
Crypto Will Do to YC What YC Did to VC - npguy
Picked this up from a different thread. Thought this needs more discussion!
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smt88
This is not dissimilar from the argument that cash would become obsolete
because of crypto. That hasn't happened because people don't mind trading some
money or freedom for a little more security. Free markets are not pleasant to
most people.

Also, don't forget that we're seeing ICOs potentially being treated as
securities, and they're likely to be just as regulated as traditional
investing mechanisms. These regulations will likely be practical to enforce,
because most startups will want to do business in the US, China, and/or
Europe.

I think ML is a much bigger threat to YC, as machine models have been shown to
be better than humans at picking successful companies. (Humans have lots of
pesky biases that aren't based in reality.)

What if there were an ETF of startups? You'd need a team of humans to gather
and enter data as best they could, but an algorithm could do the rest at a
lower cost.

~~~
fspear
Do you have any examples of these ML models? I wonder if similar models can be
applied to pick ICO's worthy of investment.

~~~
smt88
[https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zmep4y/mit-
resear...](https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/zmep4y/mit-researchers-
offer-algorithm-for-picking-winning-startups)

[https://qz.com/561206/algorithms-make-better-hiring-
decision...](https://qz.com/561206/algorithms-make-better-hiring-decisions-
than-humans/)

I don't think it would work for ICOs, assuming that they're open to the
public. As we've seen, prices seem to be pretty irrational when everyone is
trying to jump on the hype train.

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hijinks
Nothing.. YC is more about the networking and advice opportunities that open
up then the money you get

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itamarst
VC firms still exist. Some of them are funding my employer, for example. So
what exactly did YC do to VC?

