Why “WHY YOU SHOULD NOT JOIN Y COMBINATOR” indicates small-minded thinking
TL;DR This post is a response to a twitter thread that essentially argues against the power of networks in tech/startups.
I'm reacting below to what seems like obvious small-minded thinking and very bad career advice
...here’s the original thread
YC will proudly tell you that you are more likely to end up with a billion dollar business if you join them”
** literally nobody at YC ever told me or any YC alum this.
“A non-ergodic system is not necessarily bad”
** so glad you know this. this is true.
“Those who benefit from the collective will take advantage of you”
**ok. sure this happens. but it doesnt always happen. this is sometimes true.
“This is what YC will try to do to you.”
** how do you know this? Insofar as you’d like novel inventions and discoveries…e.g. 10x improved health outcomes, going interstellar, dramatically safer and more secure communication, more fun things…you need people to bet the farm and “dig in one spot.”
“but they’re more reluctant to tell you is that only about 50 companies met [a billion dollar outcome] out of the 4,000.”
**Again, nobody at YC has ever been reluctant to tell me or any other YC alum or anyone outside venture capital / startup ecosystem this. you made this up!
“ but let’s say you have the stamina and willpower to go through YC three times in your lifetime.”
** many many people have applied to YC many times and many others have done YC multiple times.
“hit the jackpot”
** if you are under the impression that YC talks about jackpots, you are either confused or mistaken
“but I want to be successful in this lifetime”
** it’s amazing you want to be successful. you should start a company. do or don’t Y Combinator. it doesn’t matter as much as the internet zietgesit suggests. personally, i would recommend it if you can do it. But if you want to be successful, be successful. nobody stopping ya :)
“3,950 dummies who failed”
** this is offensive to me and many others but mostly it’s embarrassing to you. You’re one of many “buy my course!” guys, right? stop talking shit
“failure is a very expensive way to learn those things”
** the cheapest way to learn something:
2. read a book about the mistake
3. make the mistake yourself manually using your own money, time, peolpe, etc.
pick 1 of the ^^above…
YC puts you in a room with a lot of people who have made a lot of mistakes but who also are largely ego-free. many opportunities to employ strategy #1 above.
you do you. but i really like #1.
领英推荐
“You don’t need to crash a plane to learn how to fly one”
* smart people tend to reject false tradeoffs. this is an obvious false tradeoff.
“You can’t just say I’m going to pivot, and suddenly a good opportunity lands on your lap from heaven. You get good ideas by embracing randomness for a long time”
** Random ideation is a great source of great ideas for some people. But you’re very wrong, again, that this is the only way. You can absolutely apply systems thinking to generate original great ideas without an act of god or random lightbulb from nowhere. There’s a company you can google called mckinsey. they actually made a whole company predicated on winning with deliberate vs. random/spontaneous business concepts.
“Your imagination is overrated”
** Gah. i feel so sorry for you. It’s gotta be sad to go thru life with thoughts like this.
“focus relentlessly on staying in the game rather than on hitting it big. Focus on the downside, and let the upside take care of itself.”
** wtf are you talking about?
“Usually bunched up with 4 roommates “
** is there a cartoon about YC or something. where are you getting this stuff? Who were your 3 roommates?
“Why is YC full of 22 year olds”
“need to become a VC, but for your own ideas.”
** yes. you’re right. this is true and wise, yes. VCs are largely bozos..but their approach to building wealth is smart. portfolios are great things.
“The same way it’s wise to invest in a broad ETF”
** allocation of time and money into an ETF and into startups is an utterly confused perspective. you should diversify your financial destiny, yes. Part of that diversification should be “your day job” or “your career.” but that’s a portion in and of itself. Career is part of a diversified portfolio. But that is very different from a “jump job to job to job to job as often as possible” or “never sink your teeth deeply into anything ever” diversification strategy.
career + other stuff = diversified / derisked financial destiny. not career1 + career2 + career3 + career_n… = derisked destiny.
i’m not a financial planner but this advice reads more woe is me than anything else. or even designed to destroy morale and crush spirits and dreams.
Conclusion:
feels bad man. idk who you are but gosh i’m sorry you feel this way. what a bummer.
—
this was a depressing post…if you want a more uplifting one try this:
or this one:
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CEO of Sales Talent Agency | Co-host of Topline ???
8 个月Spot on!
Accelerators can definitely be a game-changer for many early-stage teams in tech. Keep challenging those misconceptions! ??
Helping B2B companies that aren’t scared to grow, get leads and close more deals in 90 days | Without paid ads or relying on referrals | Try out my free cold email masterclass course in the featured section????
8 个月Challenge skepticism, embrace the power of accelerators! What's your go-to approach for networking success?
My favorite letters of the alphabet are R&D, followed by M&A, right before I.P.O.
8 个月I always tend to think that we focus too much on "start-ups" and less on "start-outs" ... what matters most is where a founder or founding team is starting out from. We try to make all start-up advice one-size fits all and that's rarely the case.