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A) I call BS on "never". It's one thing to not consider them, but another to say never ever. And what does that say if he's truly never even read one?

B) This isn't something to be proud of, and certainly not something others should emulate. Ignorance isn't what makes you successful. (likewise, neither is millions of data points).

c) Business plans and balance sheets are still very useful and applicable, and fair to say they aren't everything.

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I think they're very useful and applicable. But they are basically irrelevant to evaluating startups for YC. The stage those startups are at, the exact amount of money they have at that given point in time doesn't really affect anything; YC also has a standard "this is the implied valuation we'll fund you at" rather than actually evaluating the details of "what does the business look like now". Similarly, the business plan is also less relevant for evaluating a startup for YC: knowing what the founders are building and how they see it is what's relevant, not the details of market analysis and monetization strategy.

Sadly, being nuanced doesn’t get you the likes and retweets and follows.

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