

How to write a rude Q&A - bootload
http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2007/how-to-write-a-rude-qa/

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kalendae
What makes you think there should be any reason we would give a crap about
your little publicity stunt you call a blog post?

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swombat
Because some random person submitted it and 7 other people upvoted it, and
because it makes some articulate and useful points?

Your post is not a rude Q&A. It's just a rude question, and posed rhetorically
since the author is not here.

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jamesbressi
He may have plugged his book (and not in a spammy way), but I must say that I
did learn something hear.

Answering questions up front that you may be afraid to answer or will come and
putting them right out there to be disarmed is a very interesting concept.

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indranil
You need to be prepared for tough questions.

There, the entire post in 1 line.

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bootload
_"... You need to be prepared for tough questions. ..."_

I think the point of the exercise is to really nut out the obvious questions.
But how do you practice answering _tough_ questions?

Reading through the posts here on prospective YC applicants highlighted the
need to be able to think on ones feet. The number of questions fired at you is
high. The best idea I can think to simulate this is be using skills developed
by comedic improvisation.

Earlier this year at an un-conference ~
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/collections/7215762254...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/collections/72157622546767967/)
the best session I went to was a entrepreneur/hacker who is also a comedian.
Dan ~ <http://twitter.com/danwalmsley> explained that by play acting ~
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/4031549850/in/set-7215...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/4031549850/in/set-72157614567887689/)
meant each person could act and re-act real time. This is a skill that could
be practiced post RAQ and as you correctly point out, a place to answer tough
questions.

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alabut
" _But how do you practice answering tough questions?_ "

And how do you handle answering so many of them, fired at you all at once from
multiple people in the span of 10 minutes? Every description of the YC
interviews says that's the hardest part and I can see why, for the same reason
that grad students say that defending their phd thesis in front of a panel of
professors is one of the hardest things they've ever done.

~~~
bootload
_"... And how do you handle answering so many of them, fired at you all at
once from multiple people in the span of 10 minutes? ..."_

I don't know. I'd say learn to identify the questions you can answer as best
you can. This is what I mean by having some form of roleplay, verbal, improv
skills. Pick the Q's you do know, pick the ones that are important to your
product.

