

Ask YC: who gives away free money? - yters

So, I know most people here want to do the start up thing so as to be financially independent, getting all the work out of the way early so as to get onto the really cool hacks.  But, our economy being as robust as it is, surely there are very rich people who would sponsor random promising hackers to do whatever, instead of slaving away for 6 months -&#62; year on one very specific and narrow problem domain.  <p>Our creative hacking, logical rigor, and awesome platform for idea modelling can have such a much more fundamental impact on society than all the web apps in the world.  That's why pg's hacker philosopher idea is so cool!  Who else is positioned like we are to revolutionize the world of thought?  So, my question is, where are all these smart investors, with a vision bigger than just the monthly bottom line?<p>I, for one, do not wish to research ponies and rainbows.  That is not to say they are bad, but I have other interests.
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palish
What..in the world...

People don't do startups to change society. They do it to get rich. Changing
society may or may not result.

People give away money either to feel good about themselves or to help
accomplish a goal.

If a rich person's goal is "to change society", and a startup's goal is "to
get rich", then the rich person will only invest in startups that will change
society in the ways the rich person wants it to change. Which is what happens
already.

But if a rich person's goal is "to get richer", then they'll invest in
startups that they think have a decent chance in getting rich, regardless of
whether or not they change society.

Therefore, the current system actually invests in _more_ startups than your
system.

So what are you proposing?

I guess a more direct answer to your question is: Nobody.

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comatose_kid
Your view that startups are created only to make $$$ is kind of cynical. Money
is important, but I'd think that the really cool startups are the ones that
try to change society. They just happen to get rewarded by the market.

Anyways, I agree that the original post is kind of random...

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yters
Well, it's one of those questions that get right to the heart of the issue,
but people don't feel comfortable asking because their context is based on one
specific answer. Many times, those are exactly the questions that should be
asked. Sometimes they're just retarded. I decided to give it a shot.

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breck
One last-resort (but creative) option is to sit out on the curb in Harvard
Square or on University Ave with your laptop and a cup for change. Plenty of
people do that so they can sing or perform because it's something they love.
If you want to do creative things and think it will be that important to the
world, then the people who will mock you for doing something like this
shouldn't bother you too much.

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yters
Romantic, but I don't want to be a starving artist if I can avoid it.

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breck
Darn. I was hoping you would do that and then I could walk by and say "haha! i
suggested he do that!"

But actually it may be a good idea. It would be great marketing.

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yters
Seriously, think how little money it takes to live, and fairly comfortably -
probably only about $20,000 a year. That's nothing for any of the multi-
millionaires that roam this site. There should definitely be some kind of
criteria to determine whether a person is promising (such as what they've done
on their own time), but besides that I don't see any problem with the idea.

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Retric
I would like to point out going to grad school is a great way to live like
that and be around creative types.

Edit: Wow that's an old post NM.

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gscott
There is no one smart enough to seek you out and understand what you are
doing. You have to network which means lots of "ponies and rainbows" until you
meet the right investor.

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jey
I'm planning to work as a consultant part time and spend the rest of my time
working on a problem I'm passionate about. Unfortunately this means no
retirement savings, and penny pinching indefinitely. I hope I can figure out
some better way to do this in the long run.

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tocomment
What do you mean by ponies and rainbows?

~~~
yters
I'm not referencing ID.

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euccastro
Slave away for what it takes to get rich, then give yourself the free money.

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yters
Which is a waste of time if I can get funded.

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alaskamiller
You've already asked this before. Last time it was funding for intelligent
design (no, really?) and now it's a idea modeler?

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paulgb
Looks like he took rms' advice and re-made the thread without referencing ID:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=57867> .

Am I just closed-minded, or does "logical rigor" sound uncomfortable coming
from an IDer?

~~~
alaskamiller
as with last time, he wants to find "patrons" to give him free money so that
he can play da vinci somewhere.

~~~
yters
This is a general question asked on behalf of all hackers who primarily want
financial independence.

