Ask HN: Access to PG? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Access to PG?

5 pointsashishk5 comments

I'm a longtime YC fanboy, entrepreneur, with a sincere question.

I've read a lot about YC, have seen plenty interviews with PG/YC founders and often hear that PG provides nuggets of invaluable advice to YC startups at their earliest stages. Often times on the spot, with little preparation (just watch PG at TC50 for an example).

I'd love to access that advice through YC (if I were lucky enough to get in), but I'm also single founder and aware of my chances of getting in as one. (Despite that, my startup, a "JDate for South Asians", is pretty close to being ramen profitable, so I feel like I can make it alone - or at least survive until I can hire someone.)

So my question would be: can still I access PG?

If so, how? Would he be willing to chat for 5 min? Just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation.

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I mostly wanted to meet the YC folks in person to see what it's all about.

So, I applied to Startup School last year and got in. I went to the YC offices afterwards to hang out. I had read almost all of his essays and also Founders@Work, so I didn't have to bore them with the same old questions. My questions were mostly about Canadian startups, and the statistics on how many applied and how many moved back. I was also at a different stage than you are, so my questions were also around how to figure out what people want, etc.

I'd suggest 3 methods that might get you a good result:

1) E-mail pg@ycombinator.com, taking note of his advice from http://paulgraham.com/info.html

Since you're in Boston, ask if he'll be here anytime in the next couple of months, and if you could buy him a coffee before / after whatever he's doing. Or, since pg's super-focused on the valley, you could plan a trip to San Francisco, try to pack it full of meetings with other people to maximize value, and ask pg if there's a time during one of your trip days when you could swing by for a chat.

2) If you're more patient, setup Google Alerts / Twitter search RSS feed for "Paul Graham Boston", "Paul Graham speaking at", "Paul Graham scheduled", "Paul Graham presenting at", "site:eventbrite.com Paul Graham", etc. to try and stay aware of what events he's going to, and see if you can attend.

3) Network with some YC founders, and see if they'll introduce you. Surely with as many startups as YC has funded, there are people working on things that you could provide value to, and would be interested in what you're working on.

Good luck!

Thanks!

There are a ton of startup incubator programs and investor lists and VC blogs and tech meetups out there that could connect you with mentors and advisors.

If you think a 5 minute conversation with PG is going to dramatically affect the success or failure of your venture, I think you might want to broaden your search - there are plenty of other resources out there for new entrepreneurs. You should probably be looking to talk to anyone out there who will listen to you about your idea -- PG is just one guy.

Yeah I should have clarified. I actually do have a handful of smart advisors that have helped me out a great deal. I probably wouldn't have any chance of succeeding if I didn't have their help along the way.

I also have competitors' SEC filings, my usage/conversion stats, etc. that guide me in the right direction at a granular, day to day level.

But I've been reading PG's essays for some time, and wanted to see what he'd think. I definitely don't think a 5 min convo would have an adverse "affect" [sic].

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