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A comment on A New Standard Deal. Parent comment

Re:A New Standard Deal by dang on Friday June 26, 2020 @03:41PM (#23656112)
From the beginning, YC was opposed to the incubator model, which that idea would be more aligned with. Even having startups share offices was never something they were interested in. That was partly because they had no interest in managing offices, or managing at all (or offices, for that matter). But there were deeper reasons: the sense that great startups develop in environments of their own creation, a suspicion of scenesterism, and ultimately the fact that they wouldn't have liked to work that way themselves. They strongly approved of saving money, but were more the kind of people who would work out of an apartment (as Viaweb indeed had). The incubator model comes more out of a business-managerial way of thinking. Words like 'synergy' come to mind.
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Re:A New Standard Deal by jdoliner on Friday June 26, 2020 @03:57PM (#23656258)
One of the first things YC partners say to you when you the program starts is: "We are not your employers, we will let you fail." I think that's a core part of how YC works and things like sharing office space or having dorms would degrade that by helping founders to escape some of the responsibilities of their company.

For people in YC who are looking for places to work though and want to get out of their apartments I highly recommend the public libraries in Mountain View and the surrounding towns. They're quiet, well lit, have fast wifi, comfortable chairs and desks, and lots of nooks and crannies without much distracting foot traffic.

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Re:A New Standard Deal by jacobsenscott on Friday June 26, 2020 @07:19PM (#23658116)
Employers let employees fail all the time, and when that happens the stop giving them money. When a startup fails VCs stop giving them money. The illusion of autonomy motivates some people, but make make no mistake - when you take VC money you are an employee of that VC firm - with low pay, no benefits, no title, no desk, etc.
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Re:A New Standard Deal by edouard-harris on Saturday June 27, 2020 @12:26AM (#23659510)
This isn't true in the general case. If you found a startup that's profitable, for example, you have genuine autonomy to an extent that you simply couldn't obtain as an employee, no matter how successful.
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Re:A New Standard Deal by jacobsenscott on Saturday June 27, 2020 @12:00PM (#23662598)
This is true in the general case. In the general case a startup isn't going to be successful, the founder is inexperienced and easily pushed around by the VCs, and generally needs to follow their orders to keep bridge rounds, etc coming.

In the rare case of a successful startup, if the board doesn't replace the founder with an experienced executive, the founder probably has as much autonomy as corporate executive in charge of a successful division of a company.

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Re:A New Standard Deal by redis_mlc on Saturday June 27, 2020 @01:27AM (#23659723)
FYI: there's a "YC House" townhouse in SF that several startups use for a while, then move on.

Source: been there.

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Re:A New Standard Deal by dang on Saturday June 27, 2020 @02:19AM (#23659895)
For sure. I've been to those too. Startups choosing to colocate is different from the incubator model at the investor level.
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Re:A New Standard Deal by redis_mlc on Saturday June 27, 2020 @04:46AM (#23660418)
No, the lease is held by YC, not the "startups choosing to colocate."

So the investor holds the lease.

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Re:A New Standard Deal by tomhoward on Saturday June 27, 2020 @09:50AM (#23661836)
> the lease is held by YC

That doesn't sound right to me (I've been in the YC network for 10+ years, as has dang), and is at odds with what tlb (an original and still-serving YC partner) said in this comment [1] above, and what has always been YC ethos.

Maybe the person who told you that was mistaken? Or it may have been a YC partner or staff member doing it privately?

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23655750

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