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Comment by djcapelis | Hacker News Reader

I know I shouldn't say this, but does anyone read this critique as just so east coast? Someone goes to an event on startups and they are annoyed because no one handed them action items or facilitated their networking more?

On the west coast it's mostly a matter of things arising from chaos. You do what you can in terms of nailing the logistics (pizza, beer and fast moving lines) but the meat is who you get into the room, not what the person at the microphone is saying.

I'm not saying YC and pg couldn't have made it better, the OP should be lauded for some of the critique. (Criticism of YC tends to be controversial.) But the OP seems to have accidentally discovered exactly some of the differences between east coast and west coast cultures.

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That's an interesting point. I shared a bit of the sentiment about networking. I thought it could have been facilitated better. For example, nametags already were color coded, but nobody ever said what the colors meant. I figured out YC orange and that's it. I can't blame the guy for wanting to know why he was there to begin with. It's a night with YC people and that description alone probably would fill up the place every time; however, defining it a bit more wouldn't hurt - is this an event to learn about startups? for founders who are considering applying to YC? something.

Why do you think they knew that much better what the event was about? These things are usually what you make of them. Who are they to tell you why you're there? Isn't that more your decision?

It's called leadership.

Which is a quality that's important in founders. You should be bringing your own leadership to the room, not expecting a potential investor to lead you.

It's my decision based on the information I am given. Very little was given, but given that it was a YC event on the east coast, I was happy to travel from DC to attend without any other knowledge. That doesn't mean that there isn't room for improvement. It also could change the nature of the event and those who attend.

The fact that you say 'these things are usually what you make of them' leads me to think there is tons of room for improvement with the way these events are run. I've been to quite a few tech meetups and some are definitely more well run than others and are easier to access (people wise). A lot of that has to do with how the organizers set up the event and the information they pass along.

I think the feedback is helpful and there are always improvements that could be made. I think what really annoyed me was the underlying assumption was an entitlement to some sort of definition of an event that was perhaps too new to be fully defined. Good people jump in and help define the event.

I would not be critiquing a blog post full of specific, useful advice on how the event could have been made better. There is advice like that in this entry, but you have to reach through piles of raw "someone should have told me more about something" thoughts before you can get there. I would have been much more interested in a blog post that read something along the lines of: "I attended this event and I thought it was a bit unfocused. Here's what I would have wanted this to be and here's what I think it should look like."

I hope YC listens to the feedback anyway. It's valuable, but count me personally disappointed.

actually PG said it at the event, but to prob only a few people. It wasn't communicated well. Even though a simple e-mail, before hand could of explained everything.

Though I think they should have a special color sticker, for MBA's without programming/design skills, Managing Consultants and general Harvard douche-bags who think they are the smartest person in room.

> Though I think they should have a special color sticker,

> for MBA's without programming/design skills, Managing

> Consultants and general Harvard douche-bags who think they

> are the smartest person in room.

Seems to be a common problem over there. It is on the west coast too, but... it seems maybe not as pervasive and I think it's easier for them to realize here that their skillset isn't the most important one in the room.

I think they made themselves visible with their attire.

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