Go with your gut. If you're too scared, it's probably not right for you at this time. If you can't stand the thought of staying in the corporate world, then you should pull the trigger and pursue your dreams regardless of anything else.
Every similarity between today and the tech bubble does not necessarily indicate we're doomed for a bust. There are self-congratulatory articles in nearly every industry (economics, sports, politics, etc), but that doesn't mean you're on the tail end of a bubble.
Actually it turns out it only occurs when I change my browser size away from maximized. It never allows me to scroll down far enough to see the buttons...
Windows XP & Firefox 2. The Cancel button jumps in and out of view, but doesn't stay available long enough to click it. It works fine for me in IE though.
I really like the design and the concept is quite clever. I think there's a definite niche here. However, I too am annoyed by the scrolling feedback bar, and my browser won't let me close it once it's opened.
All these login details are provided for Quicken as well, but I guess the difference is that since Quicken is installed on your computer, it feels more secure. Whether that is actually the case is another story...
Just like many of us have succeeded regardless of which college we went to (or were rejected by), we can also succeed regardless of whether we're accepted by YC. Sure YC will help tremendously in some cases, but ultimately there is no single path to success. Reacting positively to whatever is thrown at you, under any circumstances will inevitably lead to success.
This article sure didn't provide much evidence of their hypothesis, besides somehow equating the housing bubble to an internet recession. Their only other point was that cyclical downturns begin gradually without much major indication, which somehow means that we're in the beginning of such a downturn?
Your subject line was tempting enough for me to take the link, but then I was just disappointed by lack of actual content. With this kind of post, none of us will have time for Hacker News anymore!
I imagine the interaction with other students and their experiences is extremely valuable in the same sense that you don't necessarily learn technical skills from YC, but being in the right environment makes your existing skills that much more effective.
The only reasons I can think of for getting banned are spamming or multiple accounts. I've heard of developers getting their applications booted, but I've never heard of someone getting banned themselves! Probably the worst site to get banned from (besides Hacker News, that is!).
Considering her audience was likely quite technical, that presentation wasn't exactly enlightening. Hopefully she verbally expanded on the bullet points substantially.
What about the top few in the US. Of course Silicon Valley is tops, followed by Cambridge/Boston. But after that, perhaps:
Boulder, Los Angeles, New York, Austin, Seattle.
If you talk to college and high school students, they will have a completely different opinion about Facebook than Matt's. For many of them, it is their primary form of communication - above email and oftentimes even cellphones. To some extent, there's a large generational gap on Facebook with respect to its hardcore users. To high schoolers, us professionals "just don't get it."
The proliferation of startups also exposes a need for better integration. If signing up for accounts and remembering usernames/passwords for a dozen different sites is a pain, think about doing that for hundreds!
I like the idea alot. I do have concerns on privacy and questions about how the whole process is simplified, however I have no doubt that Paul et al have implemented some clever techniques to handle all of this.
I'm not sure the point of this rant. Let me summarize what I got out of this:
This author thinks we're in a bubble because:
1) the startups having unique names
2) you can't change text size of widgets
3) nobody codes as well as he does
I wasn't convinced he was right until he starting swearing... then I was sure he knew what he was talking about.
I think we're all trained to expect a downturn after a sustained run of good times. It does not appear that tech will trigger the downturn (if there will be one) this time, but the question is how much will tech be affected?
Personally I believe that the solid business models will continue to prevail since internet traffic will continue to increase. However, marginal ideas and products will have more trouble finding the quick cash they are looking for.