Ask PG: The mixed message in AirBnB | Hacker News Reader

Ask PG: The mixed message in AirBnB

6 pointsabbasmehdi5 comments

Hi Paul,

You have written and spoken out on numerous occasions that you prefer startups with all dev teams. No sales guys, no business guys etc. You have never made any qualms about where you stood on the issue.

However, when one looks at AirBnB and what you have said about them, is it fair to say that above all it is hustle that matters to you? Given the function they were performing it seems like they were business guys – doubt they were writing any code, correct me if I’m wrong here in my assumption that majority of the team was not neck deep in code.

My question to you, given the AirBnB example, where do you stand on the team’s mix of founders? I personally agree that startups should be dev heavy, but I cannot help but notice the contradiction in all your writings and interviews v.s. your take on the Air guys.

Thanks! An avid reader of your writings.

They weren't "hackers", but Joe/Brian were both great designers as well as pure embodiments of hustle. I went to school with both and they had a knack to transform the administration to suit their needs. e.g. Brian had the Mayor of Providence RI as the guest coach of our school's club hockey team. They may not have been able to code, but they could creatively solve just about any problem you put in front of them.

I'm not trying to take anything away from your friends. To the contrary, I am giving them so much credit that I am asking pg if their impression on him has affected YC policy.

The founders don't all have to be hackers. There just has to be at least one.

Thanks for answering my question, pg.

I'm still left wondering where your preferences lie in the post-AirBnB era.

And I'd also like to thank you for your collection of essays. That is, in my books, the single largest contribution anyone has made to the startup community.

Thanks, but Airbnb had no effect on our preferences. We've never said all the founders have to be hackers, just that at least one should be.

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