Ask YC: who gives away free money? | Hacker News Reader

Ask YC: who gives away free money?

7 pointsyters22 comments

So, I know most people here want to do the start up thing so as to be financially independent, getting all the work out of the way early so as to get onto the really cool hacks. But, our economy being as robust as it is, surely there are very rich people who would sponsor random promising hackers to do whatever, instead of slaving away for 6 months -> year on one very specific and narrow problem domain.

Our creative hacking, logical rigor, and awesome platform for idea modelling can have such a much more fundamental impact on society than all the web apps in the world. That's why pg's hacker philosopher idea is so cool! Who else is positioned like we are to revolutionize the world of thought? So, my question is, where are all these smart investors, with a vision bigger than just the monthly bottom line?

I, for one, do not wish to research ponies and rainbows. That is not to say they are bad, but I have other interests.

What..in the world...

People don't do startups to change society. They do it to get rich. Changing society may or may not result.

People give away money either to feel good about themselves or to help accomplish a goal.

If a rich person's goal is "to change society", and a startup's goal is "to get rich", then the rich person will only invest in startups that will change society in the ways the rich person wants it to change. Which is what happens already.

But if a rich person's goal is "to get richer", then they'll invest in startups that they think have a decent chance in getting rich, regardless of whether or not they change society.

Therefore, the current system actually invests in more startups than your system.

So what are you proposing?

I guess a more direct answer to your question is: Nobody.

Your view that startups are created only to make $$$ is kind of cynical. Money is important, but I'd think that the really cool startups are the ones that try to change society. They just happen to get rewarded by the market.

Anyways, I agree that the original post is kind of random...

Well, it's one of those questions that get right to the heart of the issue, but people don't feel comfortable asking because their context is based on one specific answer. Many times, those are exactly the questions that should be asked. Sometimes they're just retarded. I decided to give it a shot.

The point is, why do you want to get rich? I thought most hackers here aren't in it for the money alone, but for the freedom it gives them. But if all you hackers really care about is moolah, then that's pretty boring.

If you look at history, how many of the really fundamental, ground breaking ideas came from the people who mainly cared about getting rich?

But, I'm not proposing a different system. I'm all for people sponsoring startups. Just if people are interested in sponsoring hacking that's primarily aimed at interesting ideas, I'm more for that. I suspect pg is headed in this direction once YC becomes lucrative enough. His philosophy posts obviously show he's interested in much loftier things, albeit with empirical feedback.

One last-resort (but creative) option is to sit out on the curb in Harvard Square or on University Ave with your laptop and a cup for change. Plenty of people do that so they can sing or perform because it's something they love. If you want to do creative things and think it will be that important to the world, then the people who will mock you for doing something like this shouldn't bother you too much.

Romantic, but I don't want to be a starving artist if I can avoid it.

Darn. I was hoping you would do that and then I could walk by and say "haha! i suggested he do that!"

But actually it may be a good idea. It would be great marketing.

Seriously, think how little money it takes to live, and fairly comfortably - probably only about $20,000 a year. That's nothing for any of the multi-millionaires that roam this site. There should definitely be some kind of criteria to determine whether a person is promising (such as what they've done on their own time), but besides that I don't see any problem with the idea.

I would like to point out going to grad school is a great way to live like that and be around creative types.

Edit: Wow that's an old post NM.

There is no one smart enough to seek you out and understand what you are doing. You have to network which means lots of "ponies and rainbows" until you meet the right investor.

I'm planning to work as a consultant part time and spend the rest of my time working on a problem I'm passionate about. Unfortunately this means no retirement savings, and penny pinching indefinitely. I hope I can figure out some better way to do this in the long run.

What do you mean by ponies and rainbows?

I'm not referencing ID.

Slave away for what it takes to get rich, then give yourself the free money.

Which is a waste of time if I can get funded.

You've already asked this before. Last time it was funding for intelligent design (no, really?) and now it's a idea modeler?

Looks like he took rms' advice and re-made the thread without referencing ID: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=57867 .

Am I just closed-minded, or does "logical rigor" sound uncomfortable coming from an IDer?

as with last time, he wants to find "patrons" to give him free money so that he can play da vinci somewhere.

This is a general question asked on behalf of all hackers who primarily want financial independence.

Heh, sounds like bait, but I stick by what I said and not take it here. You can email me, eric holloway, with google's email service if you want to know my views on ID.

I figured that he was joking about the ID, but maybe he's not...

Idea modeler means computers.

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