
Early Photos of Y Combinator - pg
http://www.ycombinator.com/yc05.html
======
jl
Wow. It seems like so long ago yet I remember every moment of these photos.
Especially the one taken the night we decided to start YC (we actually didn't
come up with the name till later on). I think that was a tear of
joy/excitement in my eye.

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ryanb
Everyone looks so young. Sam Altman looks exactly the same. (he still looks
super young)

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iamwil
Perhaps a 'where are they now' would be interesting for the other guys in the
batch.

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2005applicant
I will own up to being in one of the groups listed on the whiteboard.

I am pretty sure we were described as "VOIP OFFENSIVE LINEMAN". Or at least I
hope that is what was written behind to describe us.

Me and a co-founder were rather large and were actual offensive lineman. The
third co-founder was a running back.

We weren't selected (rightfully so). Maybe we should have bulked up the
running back before the interview. :)

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nicholasjbs
These pictures are a testament to how much you can get done in six years of
work. They're also a great reminder that YC was itself once a startup.

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earbitscom
YC is definitely still a startup. Otherwise, they would have replaced that
frickin' chili by now.

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coffeemug
YC is incredible. If you're on the fence about applying - do it! The worst
thing that can happen is that you'll go through an incredibly exciting process
of applying, get a polite rejection, and reapply the next time around. The
best thing that can happen is that it will change your perspective and your
life in a very fundamental way. If you look at it that way, you have nothing
to lose and everything to gain.

~~~
nicksergeant
I wanted to apply just for the experience this season, but there's absolutely
no way I could move to SF. I started filling out the app, but don't want to
waste their time if there's no way I can attend.

~~~
samstokes
About a quarter of the founders in the Summer 2010 batch weren't even US
residents, but we thought it was worth moving to the Bay Area for the three
months of YC.

Interestingly (and anecdotally) I think more people came from abroad than from
the East Coast.

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askar_yu
I wonder how these non-US-residents were able to handle their visa issues.

~~~
samstokes
That's unsurprisingly a large topic, but suffice it for now to say that again
three months is much easier than a longer stay.

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dirkdeman
Priceless! It also puts a human perspective to Y Combinator. I get sweaty
palms just by thinking of applying (although I will - again) this year, let
alone actually making it. These pics show me you're actually humans instead
of, well, deities. It makes me a bit less anxious of applying, if only a
little bit.

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rbanffy
Lovely. Thanks for sharing them. :-)

I remember reading about YC as it started, hooked I was to paulgraham.com's
essays. A link to "Beating the Averages" I forwarded by mail is what made a
couple friends of mine who had just started a company decide to build sites
with Zope and Plone instead of more mundane technologies. It had a deep impact
on the Brazilian Python community.

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Jun8
It is unbelievably amazing that YC went from literally a gleam in jl's (and
pg's) eye to something that is a clear leader in not only incubators but
entrepreneurial thought as well. A case of clearly superior vision getting its
due. Such vision to success proportionality is not so common, I think.

~~~
bambax
> _Such vision to success proportionality is not so common, I think_

I'm not sure of what you mean, but I would argue that vision is everything,
and that vision well executed has to bring success.

When we say that execution is hard, we really mean that execution that
implements a vision is hard. Execution without vision is really easy (it's
entropy).

Vision is harder, because it's not just an idea (a wish), but a deep insight
into the future _and how to get there_.

Those pictures of young YC remind me of Burano — an island next to Venice that
stayed in a kind of "pristine" state: Venice before Venice.

~~~
Jun8
You're somewhat right, vision is crucial. However, it is a necessary _but not
sufficient_ condition for success, that's what I meant. Classic (somewhat
cliche) example is the early Xerox vision, but I see this everyday youthful
energy and vision (and I'm not talking about myself :-) being squashed by
various factors in large corporations. In startups the vision to success black
box is simpler, but is by no means a linear relationship.

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ayanb
"It will never work" is such a killer name for a possible cult classic on
Investing and Entrepreneurship.

~~~
rbanffy
Dammit! itllneverwork.com and itwillneverwork.com are both taken :-(

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simonbrown
willneverwork.com is available.

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rbanffy
not anymore

    
    
      Server:		10.12.96.240
      Address:	10.12.96.240#53
    
      Non-authoritative answer:
      Name:	willneverwork.com
      Address: 68.178.232.100
    

No. It wasn't me.

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pkamb
I love the 12-inch Powerbook G4s.

~~~
mpc
Glad to see that someone else thinks this too. I really loved these machines.

~~~
pkamb
The 4:3 screen is what makes them special I think. Wish the new Airs had that
option!

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philwelch
I want to know who the "VoIP Offensive Linemen" are. Actually, a lot of the
nicknames on that board are pretty funny, and for the most part would make
great band names.

~~~
2005applicant
Haha one of the lineman is me, although I was only 6' 250 lbs at the time. A
co-founder also was one. He was about 6'3 280 lbs. The third co-founder was
actually a running back and wrestler, so he was only 5'8 165 lbs or so.

~~~
philwelch
Wait, so you guys actually were linemen? That's even better!

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2005applicant
Yup :)

I didn't play in college, though. Just old man flag leagues during the fall
and winter. angilly did and #3 wrestled but no football.

But by the time interviews rolled around we were all close to finishing grad
school, so our glory days were in the rearview.

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brackin
Amazing to see this, thanks for posting. Exciting to see how much they've
grown through hard work and to see how much their vision expanded.

YC is now regarded as the harvard of tech startups. It's great that YC's
original vision to put founders first is still instilled in YC today, even
further than then as they have more resources and alumni.

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oguz
This is amazing. I also believe that YC should have own it's own story with
pictures like this, for every batch.

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abbottry
This is awesome. I love that its only a few pictures, with descriptions. The
stories behind YC and all of its companies (and co-founders) are incredible.

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brlewis
Five hours and no comments about Snapjoy and Posterous enabling this story to
be told. This illustrates how effective technology is often invisible.

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aculver
Who are the folks/companies in the picture at the bottom? I feel like I might
recognize some of them, but they're _much_ younger.

~~~
trobertson
According to yclist.com (which is both unofficial and outdated), that first
batch was Reddit, Infogami, Kiko, Loopt, ClickFacts, and Firecrawl.

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jedc
Also Simmery and Memamp. According to my notes, Infogami ended up merging with
Reddit as well as one persome from Memamp. Firecrawl became TextPayMe which
was acquired by Amazon. Kiko sold on eBay after Google Calendar launched.
Details here:
[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF9...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF90b1l1Vnl5NmZjaTBNQWlJYVozMEE&hl=en_US#gid=0)

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kn0thing
Yep. Steve & I asked Chris (from memamp) to join the team not long after we
moved in with him at the end of the summer. We acquired infogami in January of
2006.

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sama
wow. justin looks like he's going to mess somebody up. and i wore that exact
same shirt this weekend.

~~~
iamwil
If anything Justin looks even bigger now--like he can twist heads off baby
seals.

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erikb
The last paragraph feels like a zen koan. Is a "good investor" not one that
finds start-ups which will succeed (and thus make him money)? How do you try
to be a "good investor" without trying to find start-ups which will succeed?
How far away am I from enlightment?

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mef
Love the beer cups in HN orange.

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ga0bi
can't believe this was about 6 years ago. congrats on all the success!

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staunch
Been a fan since it was announced. Glad it has worked out so well.

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redrory
We want more photos.

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kn0thing
Ask and yee shall receive:
[https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100151188843156...](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10100151188843156&set=t.1502254&type=1&theater)

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bobbles
Does anyone know the people in the last picture? Would be cool to match the
people to products still up and running

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tbrooks
A subversive looking Alexis that is...

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redthrowaway
And still by far the tallest person in the room. The man is a giant.

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kn0thing
Fee-fi-fo-fum...

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stevenj
Small typo in the last photo's description:

"This is a missing a few people..."

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pg
Fixed; thanks.

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jbgregg
Thank you, Paul. I love this trip down memory lane.

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TrevorBurnham
So, where in Cambridge was the original YC office?

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pg
135 Garden St. It was perfect.

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wherearethey
Where are the black people?

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tomjen3
They are out eating fried chicken.

Seriously, ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.

