
Two New YC Partners: Justin Kan and Aaron Harris - katm
http://blog.ycombinator.com/two-new-yc-partners-justin-kan-and-aaron-harris
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salimmadjd
From outside it feels like YC is becoming a frat house. I think it will help
if YC steps out and brings in some unusual partners.

Of course it's easier said than done. If you're busy running YC it's hard to
have the occasion to meet and find people who are not part of the same frat
house.

~~~
justin
What would an unusual partner be?

~~~
salimmadjd
I wish everyone from Google, Facebook to YC followed the model CRV has been
using [1], _" Each member votes on a scale of one to four how confident they
are in the investment, with one being least confident and 4 being highly
confident. A majority of votes in either the least or most confident category
is considered a troubling sign."_

I think the issue with YC now is a bottom up issue. It's hard to bring outside
partners if you have no working experience with them. Those that you can work
with, are mostly YC alums who were vetted through the YC culling process which
often breeds the same people.

So YC might want to use a similar approach as CRV. If everyone is so confident
about a team then maybe they are picking the same old people. In contrast if
there is a strong dispute, that might be a good sign.

At least you bring diversity and maybe some unusual bets into the YC and
ultimately in 4-5 years end up with a more diverse group of partners.

That being said, this might mean a big change in the application process, as
the current early round filtering process by the alums will most likely
eliminate diversity.

[1] [http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattlynley/how-a-boston-venture-
capi...](http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattlynley/how-a-boston-venture-capital-firm-
grew-into-a-silicon-valley)

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ChuckFrank
I have never seen as many pivots as Mr. Kan. Regardless of what you think
about his products/services, he sure knows how to stay in the game. And I
respect that. I'm still amazed that socialcam got schooled by vine. I thought
he was on time and on the money on that pivot. I never saw vine coming. I
imagine he didn't either. He's like the Steve Nash of SV. A play maker. So
this is probably a good step for YC. Congrats.

~~~
teacup50
> _And I respect that._

I'm not sure I respect the ability to convince people to keep trusting you
after repeated failures, eventually culminating in a position of oversight
over other people's start-ups. Between this, Loopt, and "tutorspree", it's
starting to seem a bit like "Those who can't do ... have a privileged position
from which it really doesn't matter anyway"

Upon reflection, these resumes might actually be perfect for YC -- these are
founders that convinced people to invest in their high-risk ventures,
repeatedly, without actually ever having to deliver the goods.

In this world of over-inflated valuations and empty bubble companies, that's a
very valuable skill-set to have.

~~~
justin
I guess I'll defend myself...

None of the companies I've started has lost the investors' money (yet). Some
of them weren't that successful (Kiko) but still sold for a small profit.

Twitch / Justin.tv is a 120+ employee company that makes money and supports
over 100 full time broadcasters who make their living on our platform (and has
hundreds of thousands of casual broadcasters). Over 45 million people look at
Twitch videos every month. While there are many more successful companies, I
don't think you could call that a failure.

Socialcam was a spinoff of Justin.tv that was acquired for $60m on less than
$2m raised capital.

The jury is still out on the Exec / Handybook acquisition, but I think the
online-to-offline home services space is a growth space.

I think I've earned a few investors' trust and I think I have some experience
with founding early stage tech companies.

~~~
ChuckFrank
On his two large pivots - turning Justin.tv into Twitch, and then spinning off
Socialcam in time to be there with Vine - Mr. Kan has clearly shown that he
can be in the right place at the right time. As with having the foresight to
sell Exec, an interesting, but troubled space from the get go (as you can see
from their internal moves from Exec'ing anything to the more profitable
cleaning). I really believe that people who work 'in the trenches' amid both
failures and successes, have a lot more to teach than those that win straight
out.

I went to a Paul Haggis speech where he said that when asked how to become a
successful film maker, his response was 'Make a movie and have it win the
Oscar for best picture - that's how you become successful.' So true, and yet
so false. I'd rather have people who fought and struggled give me advice - and
so I think Mr. Kan is a great choice, probably the best choice in that realm.

Besides, it appears to some extent that YC is bringing him on siloed in his
marketing prowess. PG seems continually impressed that Mr. Kan self broadcast
for as long as he did. It's not the first time I've heard PG mention it, but
it's not what Mr. Kan is best at. He's best at seeing the angles in the game.
Like I said, he's a play maker. My only concern would be that he would push
too many pivots on young, unproven companies. But we all have biases that need
to addressed, in our actions and in our advice.

Myself, I take too many long bets, and would probably encourage others to do
so as well.

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apples1010
Aaron is a great and smart guy but why does having a failed tutoring service
make him an ideal partner?

~~~
jabrams2003
Get to know him and you'll immediately realize why.

~~~
grinich
Unfortunately that's not an option for most people reading this.

~~~
middus
Fortunately his qualifications are largely irrelevant for most people reading
this. ;)

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mathattack
Congrats to both, and the execs that work with these guys.

Some VCs come with banking backgrounds. I like the ones that come as
entrepreneurs first. Their advice is hard earned.

~~~
paulbaumgart
Fortunately, the market has the same preference as you, and the entrepreneur-
VCs are taking over.

~~~
mathattack
In the VC world it seems to be happening. Less so when you move up to PE.

~~~
paulbaumgart
True, though I think that has a lot to do with the personal preferences of
successful entrepreneurs.

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TheMakeA
I think that puts YC at around 19 full time and part time partners. I'd bet
S14 is going to be the largest yet.

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nicoles
Congrats to Justin and Aaron!

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Finbarr
Congrats Justin and Aaron!

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joshdance
Wondered what Justin would do after Exec. Congrats to both.

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jpeg_hero
I was an exec customer for house cleaning. they would come every two weeks. i
relied on them.

exec was sold/acqui-hired to a company called Handybook.

so Handybook kept the regular scheduled appointment. they came once and it was
terrible. they came a second time and it was terrible again. so i cancelled
the service.

that was a few weeks ago, i have yet to replace them.

so right about now, my toilet is starting to become disgusting.

i get a disgusting toilet, and Justin gets a partnership.

~~~
colmvp
> i get a disgusting toilet, and Justin gets a partnership.

The difference is that most people, including Justin, would likely clean their
toilet instead of griping about it on an internet forum.

And if you're physically disabled, there are plenty of maid services aside
from Exec.

~~~
joelrunyon
Homejoy is pretty solid - and they're away cheaper.

