Forgive me for my bull-in-the-china-shop approach. I get wound up sometimes because I lack experience and expertise. I'm trying to communicate my passion and willingness to work with whoever is willing to make my vision happen. Sometimes I get heavy handed. Can't say it won't happen again. Let's begin:
What’s my vision and why am I here annoying people on HN?
I have an idea for a mainstream social network in the vein of Twitter and/or Facebook, my vision is clear and the market for what I want to do is currently open. I feel like I have to act quickly, and YC would be a great fit for me. I'm pushing hard to let the selection committee know what I'm about.
What is my experience that shapes my attitude toward creating great things?
Everything I’ve read or seen tells me that there is no place for doubt in the foundations of an attempt of something. Mother Theresa didn’t doubt that she was supposed to go to Calcutta for the first few years as she established herself there. Her doubts came later in life but she had accomplished amazing things through her refusal to allow fear to prevent her from being successful. I’m sure there are lots of different ways to accomplish things, I guess I was just thinking in general terms and I was trying to express most accurately how I felt.
What do I bring to the table besides the vision?
I have a passion, a willingness to listen, and an open perspective. I also think I'm smart, good looking, funny, and I smell good, if that helps at all. Examples of my so called passion: I started a company, raised a small amount of money from my family, designed wireframes and product specs, and contracted with freelance developers to build a demo of the site. My first demo should be done by the end of this week, according to my developer.
In my experience, why is saying all of that hyperbolic crap a good idea?
My use of “meaningless platitudes and danger signs” sounded good to me because I see, hear, and read a lot of that type of stuff from tech guys. Take Ron Conway and Mark Zuckerberg at the YC Startup School for example. If somebody came up to you and said,
"I'm working on something that hasn't been done before,"
you would say,
"Thanks so much for that useless information."
Then if that person turns out to be Zuckerberg, you'd say, as Conway did,
"I remember when Zuckerberg said to me, 'We're going to build something that hasn't been done before.' He had such a clear vision of what he was going to do."
These ideas I have and my statements on what I bring to the table are completely and hilariously true. I can't put them any other way. It sounds dumb to say "I'm going to build the next Twitter," so I try to avoid doing it. The only problem is, I believe I can so I have a hard time containing myself when I get started discussing it.
I try to bring a healthy perspective to my ambitions but it's hard to convince people that I'm serious because everyone I’ve met in the tech community seems to have an attitude of skepticism. So when I say things like,
"I've got something big here. I need a lot of help to make it work will you help me?,"
instead of people responding with,
"Tell me more about what your idea is,"
I get a lot of,
"It’s too big. Do you really think you can pull this off?"
My response to that question is:
“I know it’s big, I know it’s a long-shot, but it’s so cheap to try and the result could be amazing.”
At that point the skeptic says or thinks: “A lot of stuff could be amazing. Who cares?”
The optimist says: “Thumbs up! Let’s do this!”
For me, the issue should be about the product, not about who I am or what my skills and experiences are. It’s convenient of me to feel this way because on paper I am completely unqualified to make this happen. That’s why my constant refrain is, “Who wants to help make it real?” It’s going to take a village.
I'm hungry to bring people into the project who share a passion for my vision. I'm on my own right now and that's not good from YC’s (or my own) perspective. It's hard to find cofounders in Milwaukee. Maybe I haven’t tried enough to meet people, but the Winter Session is here, so I have to work with what I’ve got. I've had help from a lot of people but too many of them are tied up with other things. I can't make this project happen on my own. YC would accelerate the process of helping me find the right people to make it real.
All of this stuff sounds like a lot of hot air until it happens. I'm trying to get YC to help me make it happen.