HN Theater @HNTheaterMonth

Related links:

PG 12 years ago saying average was $17,500 per startup

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UacbJ72dluU

Last batch count was 240:

https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/meet-the-yc-summer-2022-bat...

FAQ saying current standard offer is $500,000

https://www.ycombinator.com/faq#covid

> Sorting people into bins: assholes and victims, is problematic.

This is true of anything subjective. There are people (intentional assholes in this article) who absolutely _are_ assholes because it gives them pleasure - their ego or otherwise gains something from hurting others. Everyone in a company knows who they without needing to go through a labelling process. Ultimately it's a problem for leaders in a company, those that should be caring about the culture, to remove such people.

Paul Graham described this long ago here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UacbJ72dluU (starts at 4m20s) - a leader in YCombinator he makes the judgement calls.

YC founder ethics policy here: http://www.ycombinator.com/ethics/

As well, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UacbJ72dluU&feature=channel

⬐ hadoukenio

From the policy:

Some examples of ethical behavior we expect from founders are:

  * Not using misleading, illegal or dishonest sales tactics.

  * Not harassing any YC community member, employees, or anyone else.

  * Not behaving in a way that damages the reputation of his/her company or of YC.

  * Generally behaving in an upstanding way.

Looking at Avi's background:

  "Like at age 16 when my co-founder and I wrote
  one of the first Facebook scripts to mass-invite
  people on Facebook to events we threw. Or how while
  at YCombinator I hacked prototype day (To PG’s
  disapproval)"

I think YCombinator is starting to have issues with their filtering process.

⬐ raldi

Also this:

> At first, I decided to just solicit them our deck and pitch but then I realized something: Tim Ferriss and Jason Calacanis almost definitely knew each other. So I spoof called Calacanis from Tim Ferris’ number.

I know PG looks upon a certain amount of "naughtiness"[1] as a potentially positive indicator, but it should be clear to anyone with an inkling of common sense that this is way over the line.

[1] http://www.paulgraham.com/founders.html

This low rate may also have to do with biases extant in engineering / sciences etc. Couple that with YC's preference for hard-core tech founders ( a perfectly reasonable delimiter ), these results are not surprising.

You can see similar composition in YC leadership where Jessica is the only female partner ( http://ycombinator.com/people.html ) and from my limited understanding, she brings in a much needed balance to their approach.

A system that produces great results should perhaps focus on

".. but by the content of their character " - Martin Luther King, Jr.

This I think, pg emphasizes via http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UacbJ72dluU

⬐ jlees

I agree that the smaller proportion of women in science means that there are naturally fewer women hacker founders, but 4% is lower than the percentages of women in science commonly quoted (anywhere from 10 to 38%). My feeling is that this is the subset of women hackers who also have some entrepreneurial drive -- not all male CS students become entrepreneurs -- but it's pretty low, and some of the other barriers mentioned in the article may be keeping it down.

⬐ Hitchhiker

Agreed. A few years ago, when I first asked around regarding my plans for branching out on my own.. the first line I got was " you must be a sucker for pain ".

As it turns out , the line has been proven on the dot.

So a better refinement of the question would be , why aren't there more female founders ?

I look at all the blockbuster companies, can't think of one woman who's gone for the scale of a Gates , Jobs etc. The few female execs that have come to the arena at that scale were non-founders.

Furthermore, the women in my life are having far more empathy, compassion and care. If there is some way to have more of that without losing track of overall merit, get it done is all I can say.

Here's a really interesting project with a female founder from my line of work :

http://qubes-os.org

Your comment is mean spirited. It's meaningless and adds no value. Perhaps you should watch this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UacbJ72dluU It's about Paul Graham's no asshole rule.

⬐ revorad

I thought the guy is complimenting you. Anyway, relax dude.

⬐ qeorge

A friend lived in a co-op at Oberlin, which had only one house rule: "don't be an asshole."

That one rule supplanted all the traditional ones for group living: don't leave dirty dishes, don't play obnoxiously loud music late at night, etc.

⬐ philwelch

Wikipedia, now largely as a holdover from its less bureaucratic days, has a fairly similar meta-policy called "don't be a dick": http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_be_a_dick

⬐ charlief

Did it work for you? I tried many times during school, and it didn't for me. People would appreciate the spirit of the rule, but it would be too subjective to be useful in the most heated situations.

⬐ pg

Like the domestic version of "Don't be evil."

⬐ kscaldef

It's also a more succinct variation of Caltech's honor code: "no member of the Caltech community shall take unfair advantage of any other member of the community."

⬐ beilabs

Having read all of his essays I have never heard Paul speak before. Seems like a pure gentleman.

⬐ Lewisham

It freaked me out when I found out pg spoke with an American accent. I just assumed he had an English one from his place of birth. D'oh!

⬐ robobenjie

I heard him speak first and then ended up reading all his essays, hearing them in his voice.

⬐ andrewcooke

I've read some of what he's written - I thought he came across as much more "normal" in that video. It improved my opinion of him considerably...

⬐ adamgravitis

Funny, I always thought Paul would speak in received pronunciation... :-)

⬐ araneae

He also has cute dimples.

⬐ JeanPierre

Never heard him? Not to derive this into some "list of Paul Graham's speaks", but I really suggest to watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7K0vRUKXKc. A good speak, I think.

⬐ vaksel

In regards to twitter...they should just give pg this guy's twitter account http://twitter.com/paulg

He only used it once, and that was back in 2007. I'm sure the twitter guys would pull some strings to get pg as a user. Especially since they have no problem securing unused accounts "We have a rough guideline of 9 months of non-use."

Other viable alternatives:

http://twitter.com/realpg - only used 2 times a year ago.

I've also registered http://twitter.com/pgyc so you can use that if you want(registered so some asshole doesn't go and hold it hostage). I figure YC is something you'd be known for...and even if you stop doing the whole YC program...it'll still be part of your legacy. And it's a short username.

⬐ buro9

Why should twitter give anyone's account to anyone else?

Besides, you're assuming because they're not posting publicly that they're not DM'ing or anything else. I'd be pretty peeved if I had registered an account and when I finally decided to make use of it had discovered that it had been removed to give it to some other person of the same name.

Twitter should leave people's accounts alone unless there is a good reason (preferably legal) for interfering with it.

⬐ kmfrk

>Why should twitter give anyone's account to anyone else?

(Because) it's happened before: http://foreign.peacefmonline.com/entertainment/201007/63667.....

"pg", "paulg", etc. are probably too generic to warrant giving it away, but I think it's okay to deal with nick squatters in most cases.

⬐ vaksel

twitter has access to the accounts...I'm sure they check whether or not the guy logged in or DMed within the past 3 years before transferring an account.

Either way, he can have the pgyc one I got...and the other people get to keep their accounts.(although based on their twits...I'd bet that they are the logged in once and test and never used again types.)

⬐ allenp

I guess the question is - why should someone (non-paying) be able to reserve an account name and not use it for nine months or more and expect to be able to keep the account? It doesn't serve any benefit to the community to have squatted accounts.

⬐ patrickk

I think the real reason he isn't on twitter is that he prefers writing in essay format (I think the thing about not getting a good username was slightly tongue-in-cheek). When asked about twitter he didn't seem to enthused about it.

⬐ vaksel

write essay -> twit out a bit.ly link -> get retweeted -> more exposure

⬐ tome

Can't he be content to let his fans tweet it for him, if they want to?

⬐ patrickk

I don't think pg is too worried about more exposure. I find out that he has a new essay out on HN, and I'd imagine it's the same for a lot of people.

There's a lot of cross-pollination between sites like Twitter, HN, Reddit etc. (the demographic being early-adopter techie crowd) so if a person didn't get the new essay from one of these sources, they'd get it from another. People who aren't likely to frequent any of these sites probably aren't likely to read his essays anyway.

⬐ parfe

What is the difference between an essay and a blog post?

⬐ frobozz

Where did that question come from? This is about Twitter, so the more relevant question is "What's the difference between an essay and a tweet?"

I'm not sure how to define that difference without something weak like "essays are longer", but even abstracts are typically expected to have more words than a tweet has characters.

⬐ parfe

I was asking because the OP wrote "he prefers writing in essay format" which seems to be giving PGs writings some sort of prestige beyond calling it a blog post. Yes, PG has lots of experience and writes well, but I don't see a need to elevate his blog to something more.

⬐ sprout

Essay implies you follow some actual style guide, even if it's unwritten. Blogs require no structure.

⬐ parfe

That's a fairly snobbish response. So basically an essay is not a blog post because you say so?

⬐ None

None

⬐ btilly

The style ideas you have for essays almost certainly don't match what Paul Graham sees an essay as. Read http://www.paulgraham.com/essay.html for details.

⬐ pg

To me the difference is the amount of effort one puts in. Originally a blog post, as the name "web log" implies, was something one wrote that day-- a log entry. Whereas essays sometimes take weeks. The distinction has gotten blurred, but insofar as there is a distinction I think that's the root of it.

⬐ None

None

⬐ patrickk

Between one of pg's essays and a typical blog post?

Pg spends weeks writing a typical essay of his (or at least he used to), editing it and getting feedback from colleagues and HN alumni before, whereas a typical blog post is banged out in a couple of hours, with little or no rewriting.

Also, just look a the page of one of his essays versus all the visual clutter on the typical blog post. Maybe superficial you may say, but I don't think so. It speaks volumes about the motives of the author. Maybe the blog writer wants to SEO optimise, promote their business, serve AdSense ads...whereas a pg essay is an extremely refined stream of thought on a specify topic. And his primary motive appears not be to sell you something, but figure stuff out as he writes.

So the difference between an essay and a blog post? Huge differences I think.

⬐ briancooley

Just going out on a limb here...maybe pg doesn't want a Twitter account and "no good names available" is just an excuse for folks like Scoble who can't believe he's still a holdout.

⬐ pg

It's really true. I ignored Twitter initially because it was described as micro-blogging. As a macro-blogger I assumed it wasn't for me. By the time I realized it was actually a new messaging protocol, all variants of my name were taken.

⬐ avibryant

This sounds like a fixable problem. What would some acceptable variants of your name be? If you email me ([email protected]) I will see what we can do. I'd certainly love to see you on Twitter.

⬐ JesseAldridge

On a related note, I've always thought a better title for "How to Win Friends and Influence People" would be, "How not to be an Asshole", or at least, "How to avoid acting like one."

http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/06...

⬐ dasil003

"How to avoid acting like an asshole"

It has a nice ring to it.

⬐ doubleg

relevant part: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UacbJ72dluU#t=4m18s

⬐ wccrawford

So, to save everyone the time, the 'no asshole' rule means they don't accept assholes and has the obvious benefit that there aren't many assholes in the 'alumni'. That's it.

⬐ credo

for me, it was impressive that he was modest - in noting (a couple of times) that there are exceptions.

⬐ maxklein

How do they know who is an asshole and who is not?

⬐ nuclear_eclipse

It's usually rather obvious just by chatting with someone for more than 5 minutes. It's also more obvious to those who aren't themselves assholes... YMMV

⬐ pg

We ask Jessica, who has near perfect judgment of character.

⬐ sanj

Is she available for contract work?

⬐ pg

Actually she does often do this for YC-funded startups that are hiring people.

⬐ ddelony

Does she have some specific criteria, or is it like the infamous Supreme Court definition of pornography? ;-)

⬐ Eliezer

I can see how you could tell that most of the people she told you to hire ended up as non-assholes, but how do you know that the people she tells you not to hire would actually have been assholes?

⬐ riffer

That's an opportunity cost, and it turns out that the main thing to understand about opportunity costs is that nobody thinks about them the right way (including me, of course).

⬐ jacquesm

http://electricpulp.com/guykawasaki/arse/

⬐ maxawaytoolong

This is an interesting rule in the context of Hacker News. Now that it's not really about hacking any more, it seems like the common trait is that everyone is an asshole.

⬐ mkramlich

I'd love to see a No Assholes rule on HN. By that I mean if an admin saw a post that was asshole-ish, the poster account would be disabled. It would encourage polite discussion. The current point system mostly encourages point-baiting and groupthink/PC-ness. Internet posting seems to encourage rude behavior, and it's exacerbated when you have a bunch of geek personalities who often lack good social skills.

⬐ maxawaytoolong

The problem with that approach is long, drawn out threads filled with phony politeness.

⬐ None

None

⬐ mudge

I love how his name tag is partially peeled off. Very casual and some how nice.

⬐ None

None

⬐ nl

Did anyone else notice how Paul seemed to know exactly what to say (hardly any "umms.." or "errs...", while Robert Scoble seems not to have thought about his questions?

⬐ Keyframe

the_real_pg is available on twitter, just sayin'... nudge nudge

⬐ eogas

Paul Graham uses the word 'right' where most people use periods...right?

⬐ teoruiz

I am so sorry, but I have to say this because it is what came to my mind when I watched it: Robert 'Scobleizer' Scoble is, most likely, an asshole.

And that's what I can read all over PG's body language throughout the video.

And again, I'm sorry for this mini-rant.

⬐ kloncks

I think whatever you saw is probably due to the fact that this was a very quick interview done outside in an impromptu way. PG's body language could have meant a million other things.

Scoble's one of the greatest advocates of startups and not just in Silicon Valley, so I'll strongly disagree with the "asshole" description.

⬐ chunkbot

I'm a great advocate of startups, but I'm also the first to admit I'm an asshole.

⬐ jaxn

In my very limited interaction with Robert Scoble I have found the opposite to be true. I found him to be open and a good listener.

⬐ blasdel

He sure as hell wasn't at Startup School 2009 -- he was bouncing up and down in his seat during the presentations raring at the bit to be an asshole, and interrupted several in just about the rudest possible way (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=901438).

⬐ guelo

I was a little annoyed when he interrupted Paul with unnecessary laughter a couple times, but that's probably just because I want to hear everything pg has to say.

⬐ AmericanOP

Don't confuse asshole qualities with competence and status. Scoble is one of the most wanted people in SV.

⬐ randallsquared

I have to say this because it is what came to my mind when I watched it

You have to say this because it came to mind? Really?

⬐ Estragon

It's actually Bob Sutton's rule.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_No_Asshole_Rule

⬐ MartinCron

For anyone who is interested in interpersonal relationships at work, Bob Sutton is pretty much required reading. I especially enjoy his blog. http://bobsutton.typepad.com/

⬐ pg

Incidentally, we don't call it a "no asshole rule." I think what I originally said to Robert was that we try not to accept jerks, and since he'd heard the phrase "no asshole rule" he used that to describe it.

Our criteria aren't the ones listed in this article, either. We're not trying to avoid people who make other people feel bad so much as those who are bogus, or dishonest. That's what we mean by a jerk: someone you can't trust.

⬐ StavrosK

Did I miss something, or was that awkward way the interviewer was interrupting pg real? At one point pg is saying something, and the interviewer interrupts him (while he's explaining) with some unintelligible thing, and pg goes "... <rage face> <swig>"

⬐ ivankirigin

That is scoble's style. He is friendly, gregarious, abd excitable which makes him great and horrible for interviews. His eagerness is net positive though. Often it makes interviews with more boring people tolerable.

⬐ StavrosK

Ah, thanks. I don't know him, and I didn't watch the entire interview, that part just looked too awkward to be serious...

⬐ Estragon

Thanks for the clarification.

⬐ SkyMarshal

> someone you can't trust.

Judging who you can trust, especially based on brief, early impressions, is quite a skill. Some have a natural intuition for it, others don't, but like many things I bet that intuition can be deconstructed into a series of learnable techniques. Would you consider writing an essay deconstructing how you and Robert judge who you can trust in business?

⬐ jackowayed

He's said in previous interviews that they all just ask Jessica, who is extremely good at judging character, because the rest of them aren't very good.

⬐ 16s

She must be their Counselor Troy :)

⬐ SkyMarshal

Ah, she's one of the intuitive ones. Some of it is probably due to women being more perceptive to body language and non-verbal communication than men are, on average. I wonder what else there is.