YC Conflict of Interest with reviewing Apps and 'No Idea Applicants'?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3758463

by AnonForOnePost • 14 years ago

7 5 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Is there a conflict of interest with reviewing apps with ideas, and the fact that YC is now in the business of coming up with ideas?<p>I know we've all heard that 'ideas are worthless, execution matters'. However, given that so many YC startups operate in stealth mode for a while, we have to assume YC places <i>some</i> value on the idea, even if significantly less than ability of the founders.<p>That being said, I'm a little uncomfortable with YC reviewing my application that has some novel aspects for a new product, knowing that at the same time they're looking for startup ideas to feed to their superstar 'no idea' applicants'...

swGooF• 14 years ago

It is probably not in YC's best interest to steal ideas. If YC started stealing ideas, they would lose trust of the startup community. Then the best people would stop pitching to YC.

creativityland• 14 years ago

Yep, this.

paulsutter2• 14 years ago

I also tend to fear that my ideas might be stolen, but the truth is that anyone who is good enough to make something work generally has too many ideas on their plate to steal someone else's.

Brewster Kahle once told me his theory on stealth. He said there are two approaches:

1. Keep everything secret, and

2. Tell everyone, loudly.

He prefers the latter approach because it's more likely to scare off potential competitors, and you get the added bonus of learning faster from more feedback. As an introvert, I have to admit that left to my own inclinations I would take approach #1.

But all of my experience as an entrepreneur tells me that Brewster is entirely right, approach #2 is better

This quote always helps me remember this:

"Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats." -Howard Aiken

malandrew• 14 years ago

I totally agree on that Howard Aiken quote, but the type of people who run YC and those that apply to and get into YC aren't the type of people Mr. Aiken is talking about.

I tell everyone loudly about what I'm working on and other ideas I've had, but I'm not working on, and I've noticed that those that have the foresight to get understand of them and their value more closely approximate the types of people that get into YC.

Assuming that my point is true and that my ideas and some of the ideas of YC applicants are good, then in applying to YC, we are subject to the issue you state in the first line.

"I also tend to fear that my ideas might be stolen, but the truth is that anyone who is good enough to make something work generally has too many ideas on their plate to steal someone else's."

The problem now is that there are people who are going into YC not with too many ideas, but one they are working on, but with no ideas.

I would say that there is certainly a conflict of interest, not a huge one, but one nonetheless. That being said I think it's still worth applying, because there's a lot more details in an idea than fit in a YC application. Oftentimes there are months to a year or more of thought in a YC app that an idea-less team won't have the luxury of having if one of the YC partners suggests the idea/market to that team, even if done so subconsciously and without malice (i.e. not citing the specific application, or even remembering having read it.)

paulsutter2• 14 years ago

YC accepts people without a specific idea for the very reason that the people they accept have lots of good ideas.

Have you done a startup before? I think you'll find that there are 100 little decision points where you need to make the right choice, and that process is far more important than the initial idea.

Even though I can be uneasy to share ideas, like you, I've always found that I've learned the most from sharing my ideas with super smart guys. The things I get back from them have saved me years of time.

YC Conflict of Interest with reviewing Apps and 'No Idea Applicants'?

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