This format definitely detracts from the total benefit these companies can get from these office hours, but the possible press from getting their idea vetted by you on stage somewhat compensates for not being able to ask the pressing questions that usually come up at OH.

My one question would be: can you be as brutally honest as you need to be on stage with a team you've never seen before and might never see again? If so, then I think this is still an invaluable experience for the companies - most startups that just get feedback from their friends and a few early adopters don't get to hear the things that they need to.

I suspect after all these years habit will take over. I've noticed that happening at other events where I had to talk to startups.

Would you consider doing this as a teleconference on a regular basis (ex. once a quarter)? It would be valuable access to a much wider audience.

With a family, and N Y Combinator companies to follow, what would be the benefit for PG in doing so?

I like the idea of seeing something more like a YC interview than office hours. I look forward to seeing the video.

I think companies will be quite willing to open up. I share the concern on the time compression though. My gut said 20 minutes per company would still be interesting with the right companies/people. But this is an experiment, let's see how it goes.

Will you be selecting the startups or TechCrunch?

They're going to.

hmm, still maybe an interesting experience to see unfold.

Sounds like a splendid idea. Not sure if I'll be at TCD this year but if I am I'll be sure to check it out.

PG, can you please give us a description of what Office Hours means.

cool, whomever down voted this you are a pretentious ass - rather than explain, you downvote.

As a side thought:

Given that we have had this ongoing discussion about the comment scores being hidden to preserve real dialogue - we should require a comment for every downvote, such that every downvote comes with an explanation or talking point for further discussion.

As it stands, the downvote is a silent and anonymous point of disagreement -- is allowed, and becomes visable (through greyed out comments) -- where the ability to see the comment's upvote count is not allowed and not reflected in the font size/color of the comment and thus invisible.

PG, I respectfully disagree with any and all reasonings you may have of hiding comment upvotes, and my opinion is only reinforced through the visable effect downvotes have on comments.

A big portion of the article answers this question.

A more detailed explanation of office hours in pg's 'At YC' article - http://ycombinator.com/atyc.html

hnofficehours.com

I worked on this webapp with ez, guz, and others. The idea is that people with knowledge/expertise in a subject can "hold office hours" with (strangers?) people looking for advice.