Justin.tv - Paul Graham at AngelConf | Hacker News Reader

Justin.tv - Paul Graham at AngelConf

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67 pointspaul18 comments

This was really awesome to watch, for a few reasons.

I've never seen PG in person or on video. Based on his essays and comments I was expecting someone, for some reason, with a beard.. and maybe a medium-paced speaker with nothing in particular too exciting about him. I don't know why, but I just wasn't expecting someone all that exciting. Turns out he's an overgrown kid who is genuinely enthusiastic and into what he does. I cannot wait to get involved with people like him, and I'll read anything he posts with that enthusiasm in mind. (And I vow never to try to guess what somebody is like based on online text... it's just impossible)

Another reason I enjoyed it was that I'd heard of AngelConf, and I know what Angel investors are, have worked with a couple, and I've read about it, etc, etc. But up until watching this video, I realize I only knew the world in a surreal sense. There are actually conferences with people devoting their time and energy into investing angel-sized amounts of money, and it seems like an awesome niche to be involved in. I cannot wait until I can afford to place bets on businesses. Up until now, my only outlet for this has been my time, not my money.

As a side remark... this "surreal problem" happens to me a lot, particularly with social things. I think it's because if you show me a chunk of code, I can look at it and eventually figure "yeah, ok, I see what's going on here." And if you explain to me how some social system works, and it makes sense, I'll think "yeah, ok, I see." But what I've not factored in is all the information you send/receive when being involved in that social system, the subconscious decisions you learn to make, things like that. I guess that experiencing the "Blink" effect first hand, or in this case as a derivative of watching video, effectively opens the doors in my mind and shows me there's a lot more to understand and explore. I really love it when that happens.

The third major reason I enjoyed this was the content. I never really read anything from the Angel's perspective or watched much videos, so it was really cool to see the types of advice they have to juggle around, and what things are typical in the progress (just by how they're talked about). How much to invest? How much percent to take? How to valuate? It's great to know that in the world of seeding businesses, it really is as much an organic process as it seems like... something I'll recall when I'm not sure if I'm doing things right, crossing into new territory, etc.

Thanks, PG. Ever thought of doing videos like these to supplement essays? It really helps points get through a lot better.

edit: this is also good: http://www.justin.tv/clip/1c8fd85375b

Based on his essays and comments I was expecting someone, for some reason, with a beard

This is probably because I often go for a while without shaving, but I feel obliged to shave for talks.

That explains it. I know beard-authored text when I see it.

Agreed: this was the first time I'd actually seen a video of PG and the level of enthusiasm was unexpected. In a good way :-)

The thing that surprised me most is that PG kind of reminds me of Mike Myers.

As a new yorker, my favorite quote is:

You have to be good. Really. That's probably why angel investing hasn't taken root in New York - you can't screw people".

Just curious: what is YC's motivation for hosting AngelConf?

more angels = more money to invest into YC companies after graduation. i.e. in the talk they pretty much covered that VCs mostly want to invest in the million dollar range.

In this day and age a lot of startups simply don't need that much money

This is tied to the the root motivation in YC: do good for society by enabling more startups to exist. That's is a side effect not directly tied to investments in YC companies, as new angels will certainly also invest elsewhere.

This isn't to say you're wrong. More investors in YC companies is a direct motivation for the conference.

It was pretty clear that for every actual angel in the Valley there were another 10 who could be good angels, but hadn't tried it because it seemed like a schlep. I know because I was one myself. And yet angels are the limiting reagent in the Valley. So it seemed like a case where with a comparatively small amount of effort we could have a big effect on the world.

Sort of like YC itself, actually. The idea behind YC is that there are 10x more people who could found startups than do, so by applying a little help at the hardest point, you can significantly increase the number of startups that get started. Things like the series AA paperwork and Angelconf are that for angels.

It seems like a lot of people there were full time investors or independently wealthy people who dabbled in it. My conception of the common angel investor outside of SV, due mainly to watching my father go through this with his own personal investments, is that of a doctor or lawyer or other high income bracket person looking to invest some spare cash but who doesn't really know much about investing per se, but that didn't really seem to be the focus of this conference.

Informative, fast-paced talk. From an entrepreneur's perspective it's an interesting behind-the-scenes perspective when dealing with angel investors.

The crowd there is interesting. They want to become angels. This is a ridiculously awesome way to intro them to the biz. PG telling them to "be good", for example, starts everyone out of the same page: we all want to get rich together.

Good for YC's portfolio, good for the new angels, and good for society.

Highly recommend Naval Ravikant's talk as well. Those two were by far the most informative.

Here is a transcript and notable quotes I wrote up from all the speakers from the justin.tv video check it out http://tinyurl.com/d8tpzd

Will we eventually get an online transcript of this talk?

Yes, pg said (about 3:30 into the video) this talk will soon be online as an essay.

Related Cips > Ron Paul, Ron Paul, Ron Paul, Ron Paul...

Is PG the next Ron Paul?! PG 2012 (oh, I get it now...)

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On a related note, I like the section on decisiveness.

I read that when Warren Buffet considers investing in a company, he prefers them to have a number ready immediately on the spot. Indecisive business owners are to be avoided.

really enjoyed that. loved the bits about being decisive, why angel investing has not taken off in NY, and during a recession startups will take money at any valuation, which is good for all of you because your already rich.

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