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Comment by ipsum2 | Hacker News Reader

Curious about the story behind applying to YC as a founder and ending up as a moderator for hacker news.

Startup in W09, worked on it for 4 years, started saying no to pg about moderating HN, ran out of money, needed a job, said yes to pg about moderating HN.

Seems like it was a needed option for you at the time. Are you still enjoying it? Waiting for someone to take the baton?

You all talk about the work Dan does moderating this place, which, fair enough, but "Launch HN" is low key one of the coolest jobs in startups. The before/after on what those launch posts become after Dan gets involved would knock you out. A sibling comment asked him what his comp was (which is very funny) but it's a question with a simple answer: whatever he's getting, it's probably not enough.

> whatever he's getting, it's probably not enough.

I mean, all YC employees get to participate in the fund, so he's got a small piece of every YC startup, including the ones that he helps with Launch HN. So in a sense he has a lot more control over his comp than most employees.

Is this the only path to the job?

In the sense that wanting the job is disqualifying, yes.

A reasonable and logical litmus test. Thanks for sharing.

How much are you paid for this job? Is this your only source of income?

The Lonely Work of Moderating Hacker News

https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-silicon-valley/th...

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https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20643052 - Aug 2019 (777 comments)

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