Comment by tomasien | Hacker News Reader

Comment by tomasien | Hacker News Reader

Are you still going to write about women founders? I 100% take you on your word about all of this, but that I still think a lot of the things you said were off the mark in understandable but important ways[1]. You're obviously well meaning and thoughtful and I think it would be great to read more about your thoughts, although I know you'd prefer to avoid the shitstorm that would follow (no matter how well reasoned your arguments would be)

1 - Most notably, as a gatekeeper in startup culture (<- this seems to be causing confusion: not a gatekeeper to doing a startup, but a gatekeeper to YC which can often be important in succeeding as a startup in my and many other people's opinions), it seems pretty willfully ignorant to assume that you'd know if you were biased against female founders because if you missed some you'd know. If women are a group that starts on the outside to, as a gatekeeper you'd need more than that to know if you're keeping the gates properly, since we it'd be pretty hard to argue the system as a whole isn't a boys club.

There are no gatekeepers in the startup culture. How would that even work? Would pg deny you a business license? Stop you from getting a VPS? Remotely invalidate your copy of The Art of Computer Programming?

Not PG specifically, but unless you operate on the premise that getting into YC does nothing to help your startup OR that YC's acceptance processes are flawless (two assertions I'm 100% certain PG would not make) then there is a layer of gatekeeperdome inherit in what YC does.

I would personally argue it's a large one, but it certainly IS one.

For that to be true, YC would need to be the only early investor around. Even then, not getting a boost from pg is hardly gatekeeping.

I don't know why I can't reply to you but

1. That's what YC almost always does, invest as the first and only investor in their own round where they take 7%-ish equity in exchange for a bit of money and all the other things they do. There are rare occasions where that's not what happens, but that's the norm. There's also a follow up from the YC fund that is convertible debt of some kind and always comes from the investors, but that's still 100% based on YC's decision

2. Gatekeeper might not be the perfect term, but it's darn close. YC is a gate, they are the keepers of the gate, and it's an important gate. Not the gate TO doing a startup but a gate IN startupdome.

Edited original comment to be more clear, I can see how the insinuation the being in YC is a gate you must cross to do a startup would cause confusion.

You seem to have "gatekeeper" confused with "guidance."

If you think like this, even a little, I think you can find a way to see everything in life as having a gate. Can't get on TV, radio, on some blog, etc. ... gatekeeper present. That's the wrong mindset to have IMO.

Um, yeah - gatekeepers are WAY more present in TV, radio, and blogs than even at YC. At least at YC there are lots of partners, in those examples it's usually one person who decides to have you on. Patriarchy is a way bigger problem in those places.

It's not about an attitude about life - I don't worry about gatekeepers at because practically you can't. You've got to give gatekeepers no choice - give YC no choice but to accept you, Techcrunch no choice but to write about you, etc. etc. But as a matter or discussing how our SOCIETY should work, gatekeepers need to examine their biases, strongly and often.

This seems naive. There are those with power, who not only make decisions based on their own work but also by setting precedent. If you look at other accelerators and how many of them follow the practicies and forms put down first by YC then its obvious that the impact from YC is large, both in the large number of startups they directly touch (especially in the last several years) and the number of industry wide practicies they influence from the use of convertible notes and now SAFES, to the preference for coder-founders.

No one can tell you "your startup sucks and you can't do it", but there are ways to exponentially improve your chances of growth and success.

YC is one of those ways, arguably a very significant one.

No official gatekeepers, but there are certainly some things that can help/hurt you exponentially.

  If Google drops you from search-results, game over!
  If YC accepts you, game on!

Neither one of those are official gatekeepers, but they're something to be concerned about. I signed up with coinbase.com because I tend to trust companies that are YC-backed. The fact that they're in SF and I can walk right into their office on my lunch-break if my money disappears also helps.

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