The YC Deadline Brings Out Stupid Decisions in Another Applicant Team

http://myphdblogged.blogspot.com/2007/10/yc-deadline-brings-out-stupid-decisions.html

by ahsonwardak • 19 years ago

12 33 19 years ago

myphdblogged.blogspot.com

dfranke4• 19 years ago

I don't see why you think it's unethical for them to try to poach your partner. It's not like he's some helpless pawn in this game, especially if he's as smart as you say he is. If I thought I had a chance at getting one of my competitor's best people to come work for me instead, I'd jump on it in an instant.

ahsonwardak3• 19 years ago

Fine, it's not unethical, but it's stupid. Did they think they had a shot after one run-in at a bar? Would you join another team after running into them at a bar with no knowledge of their idea?

rms3• 19 years ago

I think you're being overly emotional here, they didn't think their offer through. Which makes it stupid, not malicious.

dfranke4• 19 years ago

What are you saying is stupid? Wanting him, or thinking they could get him? If you all went to undergrad together, then it's possible they know more about his talent than either of you realize. I certainly have classmates who didn't know me very well, who, while I wouldn't take them as the other half of a two-man team, I would take them as a third or fourth man give that I already had one committed partner. And while their chances at success may have been slim, it's not like the attempt required much of an investment.

pius2• 19 years ago

Haha, I'm curious who this is about since I know the OP.

Anyway, I think it's a poorly executed attempt at being unethical. If you had a friendship with the person who tried to poach, that person should have realized that he was going to dagger your relationship by trying to steal your partner without even pitching an idea.

Given that your partner is very tight with you (and apparently barely knows the poacher), obviously the incident was going to get back to you . . . one would have expected that the poacher would have tried to partner with you guys or, at the very least, have made a damn compelling argument for why your partner would ditch you.

If you're gonna be shady, you've gotta be strategic about it at least. LOL

edw5199• 19 years ago

"I don't see why you think it's unethical for them to try to poach your partner."

This is Arthur Anderson thinking, not Y Combinator thinking.

If you jumped on one of my best people "in an instant", then you better be prepared to set aside resources to deal with me. Are you sure you really want to do that?

dfranke4• 19 years ago

If Arthur Andersen thinking is defined as "don't take petty crap like this personally, and focus your brain cycles on MSPW", then I have to side with Arthur Andersen. But I suspect that this is a matter on which Paul Graham and David Duncan would be in agreement.

Xichekolas• 19 years ago

Yeah, the way this is written it sounds like "your hacker" is Dustin Hoffman in Rainman, and you are his caretaker or something.

On a side note: I had no idea YC teams were this competitive with each other. I still had the image of one big Nerd Summer Camp that happened to spit out companies and connections. This makes it sound more like the Skull and Bones guys competing to meet the President at Secret Meeting X.

SwellJoe4• 19 years ago

"I had no idea YC teams were this competitive with each other."

As far as I've seen, they are not (and, neither of these teams is a YC team...they are YC applicants, along with 400+ other teams). The teams tend to be very well-equipped coming into the game and don't really feel the need to break up other teams before they've had a run at it. When a couple of companies fizzled out after the program, I suspect there was a bit of competition for who would get some of the folks from those no longer existent companies, but I'm sure it was friendly (at least I can't imagine any way it could have been otherwise...everybody is still friendly at the events). Others started working on new ideas of their own rather than joining an existing YC company.

breck• 19 years ago

I'd like to hear the story from your partner's point of view. Could you please send me his name, email address, phone number, coding background and resume?

brett2• 19 years ago

Since when is trying to recruit talented people stupid?

rms3• 19 years ago

It was ill considered in that they didn't consider the enormous impact the loss of a partner would have on the original poster.

brett2• 19 years ago

I'll concede that my question over simplifies the issue: Burning bridges is bad, you can definitely be stupid about how you try to recruit talent ...

But whenever someone comes to work with/for you they're likely precluded for working for/with someone else. Sure there could be reasons not to try and poach someone, but in general I don't think you are responsible for the person/company left behind.

chaostheory• 19 years ago

seeing the words "unethical", "poaching", and "boneheaded" in ahsonwardak's post; it's interesting to note that ahsonwardak is currently living in Washington DC...

jmpeters• 19 years ago

molehill != mountain

edw5199• 19 years ago

poaching == (-balls)

jsjenkins168• 19 years ago

I think you just saved yourself from what could have eventually been a huge headache.

I'm assuming since you are applying for funding from YC that you are looking to start a company (YC acceptance or not). If that is the case, you should be glad that you weeded out someone weak while it is easy and not later on down the road. This could be a valuable lesson: Choose who you work with and trust very carefully!

If this guy can get up and jet on you this easily, think what would have happened after you actually started and financial and emotional stress enters the equation?

My advice is go find someone who you can really trust as a co-founder. Someone you know you can depend on when the going gets tough.

edw5199• 19 years ago

"...I don't want to bury anyone else's reputation..."

That's not for you to decide. If what they did was unethical, then you have a responsibility to share. If it wasn't, then anything you say won't matter anyway.

I place ethics more important than anything else when considering partners. WAY more important that skill, work ethic, or connections. Take it from someone who has been burned more than once by lying, cheating, stealing, and backroom deals that my partners thought were "no big deal". F*ck 'em. They'll never get a second chance with me. Never.

You're probably tempted to say nothing so you don't offend. Don't. Spare the rest of the community the same potential headache and tell the whole story.

(Personally, if someone tried to poach my partner, only one of us would leave the room alive. This isn't a game anymore.)

caveman82• 19 years ago

Hey folks, I am indeed the notorious "poacher" and the poster boy for unethical YC practices.

View my response here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=62109

pius2• 19 years ago

What the hell? I know everyone involved apparently . . .

ahsonwardak3• 19 years ago

If I had known that this would devolve into a public shouting match, I would not have posted this in a public forum. As far as I am concerned, I only intended to vent on my blog and this forum about something that upset me. I am disappointed that we didn't raise the level of discourse, instead it ended up being a free-for-all. I'm over it. It's a dead issue.

The YC Deadline Brings Out Stupid Decisions in Another Applicant Team

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