
My story of applying, getting in, and being a mom in Y Combinator - nnnnnn
https://medium.com/@susanjohnson/hi-im-a-mom-and-a-start-up-founder-my-yc-story-3b8c8650ae95
======
aresant
There's an interesting back story on the Women.com domain.

NBC owned women.com and women.net from the takeover of iVillage.

A domain broker - Benjamin Padnos - won the domains at auction at SEDO for $1m
in 2010, but the CEO of NBC - Jeff Zucker - blocked the domain name sale
personally.

Padnos wound up suing NBC and SEDO and settling, taking the domain names(1).

Then he sold them to Susan in 2012 who purchased them with "some of the money
she’d earned [at facebook]" (2)(3)

I have a ton of respect for the commitment on that transaction.

2012 was actually a relatively GOOD time to buy TLD's, compared to today's
even-more-insane-than-insane-market.

And given that the WHOIS for Women.com is literally registered to her name /
email I hope that she's still as fired up about landing that whale as she
should be!

(1) [http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/04/nbc-done-
lawsuit/](http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/04/nbc-done-lawsuit/)

(2) [http://dotweekly.com/company-domain-movers-riot-games-
amex/](http://dotweekly.com/company-domain-movers-riot-games-amex/)

(3) [http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/18/women-
com/](http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/18/women-com/)

~~~
atomical
>I have a ton of respect for the commitment on that transaction

Why?

~~~
twelve40
cause it was a lot of money for a gamble that turned out nicely, and also she
probably does something more inspiring with that domain than a broker?

~~~
markdown
> broker

Is that the whitewashed version of "squatter"?

~~~
wolf550e
I guess with domains, "squatter" is one who buy lots of them for cheap without
knowing which (if any) will turn out to be useful, and "broker" is one who
buys few expensive domains intending to resell them, like real estate.

~~~
markdown
I guess one can make that distinction.

In my dictionary a squatter is one who meets this criteria:

1\. Buys a domain with the sole intention of reselling it for profit.

2\. Does nothing with it while sitting on it... ie. doesn't develop a website
one it other than a shitty squatter landing page.

------
salome2
I found this very inspirational myself as a mom of 3 (and I'm psyched to have
just applied last week!)

------
valleycynic
"Access to venture capitalists: Raising money is incredibly hard and
incredibly distracting. The faster you can get it done, the faster you can get
back to building something people want. YC is the perfect forcing function to
help you raise capital.

Network: Being an entrepreneur is a lonely path. There are few people who
truly understand what you’re going through and even if your friends (or
parents) are well meaning, they still don’t get it. YC is the ultimate network
and you will be surrounding by people who do get it."

These two points from her essay reveal more about the true nature of YC than
perhaps the author intended.

In theory, when you join YC, you and your cofounders give Paul & Co. a sizable
chunk of equity in your budding startup in exchange for advice dispensed over
dinner--advice and dinners which, given the valuations of certain YC-backed
startups and the percentage of equity surrendered, cannot possibly, no matter
how enlightening the advice or delicious the dinners, be worth the price paid
in shares.

Why then are so many founders eager to make what on the surface seems like a
terrible deal? Because what they actually get in exchange for their equity is
not mere mentoring, but the access to top VCs like Andreeson Horowitz and
Sequoia. Those VCs can in turn, using their money and media connections, hype-
up your startup and work to get you bought out/acquihired.

We like to pretend that the startup game is a meritocracy and not all like the
cronyism that goes on in corporate boardrooms where CEOs doubling as board
members vote on each other's lavish compensation packages, but it is not
difficult to recall examples that suggest it is all too similar.

Take Loopt. It was a dying product with a dwindling userbase that while novel
in concept for 2004, was clearly too early to market and soon found itself in
a market awash with location-aware competitors like Foursqaure and Gowalla.
But because Loopt had gone through YC and took investment from board members
of Sequoia, strings were pulled to get Greendot to acquire Loopt and reward
Sam with a life-changing exit and provide him and his investors with a
justification for branding Loopt a success. From there, he went on to succeed
PG as YC's president, and using that platform, he's written--without any hint
of irony--polemics decrying the lack of innovation[1] and calling for startups
to work on "breakthrough technologies"[2] despite having as his major
accomplishment a failed feature phone version of Grindr.[3]

I'm happy for Susan and hope her startup is successful, but her experiences
has only reinforced my view that success in the Valley startup game is much
more about luck and connections than skill and execution. She was suspiciously
vague about her financial situation, but one can infer from the essay (buying
the domain, flying back and forth, hiring a "full stack" dev), that it's
probably much better than most mothers of two, married or otherwise. The
requirement that you "move to the bay area"[4] (which she technically
violated) all but ensures mothers who aren't rich won't apply, which
completely negates her message of "I'm a mom and I did it and so can you!"

[1] [http://blog.samaltman.com/what-happened-to-
innovation-1](http://blog.samaltman.com/what-happened-to-innovation-1)

[2] [http://blog.samaltman.com/new-rfs-breakthrough-
technologies](http://blog.samaltman.com/new-rfs-breakthrough-technologies)

[3]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=385178](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=385178)

[4] [http://www.ycombinator.com/apply/](http://www.ycombinator.com/apply/)

~~~
webwright
Two points. There was a non-rich mom in my batch in 2008 (one of the hardest
fundraising climates in the last decade). She and her co-founder kicked ass
and raised more money than most of the batch.

Point #2: You need to expand your view of meritocracy beyond just
product/code. Expanding who you know, how much they like/admire you, and how
much they want to work with you is _part of meritocracy_. Imagine it as a
multiplier to product merit and,as a founder, you NEED to imagine it as part
of your job. In a failure scenario, it absolutely helps turn a zero into a
one. But it also helps you hire, sell products, raise money, get press, do
bizdev deals, sell companies, etc.

All sorts of other nits I could pick with your comment. Strawmen (really? Does
_anyone_ go into YC thinking advice at dinners is the primary value they
offer?) and ad hominem attacks (what does Sam's previous company have to do
with the merits of his "polemics"?).

Some stats to challenge the "rich white dudes raining gold on each other"
theory:

52% of founding teams in the Valley have 1st generation immigrants on them.
Just shy of half of the top-ranked venture companies (in case you think all of
these immigrant-heavy startups are floundering while rich white guys are
winning). Does anyone believe that a meaningful percentage of this group is
rich and white? The same study also found that immigrants were key members of
the product or management teams in more than 75% of those companies.

~~~
random28345
> Point #2: You need to expand your view of meritocracy beyond just
> product/code. Expanding who you know, how much they like/admire you, and how
> much they want to work with you is part of meritocracy.

This is why I also include skin color, culture, gender, and how rich my
parents are in my definition of merit. This allows me to honestly believe that
all my success is based on merit.

Because nothing says, "merit", like being connected to a small group of very
wealthy, very insular people who have the ability to magically bestow success
on whoever they please.

~~~
webwright
This is another strawman argument. Of course there's cronyism, racism, sexism,
ageism, etc. And of course we should discourage that. Was I championing any of
those things you're attacking?

I'm going to add some stats to my OP.

~~~
amirmc
You said "You need to expand your view of meritocracy beyond just
product/code. Expanding who you know, how much they like/admire you, and how
much they want to work with you is part of meritocracy."

So yes, you may as well be championing gender, race and background, since
you've already _redefined_ 'merit' (in a rather perverse way, imho).

Edit: I see others have also commented on this and the Wikipedia link from
another comment is interesting
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy)

~~~
webwright
Can you point me to a definition of merit that I redefined?

I guess I'll try to say it slightly differently to clarify: "it's worth
working to expand who you know, how much they like/admire you and how much
they want to work with you". This is a skill you can get better at. It's hard
work that you need to do. And yes, sadly, this work is certainly easier if
you're a 25 year old white guy who went to Stanford.

Do you think people who have worked to have a deep network of folks to sell
to, hire from, get introductions from, etc., have done meritorious work? I'm
suggesting that how hard you work on this stuff (and how good you get at it)
is part of your merit (in the world of startups/entrepreneurship). I certainly
don't think it's the only part.

Given that about half of the top venture backed startups are founded by
immigrants, I'd say the startup is more meritocratic than a lot of people seem
to think. But I'd agree with you that we have a ways to go.

~~~
philh
You can't simply say that it's meritorious to work hard at whatever it is that
makes one succeed. Otherwise any non-randomised culture is meritocratic. For
meritocracy to be a meaningful term, the concept of merit needs to be detached
from real-world success.

Which isn't to say that network-building isn't meritorious, but you can't use
that particular argument for it.

(It's also not relevant how meritocratic SV culture is in other areas.)

~~~
mlichtenstern
It is fair to say that the YC experience adds value to the companies that
participate - even if only by virtue of screening and vetting companies for
investors - although that is clearly not the only benefit. For a company that
comes in as an idea, and has no revenue / implicit value, the equity (in
exchange for funding and value add) makes sense. Companies are not obliged to
apply if they don't see value.

------
vitalus
"Each week, I either flew or drove to Mountain View. Burning the candles at
both ends, this commuting & scheduling hell allowed me to maintain a stable
life for my young daughters and make the most of YC.

I do not recommend this approach and in fact, it’s 100% against YC. You are
required to move and you should. It’s exhausting and it takes your focus off
of the most important things: talking to users, shipping code, and exercising.
Nowhere in that list is commuting."

If you had to do it all again, would you move and leave your children behind?
That seems like an impossible choice to make, and the tone of your story makes
it sound like it all worked out well for you. Would you really not recommend
the approach you took to someone in a similar situation?

~~~
mrkurt
I did the opposite: moved for the summer, leaving my wife + 4 kids in Chicago.
It wasn't easy. Others I knew moved their whole families for ~4 months. That
also wasn't easy.

If I did it again, and budget permitting, I probably would split time —
weekends in Chicago, Monday through Thurs or Friday in Mountain View.

What was interesting was how shocked family members and friends were that we'd
work something out like this. If it had been a military deployment, though, no
one would have batted an eye.

~~~
randall
I totally valued the experience of being home on the weekends... I was
commuting from Utah, but it was really really draining to travel that much. If
possible, I think I'd opt to bring the family out. (My wife was pregnant, so
that wasn't a real option for us.)

~~~
ryanSrich
If you don't mind. Would you be willing to go a bit deeper into how you were
able to afford that (flying every weekend/YC in general)?

I assume you had quite a bit of money saved in order to afford your typical
living expense, flying to and from YC every weekend, and a place to stay in
Mountain View.

If you did in fact save, were you doing that actively in the event that you
got into YC or did you essentially just drain your savings once you got in?

~~~
randall
We already had revenue which was paying for my salary, and had been for the
prior 6 months. We were in a position where YC's value and my desire to be
with my family meant we could spend the cash to achieve both.

------
untilHellbanned
7% on $100K with a "7 figure" domain name, means that YC is already making a
return on the investment even if the domain is only squatted.

This was the easiest investment ever.

------
danohuiginn
Good for her, but the commuting process sounds hellish. And from the comments
here, several others have been in the same situation. Does YC have any plans
to better support founders in that situation?

------
radicality
I'm interested how she got that domain, women.com doesn't sound cheap.

~~~
mlichtenstern
Article referenced above says she used money she earned while at Facebook.

------
jscheel
The family sacrifice should not be discounted in any way. Specifically, being
away from her children during the week could have an impact on her family for
a long time. Probably less so with her three year-old daughter, but there will
be an impact with her youngest child. There is still a huge amount of inherent
bonding that happens at that age. I'm not disparaging her husband in any way,
he seems like a good fella, but I can speak from experience. My daughter was
11 months old when I left for 500 Startups. I did the back and forth thing
too. And I tried to be 100% when I was home. But that time away from her
altered our relationship. No matter how awesome my wife was while I was gone.

------
geobz
Thanks for sharing, let us know how it goes in the future.

That Jordan guy judging from his behavior even with his reply on Reddit seems
like a youngster that wants to make easy bucks and doesn't care about the
future.

If I was you I'd make a legal case and go full on him.

~~~
Robadob
Appears this is in the wrong thread, probably referring to the robocoin ATM
thread;
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8457298](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8457298)

------
qwerta
I started my own business after becoming stay-at-home dad. I know many parents
with their own company, startup is good way to escape corporate cubicle, and
spend more time with kids. Not sure why being parent as something worth
mentioning here.

------
foobarfizzbuzz
I guess I fail to see what would differentiate between a father/mother. Like
why does any option make a difference?

~~~
DanBC
Mothers breastfeed. Companies need to have places for mothers to breast feed
children, of for mothers to pump breast milk.

Mothers sometimes have complications during birth. This can cause considerable
physical difficulty in the following months. Here's some advice about recovery
after c-section. [http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Caesarean-
section/Pages/Recover...](http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Caesarean-
section/Pages/Recovery.aspx)

This post was written by a female parent. We call those "mothers". If it had
been written by a male parent it would have used the word "father".

There is currently a gender imbalance and so posts from people who are not
male have some interest.

------
untilHellbanned
Not most realistic role model for YC women. Affording a domain name like
women.com and buying full stack developer?

~~~
Asparagirl
And she conveniently left out the cost of childcare for all the days she was
gone. Oh, you know, those little $18-20 per hour* minor details. If her
partner works fulltime, that could be round-the-clock care.

But yeah, of course a mom can do YC! (If she's rich and has a very, very
supportive partner.)

And yeah, I do remember that tweet from Sam she highlighted. And the thing I
tweeted back to him, unacknowledged, still stands: daycare in SoMa is almost
impossible to find, in some cases has a _two-and-a-half year_ waiting list.
Gee, I wonder why about half the women in tech leave _mid-career_.

* yes, that's the going rate in LA for two children, possibly more if one is a newborn, and/or if you pay your nanny on the books instead of off.

~~~
argonaut
If you don't have the resources to fit a startup into your life (in some
combination of time or money - she just happened to have a surplus of money),
then maybe you shouldn't be doing a startup? Nobody every said startups/YC is
a fit for every single person in _every stage_ of their life.

~~~
calibraxis
Yes, that would be the honest thing for VCs to publicly say. "Now look, you'll
want to be a guy, unless you're a woman of some means. We're not racist, as
we're heavily composed of both whites and asians. Modulo certain Asian and
perhaps lesser-European or -US accents. (That excludes others of course, which
we hope you consider a feature and not a bug...) As for coming from a family
with money and comfort, well we hardly need to list the benefits of that."

~~~
argonaut
So are you implying that no woman has a surplus of time (and that they never
do)?

Do you disagree with my assertion that if you want to start a company, you
have to have lots of time, and if you don't have that, then you'll have to
trade something else for that (like money: for hiring people, paying for
flights, etc)?

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. If you have no time, and no money,
don't expect to be able to start a successful startup.

~~~
Iftheshoefits
You're missing the point. The qualification you describe in your last sentence
excludes the overwhelming majority of people anywhere, but especially in the
U.S., and it does so by pure (bad) luck and accident of birth. That is to say,
the qualification you note is either a polite way to say, "Non-rich, or
affluent, or already-connected need not apply," or an incredibly obtuse
equivocation. As a result, for example, the subject of the article that
started this thread is not in the same set with people who can accurately be
described as "normal."

~~~
argonaut
No, you're missing the point. Success in _any_ field requires time or money
(or some combination of both). You want to be a Nobel Prize winning scientist?
You're going to need lots of time to become an expert in your field, publish
papers, AND run experiments. You want to become an actor? You'll have to spend
enormous amounts of time running around doing auditions, trying to find work.

And that's exactly it. The overwhelming majority of the world will never start
a startup. Or become a top scientist. And those that do grow up in poverty but
start businesses / become academics / other success have time to spend
studying/being entrepreneurs, and those that have little time because of other
obligations but still manage to do these things have to make enormous time
sacrifices.

The world isn't egalitarian, and it's wishful thinking to think it is.

------
cyberjunkie
Something about that first photo also also reminded me of the Last Supper.

~~~
nandemo
Not sure why you're downvoted. It's no doubt a reference to Da Vinci's Last
Supper.

------
huehue
My story of applying, getting in, and being gay in Y Combinator.

My story of applying, getting in, and being a white man in Y Combinator.

My story of applying, getting in, and being a Java 9to5 developer in Y
Combinator.

~~~
mrweasel
I looked for the part where her being a mom made any difference what so ever.
It must be hard to be away from your children most of the week and of cause
taxing on her partner, but that's not really unique to YCombinator or
startups.

~~~
atonse
It's not about her being a mom helping or hurting. It's about Her being a mom
and going through YC. I think this kind of post can inspire other women with
kids to see "maybe I can do it too."

I think it really is that simple.

------
jp
So is the person sitting next to PG a real prime madonna ? He he... (Sorry!)

------
was_hellbanned
I'm not saying this to be negative, necessarily, but something struck me in
this essay, so I grep'd it. There are 47 instances of "I", by my count.

~~~
jacquesm
>I'm not saying this to be negative, necessarily, but something struck me in
this essay, so I grep'd it. There are 47 instances of "I", by my count.

You already have 2 instances of 'I' in a single sentence (not counting the one
in quotes). So on average you're ahead of her already.

~~~
was_hellbanned
Why acknowledge sample size when snark is on the line?

------
benstein
I like to think of her kid. What will the other children say on the
playground? "Your momma wears army bootstrap" and "Your momma so FAT32..."

