
How to get Paul Graham to take you to lunch and review your start-up idea - holychiz
If you're in the Bay Area, dying to sit down w/ Paul Graham, here's one quick and easy way to get what you want and help out a worthy cause at the same time.<p>Bing Nursery School, affiliated with Stanford University and 1 of the top ten nursery schools in the US, is holding its annual Autumn fundraising auction on Sat. Nov. 13, 6pm, to raise money for scholarship fund, helping poor families to send their kids to Bing.  Item #406 on the silent auction block is "Talk About Your Start-up w/ Paul Graham"!, estimate value is $500.  The starting bid however is around $10.  The auction is open to public.<p>Here's a partial description of the item:
"In this amazing opportunity, Paul will take you to lunch and spend an hour talking with you about your startup idea, or help you come up with an idea that is suited to you.  Don't miss this once in a lifetime chance to help make your dream a reality!"<p>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/bingschool/giving_harvestmoon.html<p>Please help this worthy cause.  Bing is an awesome school and I wish every parent can send their kids to Bing.  Every year Bing staffs and parents put in so much efforts to raise around $300,000 so Bing can offer more scholarship to deserving families.  This is your chance to help and get some help for yourself.<p>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/bingschool/index.html<p>Disclaimer: I'm a Bing parent and volunteering on the Solicitation team for this Bing auction. If you need help in either attending or bidding, please contact the school or PM me directly.  Thanks.<p>More disclaimer: Paul Graham has nothing to do with this submission.<p>Add: if you want to bid and can't be at the auction, please contact Bing Nursery, they'll be happy to make arrangements for your bid.
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cperciva
_1 of the top ten nursery schools in the US_

Ok, seriously, this is getting ridiculous. Who the hell goes across the
country compiling a list of the top ten _nursery schools_? I'm not convinced
that such ratings are useful for universities, never mind high schools or
lower tiers of education. The concept of a top-ten list of preschools just
blows my mind.

(I still think it's great that PG is contributing to this in such a unique
fashion, though.)

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ibejoeb
Tangent: I don't know anything about early childhood education, but now I'm
interested. (Also, I'm not implying anything of your post; I agree that the
rankings can get silly.) Is there any data to suggest that preschool is, in
fact, less important than university? It's easy to scoff at the notion that
pre-K and K are significant, but I'd guess that some high quality nurturing at
this age might be the requisite experience for success. We call them the
formative years for a reason, right?

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mahmud
You're both off-topic and dead wrong. Don't you know there are tons of
successful people who taught themselves everything from basic literacy to
advanced sciences later in their life? Not even talking about "late bloomers",
rather, people who lived illiterate well into their teens and twenties. How do
you explain this ability to learn?

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poet
They're outliers? There are physical realities that happen to your brain that
make it more difficult to learn as you get older. Now, I certainly recognize
that many aspects of the current education system are overblown. But you're
going to have a difficult time convincing me preschool is as dispensable as
college.

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jacquesm
> There are physical realities that happen to your brain that make it more
> difficult to learn as you get older.

Only if you believe them. Sure, _everything_ gets harder as you get older,
including the 'basics' (such as walking). But for some learning was never
easy, always hard work. The difference age adds to that is just another hurdle
to overcome.

The big trick is to never stop learning.

> Now, I certainly recognize that many aspects of the current education system
> are overblown. But you're going to have a difficult time convincing me
> preschool is as dispensable as college.

Attitude is the one thing that is in-dispensable when it comes to learning,
all else - including age - can be overcome.

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dotBen
Surely the type of people most likely to benefit from PG's advice are some of
the least likely to have the disposable income to be able to spend (up to)
$500 for his time?

That's 1/40th of the $20k most startups get from YC.

[I don't mean to detract from the good cause being raised for here - but I
think society should expect people to give back to charity/good causes/etc
proportionally to their wealth - surely most young startup founders that YC
attracts are likely to have limited funds and putting everything into their
startups? I guess I forget trust funds, "daddy's money" etc]

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olalonde
Up voted you because I agree that people who would really benefit this most
likely don't have 500$ to spend.

However, you're implying the 20k$ startups get from YC represents all the
value derived from being a YC startup. If I ever apply to YC, it will be for
press coverage, the YC network and sound advice.

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dotBen
So, it's a bit of a long-running thing with me... that I continue to comment
that YC = $20k + all the extra benefits.

The issue I have with YC is that I think the 'extra benefits' can be gained in
other ways that doesn't require you to put a valuation on your company. I've
been living here in SF for many years and I feel I have access to many of the
'extra benefits' YC gives through my own network (without having to take a
specific route of funding)

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PStamatiou
Link to donate directly (not related to the auction with pg):

[https://pgnet.stanford.edu/give/home?mop=CC&gfty=G&p...](https://pgnet.stanford.edu/give/home?mop=CC&gfty=G&pgnTPC=75&stp=98&gdso=5&tgso=6&cturl=close&olc=10969)

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kapitalx
You'd probably raise more money if this specific item was an online auction.

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chrischen
Yea if it were online I'd bid my life savings (around $60 at the moment).

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chadp
Do people think that this auction will only fetch $500? I would have thought
it will be bid up to several thousand..

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ig1
Not to take away from the cause, but I'm guessing if you emailed PG during a
quiet period and offered to buy him a $500 lunch he'd take you up on the offer
:-)

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sintesoro
I find a little childish the phrase: Take you to lunch, it sound very passive,
like taking a dog for a walk.

It would be better something like: How to meet P.G. for discussing about your
startup. Simple and effective.

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brudgers
"Take you to lunch" is a common phrase in American business (and social
relations in general). The taker buys lunch for the taken.

The implication is that the taker is making life easy for the taken, all the
taken has to do is show up.

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sintesoro
Thanks for the information about this American business phrase. The
implication on an invitation is that who invites is trying to sell you
something (there is no free lunch in business).

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brudgers
Your correct that it is often a situation where the taker is selling. It can
also be an expression of gratitude for a favor.

However, there is another business scenario in which a mentor uses lunch as
the opportunity to schedule time with their mentee. Sharing a meal often
provides a less formal setting and fosters the personal relationship.

This case appears to be a combination of the second and third scenarios.

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auctionmom
If someone wants to bid on this item (or any others), he or she will need to
attend or have someone attending bid on their behalf. The school will not be
able to help remote bidders.

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ashleyreddy
Ask PG: PG would you consider a 10 minute phone call for a $100 donation of
the charity of your choice? I can't fly out to Palo Alto.

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andrewcooke
heh. in how many different ways is this rich people helping rich people stay
rich?

