Y Combinator – Biggest waste of time for startup founders

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25 points·ta8645··6 comments

I think this applies not only to startup founders but also to early-stage engineering teams. We distilled this into our company's engineering values:

Real work is work that improves our product or makes our users happy. This includes writing code, helping others write code, and helping hire people that write code.

#fakework is work that seems like work, but is mostly just vanity. Examples of #fakework include thought leadership, migrating things to shinier new technologies, and going to conferences. #fakework can be fun (and fun is worthwhile, too), but it doesn't count towards anything here.

Why is everything "real" about writing code, when one of the standards is making users happy? Users presumably are not simply enthralled by your GitHub repos and might like to have interpersonal interaction about what the software is intended to do for their real contexts... And writing code writing code writing code is not obviously the way to satisfy that.

Interesting title. Obv not implying that YC is the biggest waste of time.

I do agree that Y Combinator is waste of time for most start-up founders.

Instead of begging for money from old start-up lottery winners, focus on sales and own your company completely.

Y combinator and other VCs should be your last option, not your first.

Meh, YC started out dealing some money, advice and contacts to college kids.

I'd bet most of them don't regret it, but a survey would make a nice dissertation for some grad student: "Outcomes of venture capitalism in the early XXI century, a study of monetary and spiritual results for startup participants".

(feel free ;-)

Do most cult members regret joining cults? That's what I really want to know!

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