Comments on: Founders, Founders and More Founders http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/ Marketing, Media, and Technology Conversations Sat, 13 Mar 2010 14:47:48 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: alex http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/comment-page-1/#comment-2239 alex Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:54:03 +0000 http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/#comment-2239 hi nice site. hi nice site.

]]> By: Jay (living in First Life) http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/comment-page-1/#comment-2150 Jay (living in First Life) Mon, 09 Apr 2007 08:29:19 +0000 http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/#comment-2150 Darren - I really appreciate you responding to me. Don't get me wrong, I think Paul is a very smart guy. I just fear that the Y-Combinator model is forcing young entrepreneurs to sell their souls for really low valuations and a lot of these companies are deluding themselves into believing they are the next Reddit. Even Reddit has a very small audience. The Y-Combinator model is not to build business but to build products. They basically create "features" and sometimes those evolve into a full product that can then be sold to another tech company. That's not sustainable or healthy for entrepreneurs. I think the whole "entrepreneurs are product development for big firms" is a terrible approach. I fear there are only so many Googles, Yahoos, and Microsofts in the world and even they have great in-house developers. At most, if all of them were to buy 10 start-ups per year, that'd be 30 start-ups. VCs and Y-Combinator are funding these businesses by the dozen. That's a bubble and that's bad for all of us. Darren – I really appreciate you responding to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Paul is a very smart guy. I just fear that the Y-Combinator model is forcing young entrepreneurs to sell their souls for really low valuations and a lot of these companies are deluding themselves into believing they are the next Reddit. Even Reddit has a very small audience.

The Y-Combinator model is not to build business but to build products. They basically create “features” and sometimes those evolve into a full product that can then be sold to another tech company. That’s not sustainable or healthy for entrepreneurs. I think the whole “entrepreneurs are product development for big firms” is a terrible approach. I fear there are only so many Googles, Yahoos, and Microsofts in the world and even they have great in-house developers. At most, if all of them were to buy 10 start-ups per year, that’d be 30 start-ups. VCs and Y-Combinator are funding these businesses by the dozen. That’s a bubble and that’s bad for all of us.

]]> By: Darren http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/comment-page-1/#comment-2135 Darren Sun, 08 Apr 2007 13:13:23 +0000 http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/#comment-2135 Jay- you're correct about statistical significance. I think Paul is doing well though - and with that, he's got a 3/7 track record which is good and he's using the philosophy he's built up with the Y Combinator to work with more projects. Is this significant to qualify other startups and incubators? No - you're correct about sample size... but it's a starting point. As for startups outside of the Bay Area - some are relevant, others not so. Jay- you’re correct about statistical significance. I think Paul is doing well though – and with that, he’s got a 3/7 track record which is good and he’s using the philosophy he’s built up with the Y Combinator to work with more projects. Is this significant to qualify other startups and incubators? No – you’re correct about sample size… but it’s a starting point.

As for startups outside of the Bay Area – some are relevant, others not so.

]]> By: Jay (living in First Life) http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/comment-page-1/#comment-2126 Jay (living in First Life) Sun, 08 Apr 2007 06:40:20 +0000 http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/#comment-2126 Paul Graham might want to look into this tiny little concept known as statistical significance. Two merged into one so 3 / 7 are successes by his metrics. I don't think the sample size is big enough to make any sort of inference. Also, he might want to address the issue of whether his start-ups are relevant to anyone outside of the Bay Area. Is that a big enough addressable market? Paul Graham might want to look into this tiny little concept known as statistical significance. Two merged into one so 3 / 7 are successes by his metrics. I don’t think the sample size is big enough to make any sort of inference.

Also, he might want to address the issue of whether his start-ups are relevant to anyone outside of the Bay Area. Is that a big enough addressable market?

]]> By: Christien Louviere http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/comment-page-1/#comment-2115 Christien Louviere Sat, 07 Apr 2007 16:27:42 +0000 http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/#comment-2115 Darren, thanks for digging up this article. At times, I felt like the man was in my mind. Darren, thanks for digging up this article. At times, I felt like the man was in my mind.

]]> By: JDsBlog » Blog Archive » Convergence http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/comment-page-1/#comment-2027 JDsBlog » Blog Archive » Convergence Wed, 04 Apr 2007 18:43:11 +0000 http://www.darrenherman.com/2007/04/04/founders-founders-and-more-founders/#comment-2027 [...] Founders, founders, and more founders. [...] [...] Founders, founders, and more founders. [...]

]]>