make YC more competitive with other options that I just don't know about / recognize. |