GammaStats

We have not made contact yet. However all of our research suggests that they are an easy bunch to work with.

It is in their best interest not to turn people away on the basis of no-intro. The founders of many of their start-ups contacted them out of the blue with their plan and expressed desire to work with them.

Actually no,

One of the primary factors that makes me say this is that Google got over $12million for only a 10% stake in the company from Sequoia Capital. I learned about this after we had already applied.

If PG would have asked us for an interview and invited us, I (personally) would have rejected the offer if their stake was to be more than say 2%.

YC is asking for a huge chunk for slight benefits. Its not tongue-in-cheek, its strictly good business.

It takes a lot of skill to identify the emerging companies of the future. Why would they say something they do not mean? You see VC's are very competitive. The really good ones realize that there is untapped potential out there that are likely to be missed by the "traditional VC's". Closed mindedness never innovates and this innovation creates the true leaders in any field.

It's a lot like Ivy League universities. They are under enormous pressure to perform and house the next great research endeavors. Have you ever noticed that Ivy League universities never set strict requirements on admission whereas public universities do. This is because they recognize that many innovative minds would be passed over if they set strict criteria. Einstein, the great genious that he was, made lousy grades and was told by his early teachers that he would never make it in school. In fact he was told he should drop out. Einstein was actually told he did not belong in school. Thats the product of closed mindedness. It was not until Einstein recognized his true passions in life that he became the "genious" that he is considered today. Quite frankly, it takes genious to recognize genious. And traditional VC's don't have this genious. That is why they would set more limits on who they fund.

We are all told how ruthless VC's can be and how they will take your company from you. Michael Moritz of Sequoia capital invested a little over 12 million for a 10% stake in Google. In fact, founders in these leading VC backed firms end up being recognized as the most powerful forces in the companies. This is because the truly revolutionary VC's recognize that they do not have the vision of the founders. They are willing to relinquish some control.

But I guess my point here is the leaders in any field are willing to listen to new ideas from new people because they must, to stay ahead in their game. And that is what they want most of all.

It seems to me that YC is more interested in making quick in/out investments and not in real long term projects. Long term projects belong in the hands of those that are willing to go in for the long haul.

I am not too disappointed that our application was rejected on those grounds. Really, who wants to give up so much for a few dollars and a chance to give a presentation?

By the way, these guys don't require a formal introduction. So networking is not too important too them. They profess that they are pro-underdog. So take a look! But don't ask them for the money that we will be getting from them or we will send you nasty emails every Thanksgiving!

Are you suggesting sending ads through power lines or are you suggesting that another ad could be fit into the cluttered mass that is X10.com?

As far as sending ads through power lines, thats a great idea too. Your toaster could tell you, via prompting by the power company, that Folgers is the best coffee to compliment your current toast selections.

Well, I suppose I could edit the comment but the cat is out of the bag now.

That gives me a great idea! What about adding sound clips to those little ad popups? Would that not be the best?

I bet there is going to be a startup sometime that does that...

It could be called: ADnnoyance 2.0

What about people who don't have (never have had, and never will have) their computer hooked up to the net? They are screwed...

Some people keep their computers off the net for security reasons. My father keeps one of his off the net so that he doesn't have to worry so much about viruses.

And no, he doesn't want to use Linux... And even if he did, ProTools isn't available for Linux.

Note: to be fair, he doesn't (to my knowledge) use Adobe programs on his studio computer.

Im not saying that I agree with that practice of "supercharging" the stock market but it seems to me that if too much money is chasing too few stocks, then stock prices would soar.

Its a well known fact that when there is more demand than supply, prices rise.

Perhaps the instability that you are referring to comes from people getting nervous and sidelining their money. That can hurt the 401(k) guys since, unlike their money manager and individual investor counterparts, they cannot sideline their money quite as easy and so they they feel the effects of a stock market downturn more so than the rest.

But, I do agree that there should be more tax breaks on saving through other formats as well.

Personally I have never given a presentation to a VC however I have had to give presentations to collegiate audiences and I can tell you that standing helps in those situations. Indeed, I have never even seen any professors sit down while lecturing. As is said elsewhere in this thread, body language is restricted while sitting. Body language can capture the audience's attention and put an energetic charge into your presentation which can excite your audience.

If you hit your audience with a series of dull PowerPoint slides, be sure to bring lots of coffee to help them stay awake. In college some of my professors would do nothing but flip PP slides and drone behind a pedestal. No movement other than to click the mouse. Oh the torment of those classes. Never underestimate the potential destructive power of PowerPoint to otherwise good information.

Recently I was introduced to a group that actually teaches how to do public speaking. For all those interested, it's called toastmasters. You can find them at http://www.toastmasters.org/ Some of their members include people such as senators, prime ministers, and lots of CEO's so it can't be too much of a waste of time and money.

I have not had the time to try it out but I believe that it will be worth a look shortly.

Regards, Derek

I can certainly understand why you would want to incorporate in California as it has the single largest local economy in the US, however you may want to take a look at: http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/9/06beststates_The-Best-Sta....

Really though, if you are an online company what you need are big pipes and good brains. Physical location is not as important.

Forbes recently ranked all the states for their business friendliness and California didn't do to terribly well (36th). Virginia was the best followed by Texas and North Carolina. We are seriously considering incorporating in NC since they are so business friendly. Raleigh was ranked 2nd (nationally) in being the best city to start a company too. Furthermore it is the home of the research triangle so there's a lot of brains floating around there.

Best of luck.