
Startups, Role Models, Risk, and Y Combinator - gatsby
http://blog.samaltman.com/startups-role-models-risk-and-y-combinator
======
skrebbel
Call me cynical, but I tripped over this paragraph:

> _For example, when Adora Cheung was starting Homejoy, she would work all day
> as a cleaner to learn the business, drive an hour back to Mountain View,
> stay up as late as she could coding, then drive back to San Francisco at
> ~3am to beat traffic, sleep in her car, and do it again. She also gave both
> her apartment and her car to early cleaners so that they could partner up
> with Homejoy. We don’t want to delude anyone about what running a startup is
> like—it’s a rational decision to decide you don’t want to start a startup._

What I read here is the idea that the only way to do a startup is no sleep
(except a few hours in a car) and no life. 100% of your time is startup,
startup, startup.

Who profits most from cultivating this image? The startup founder or the VC?

I seldomly see current founders / executives say that this is how they lead
their lives, but somehow, VCs (like Altman) keep squeezing this image into
their blog posts somehow.

I don't think it's some kind of evil plot, and I like the rest of the post:
it's good to be reminded that everybody started somewhere and nobody's great
from the start. But I just don't believe that you can't be a successful
founder and still have a life/family/healthy lifestyle.

~~~
zaidf
_But I just don 't believe that you can't be a successful founder and still
have a life/family/healthy lifestyle._

You _can_ be successful in any number of odd scenarios but that is not the
norm. It is not hard to prove: if you talked to any founder that led the
creation of a billion dollar enterprise from nothing, you will find an endless
stream of stories such as Adora's.

One of the things people fail to understand is that when you are embarking on
an ambitious venture, the goal post keeps moving _all the time_. When you
start out, you think that at a million dollar revenue, you'll be golden. Then
you hit the million and now the goal post has moved to ten million dollars.
And then something happens that completely threatens your whole business. Now
you find yourself not just trying to grow revenue but save the entire
business.

In this situation, how much time you find for life/family/health will vary
from founder to founder but as a rule, it is good to go in assuming the answer
is "not much".

~~~
7Figures2Commas
> You can be successful in any number of odd scenarios but that is not the
> norm. It is not hard to prove: if you talked to any founder that led the
> creation of a billion dollar enterprise from nothing, you will find an
> endless stream of stories such as Adora's.

Starting with the exceptions, and not the rule, can lead to distorted
perceptions. Building a billion dollar enterprise _is not the normal outcome_
for most founders. It _is_ the "odd" scenario.

There's nothing wrong with modeling your entrepreneurial journey after those
of billion-dollar founders, but the "go big or go home" path is not the only
option for entrepreneurs starting a business.

It is entirely possible to start a multi-million dollar business and still
have a life, and I'd encourage more entrepreneurs to talk to self-employed
millionaires (there are a lot of them) than read Forbes articles about tech's
most visible billionaires.

~~~
zaidf
_It is entirely possible to start a multi-million dollar business and still
have a life_

Yes, but anyone that knows the author and his business should also know that
his post isn't addressed to those looking to make nice profitable businesses.
The author has a very specific audience of people seeking funding and wanting
to build large companies. His post appropriately addresses them; it isn't
written that much for people whose ultimate motivation is to build a self-
sufficient profitable million dollar business.

 _Building a billion dollar enterprise is not the normal outcome for most
founders. It is the "odd" scenario._

Being _successful_ at building the billion dollar business is the odd scenario
in this case; attempting to build it is the norm. That most fail is just proof
of how hard it is.

~~~
7Figures2Commas
> The writer has a very specific audience of people seeking funding and
> wanting to build large companies.

First, every "large" company was once a "small" company. You don't get to $100
million in revenue without first getting to $1 million in revenue. Focusing on
the former milestone before the latter is silly.

Second, while I respect your point, it's important to look at actions, not
words. Early-stage investors in Silicon Valley talk a lot about the type of
businesses they want to fund, but spend half an hour browsing Crunchbase,
AngelList, etc. A ton of the companies with seed funding (perhaps the
majority) have very little chance of growing into the types of businesses
their investors say they're looking to be involved with.

Finally, in response to your edit that attempting to build billion-dollar
businesses is the norm: you can only come to such a belief if you have firmly
ensconced yourself in the Silicon Valley startup scene. Countless new
businesses are formed around the country each year and the people who create
them, most of whom don't have billion-dollar delusions, are just as much
"founders" as the broke 20-something making the rounds on Sand Hill Road.

~~~
zaidf
_Focusing on the former milestone before the latter is silly._

Just because a company has billion dollar ambitions does not mean it isn't
focused on the first million dollars. What remains true is that the first
million can be just as hard(if not harder) as the other big jumps.

It is easy to play armchair VC and think we know what will and won't turn into
a billion dollar business. If you have seen the Bessemer anti-portfolio, even
Apple, Google and Intel were far from no-brainer
investments([http://www.bvp.com/portfolio/antiportfolio](http://www.bvp.com/portfolio/antiportfolio)).

So what matters is not so much that AngelList is full of companies that will
never be billion dollar businesses. What matters is that among those companies
are billion dollar companies and every investment represents a bet by a group
of folks.

~~~
7Figures2Commas
Unfortunately you're focused too much on the investor, and not on the
entrepreneur.

Investors have the luxury of spraying and praying because they primarily
invest capital; founders, whose investment consists of time and opportunity
cost, don't have this luxury. In simple terms, your investors have _n_ lottery
tickets, and you have one.

Statistically, as a founder, you are not likely to build a billion dollar
business. That is worth repeating, often. Pretending that your odds are better
than they really are and working yourself into the ground because Silicon
Valley culture has convinced you that it's the only way is foolish.

Which leads to my final point: if you're an entrepreneur, it's worth thinking
long and hard about the path you take. If you're convinced that your ambitions
should be measured in 9 and 10 figures and you are enticed by the funding
game, you're often not just unnecessarily sacrificing your quality of life,
you may be sacrificing the potential to build a successful 7 or 8 figure
business.

~~~
zaidf
_Finally, in response to your edit that attempting to build billion-dollar
businesses is the norm: you can only come to such a belief if you have firmly
ensconced yourself in the Silicon Valley startup scene._

You misunderstood me. I never said shooting for billion dollar businesses is
the norm _across the country_ but rather in the context of startups,
particularly those that YC is most interested in funding.

I'm not debating or necessarily even disagree with what you are saying about
founders and their chances of success. But that is not what we are debating
here.

The primary debate here is whether Sam Altman's post to _his audience_ makes
the right point about _his message_. I think it does.

~~~
7Figures2Commas
I think I get it. What you're saying is that YCombinator's target audience is
highly intelligent individuals, savvy enough to spot untapped market
opportunities and capable enough to have a chance at exploiting them, but who
are either too lazy to look at the IPO and M&A data or aren't very good at
statistics?

Personally, I find it hard to believe that every YCombinator-backed founder
believes he's chasing a billion-dollar opportunity, but maybe I'm delusional.

------
bertil
My experience at repeatedly starting companies is not that taking risk for
yourself is hard -- if you have simple taste, enjoy coding and are articulate
enough to identify a problem and conceive a solution… There is no reason to
be, really. I mean: sitting on your ass wondering what to do is pretty much
what anyone looking for a job does after _that_ phone-call, and no one has
described job seekers as heroes, certainly not developers.

What still scares the be-jeezus out of me, and anyone I’ve met is getting
someone else involved, pretending that you know your thing and making them,
innocent travel companions, crash with you, unaware that it’s all shadows and
illusion. I’m assuming that’s why psychopaths are so good at that stage: they
can hire ten people that they can’t pay, and not care for the life of them
that their baby won’t have formula to eat in two months. (I’ve seen that with
my own eyes. Spoiler alert: it cries.)

I am not surprised that HomeJoy founder gave her home to those first helpers:
with an ounce of human decency, that must have felt like a tenth of the bare
minimum she was asking from them. That discomfort must have been less that the
inhumane hours. Good on her, and great for her.

The fact that Sam Altman fails to see that the problem is generally others
scares me.

~~~
sama
this is one of the many reasons we advise startups not to hire during YC. most
startups we work with wait to hire until they have raised enough money to make
it reasonably safe to join them.

and employees should always ask a startup how much runway they have. if they
won't tell you, it's a big red flag.

~~~
bertil
Thank you so much for answering. Employees are the big point, but I have seen
that fear even towards non-employees: dependent family members, partners…

As someone who’s been burned (hard) by asking that question and trusting the
answer many times (Fool me once…), I see as a huge opportunity an audit
company that could answer that question accurately, and reasonably well for
early start-up: before and after hiring you and the all the profiles being
considered.

~~~
2arrs2ells
Ask to talk to one of the company's investors if you aren't sure the founder
is being upfront about runway. They should have a good handle on the company's
cash position (and if they don't, that might be a yellow flag).

~~~
bertil
Not sure how the relation with investors is in the US, but I can’t imagine
them even considering that in any company that I joined. In hindsight, it was
a red flag, but I assume there is a cultural gap there.

~~~
2arrs2ells
Depends on stage of company, but for my company (Series A, Bay Area, ~25
employees), we'd be happy to connect anyone with a job offer with our lead
investor.

------
7Figures2Commas
> The only thing you have to know how to do is build something people want.

"Build something people want" is a popular mantra, but notwithstanding the
fact that many entrepreneurs overestimate the potential demand for their
product or service, it oversimplifies what's actually required to build a
company that's likely to be successful.

In the consumer market, translating popularity into dollars sufficient to
support a sustainable business can be very hard. It's easy to look at
companies like Snapchat, but most startups will not become so popular that
they can obtain the type of funding that allows them to significantly delay
the implementation of a revenue strategy. Monetizing a modestly popular
consumer property that can support more than a handful of employees is still
very, very difficult.

In the B2B market, creating a successful business requires that you build
something people want (or, more preferably, need), that you can sell and sell
at a profit, and in sufficient volume. B2B sales can be difficult and slow,
even if you have a great sales team and a great product, and the cost of sale
can be much higher than you anticipate. If you do crack the sales puzzle in a
profitable manner, scaling sales to the point at which you actually have a
real business is a hurdle many startups never get past.

If you look beyond the top 1% startups, you'll quickly find that Silicon
Valley is littered with stagnant startups that are based on seemingly good
ideas and that might even elicit comments like "I would use that!" But they're
not "wanted" enough to get from _great idea_ to _great business_.

None of this means creating a company is a bad idea, but starting the journey
with the "build something people want" mantra in mind, and little else, is
more often than not a path to disappointment than success.

------
gms
"The only thing you have to know how to do is build something people want."

I have actually found this to be the most difficult thing - a lack of ideas
that turn out to be wanted by other people.

~~~
jmathai
The most difficult thing in a startup is whatever your next big hurdle is.

Ultimately, yes, you need to build something people want - a lot.

But there are a series of hurdles along the way ranging from finding a co-
founder/team, building the product, raising investment, acquiring users,
monetization, etc.

I always used to think that future problems are _good to have_. It's true that
they're good to have since it means you've crossed the previous hurdle. But
they're just as difficult, if not more difficult, than prior hurdles.

This is why the mental model for startups is so important. You really do have
to be relentless despite the numerous hurdles which will be placed in front of
you.

~~~
gms
Yes, you are correct. I wasn't clear in that I was talking about my current
hurdle.

------
sunjain
Long time back I had posed a question on "Ask PG" \- that how come PG does not
go out and do a startup(after his initial one)? My aim was to ask if doing
startup is such a "must to do" thing for certain kind of folks, then he should
be doing it again, and again (and not stop after the first one and then start
advising only). While I never got a direct answer to that one, he did answer
this in another forum the same thing - which basically boiled down to - that
doing startup is too much work, and he does not want spend his time doing
that. I really do think, that doing startup is not such a sexy thing as it is
portrayed it to be. I feel it is another of those things in life, where
primary reason for most folks for doing a startup is that you will seem more
"important" a person, after you have a successful startup. Otherwise you are
just an ordinary dude with 9-5 job. I truly wonder how many folks actually do
it because it is more fun and adventure, than pain and stress(most of the
time). Or if the real reasons for doing startup are ever examined.

~~~
001sky
A similar story may be having kids. I'm pretty sure that most parents, of 18
year olds in college, if asked "why don't you have some more kids" would
answer: "its too much work! (now)". But that is a different comment and
context than asking someone who has never had kids. Some people are "serial
entrepreneurs", but many aren't and that's OK. It's actually probably a good
thing. Creativity (for new biz ideas) is a bit spiky and non-linear. Many
serial entreprenuers are merely trend-spotters, not (0,1) type innovators. The
number of the people with multiple ideas of great calibre is very, very small.
Even when considered in relation to the number of founders with successful
exits (already small). So you should not expect in any way for this to be the
norm, IMHO.

------
orky56
Although I understand this is a post by sama & for YC, I don't think that YC
should be the reason you do a startup. That's what the article seemed to be
insinuating to me. The hustle needed is just as impressive, if not more so,
than the successful results we see.

------
pskittle
One thing I like about YC is that you'll are honest about a lot of things and
invest to help the founders and company grow . However I've found out that
people are the least optimistic about success in the valley . Then why the
compulsion of having to move there.

P.S - I'm not a YC graduate but a startup aficionado

------
jalonso510
"We fund companies at all stages, from just the faintest idea to post-Series
B"

Does this mean that (i) YC will continue to invest in it companies up through
their later rounds, or (ii) that YC will actually participate in a Series B
for a company that it had no prior connection with?

~~~
ycaspirant
I think what he meant to say is that YC accepts applications from companies at
all stages. Once accepted to YC, all companies are given the exact same
funding deal.

~~~
sokoloff
If that's the case, I think that limits YC to reasonably early stage (pre-
series A) or near-death companies. It's perfectly rational to give 6% to YC of
a very early company. It's almost surely plus-EV to do that.

A successful company about to close a series-B? Much, much harder to imagine
how YC would be plus-EV at that point.

