Sam Altman for President
blog.ycombinator.com
blog.ycombinator.com
I was thinking this morning about what it was like to start a startup in early 2005 and how much it’s changed now. PG has done a remarkable amount to improve the startup ecosystem for founders—in fact, it’s hard to think of anyone who has done more.
(Also, maybe someday soon we’ll make Hacker News work well on mobile :) )
Not to be so intrusive, but I recall pg talking about the son -- was that a factor in pg making this decision? To dedicate more time to parenting or something like that?
For a few seconds while the post loaded, I wondered if you are really running for president. It seemed improbable, but not impossible :)
Thanks for everything you've contributed to all of us.
It's good to see that YC has done this prior to a crisis, rather than in reaction to one. It doesn't seem like there's a better use of PG's time than office hours and writing. If this allows him to do more of both, everyone benefits.
Sam, there are already mobile apps for this. But the constantly expiring links due to limitations to Arc should be fixed.
I have always found this to be HN's "Badge of Irony": Funds some of the best, highest velocity startups in tech; Can't get their shit together around UX/Mobile.
It is frustratingly endearing.
Maybe it isn't desirable to have people writing comments on their phone. The comment quality is likely greatly reduced by people writing pithy one-liners on their phones.
The best content on this site are the long expert comments, and those will never be typed on a mobile device.
All that being said, maybe its by design that the UX isn't great on mobile devices... or you know maybe the people that could make the changes just have bigger fish to fry.
Does this mean you will have less time to write blogs ?
Edit: so my prediction a few months ago that you'd be joining Sequoia wasn't too far off ;)
Best of Luck.
With the Mobile part ofcourse, you'll do brilliant with rest, no wishes needed there :-)
Congrats Sam.
;0)>
I'm not sure how I even noticed as I was just skimming the thread but I hit that line and lost all train of thought. Must be one of those things...
POTUS is "President Of The United States" so USPOTUS is redundant, but no more so than "ATM Machine" which my brain parses no problem. Sometimes its interesting to think about why we notice what we do :).
Also, congratulations!
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1025798
5 years earlier than I predicted and for a better job. Congratulations, sama.
Aside from being a smart, well connected guy Sam has the innate ability to solve complex problems in a well thought out and efficient manner.
I can't wait to watch YC scale like so many of the companies it has funded. It might be the gold standard for this model of financing, but I think they've only just begun.
Glad to have been a part of YC and glad to be a part of the awesome network of Alums. I sold my first company before I graduated college and never got to be an "Alumni" anywhere else, so in some ways I feel like this is watching my Alma Mater make great forward progress, I'm proud to watch it.
What does this mean for your role at YCombinator, PG? Will you still be spending most of your time helping out with companies there, or are you going to work on other projects?
For those who haven't witnessed this: pg stands there for an entire day (maybe longer now), watching every pitch, slicing and dicing like a samurai. It's super rapid-fire, and with one or two pieces of advice each presentation doubles in effectiveness.
I'll still talk about pitches individually with startups at office hours.
For example, for Pebble you said, "put this joke in there: 'I bet you guys really want to check your phones right now but you can't because it would be rude... if you had one of these babies on your wrist you'd be able to see those precious emails'".
OK maybe not the most world-changing example but there were 100 more of those.
I'm sure Sam will be excellent at this too.
EDIT: I know how you say that writing => other ideas. So I guess the question is whether
1) You have something else in mind currently
2) You're writing with the intent to come up with other ideas
3) You're writing, and if another idea happens to come up that you like, you'll pursue it, or
4) You want to write and not pursue other ideas
I have a whole bunch of ideas for essays I'd like to write, but I almost never pick a topic. The way I decide which one to write is that one starts to write itself in my head.
As someone who only comments in two places on the web (HN and at another place that I'd rather not mention) that is exactly how it works when I make comments.
You read something you react you write.
It's not an assignment. It's not a job. It's not required. You just do it because you are moved and/or inspired by something you read or observe.
Just a thought (I know you've got a huge "to-do list" in your head), I'd like to hear your opinions on effective altruism, and what you think the best ways to change the world are.
Sounds to me as if you have bigger ambitions in that area than just writing essays.
i predict you will surprise us all ;-)
An opinion column in a well respected publication has the ability to wield more influence. Books are hit or miss and ephemeral.
But even the essays when presented in book form seem to hold a greater claim upon us than a dozen or so links in an email or blog post. Then again I don't deny my bookishness.
> Because YC needs to grow
> we'll have to grow proportionally bigger
I'm excited to see how this plays out!
pg was a huge influence on me - I've read all of his essays, watched his talks and studied his comments on HN. I've learned so much about startups and making cool things from him and am now in SF hacking away at a startup solely thanks to the inspiration "How to Make Wealth" gave me.
sama, if you'll take a piece of advice from a lowly HN commenter, please be the same to the next generation of founder/hackers. Don't just be really good at accelerating startups. Teach, inspire, and care. You're inheriting a legacy, now build one of your own.
I've never met you in person but from what I've heard, you're just as capable of this as pg was in your own way. Godspeed.
Right now most incubators/accelerators are busy playing small investment/big exits model but there is huge untapped area where one need medium to large capital but can expect 2X-5X return with lower risks. I'm not sure if SEC has any rules against incubators/accelerators going public but for next exponential growth it seems essential.
Welcome to YC 2.0. Looking forward to following the original meta-startup under Sam's leadership.
All you had to do was ask for my help...
Jokes aside, congrats Sam!
PG: What's your next primary focus going to be?
I don't know if PG has control.
You can't buy YC shares.
The weird part of course was "oh on some kind of business / privacy reform ticket. Yeah that makes sense - he might be like a privacy Ralph Nader. "
I think either I live in a bubble or the world really is changing.
Change is hard and exciting. If PG is monitoring these comments, my question is: "what was the hardest part about letting go?"
I'm surprised that so many people are saying this, since I find his writing mediocre.
I'm hoping this will be the topic of PG's next essay.
>There will be a lot more startups in 10 years than there are now
Pity pg phrased this in such a fuzzy fashion. Does he mean more in the absolute sense or per 1000 people?
Maybe lobste.rs?