That was a great post, and I recognized themes from the books: "The Tipping Point", and "Freakonomics". What I like the most about Y combinator, from an observers standpoint, is that there is an offered solution to the entrepreneur's inability to raise capital with no track record. Other micro-investment and advisory groups are popping up all over the place, and this will stimulate more entrepreneurs to take a chance on themselves.
Couple comments here and what's written in Paul's post allude to our capitalistic consumption-based society. I think Annie sums the state of our world's affairs up pretty well, and you can see the relation to different aspects of your lives and big business at, http://storyofstuff.com/.
My problem is the lack of solutions that I see offered by those that raise objections to the status quo. Its good to make others aware, but always go the extra mile and offer a suggestion to change what you feel is so messed up.
That is what is missing in our 2008 elections. Just look at Obama and Hillary sputter about what they intend to do, with great passion. However, they never actually say how America will get out of Iraq and what will become of the Iraqis, how to fund the health care and education programs they propose, or what solution they’ll put in place to get the economy rolling again. All I hear is why race and sex matter so much in this election, and how historic it will be when a woman, or black man becomes president.
Those are not reasons to be America’s president! I don’t care what color, size, sexual preference, or country of origin our next president has. I want to know how they’re going to fix this mess.
As a startup founder, I keep confidence by following several principles:
1) "Success is merely others recognizing what you knew you had inside you the whole time." - Will Smith
2) "Plan your solutions for the worst, and leave hope to others." - Craig Benson, founder of Cabletron
3) "Champions take chances and pressure is a privilege." - Sharapova speech after winning the last Australian Open