I’m very excited about this. YC is the smartest group of people I’ve ever worked with, and I believe that startups are going to be the major driver for innovation and economic growth going forward.
I was thinking this morning about what it was like to start a startup in early 2005 and how much it’s changed now. PG has done a remarkable amount to improve the startup ecosystem for founders—in fact, it’s hard to think of anyone who has done more.
(Also, maybe someday soon we’ll make Hacker News work well on mobile :) )
Congrats Sam! Starting with even before we joined Y Combinator in the summer of 2008, you were always a very important advisor to us. I remember when we were first trying to raise money, no investor would talk to us. In our fundraising deck, we had our total addressable market at something like $100M, which was ridiculous considering our vision was just airbeds. We wanted to make it smaller. You told us to opposite - switch the m's to b's. I asked why, and you said that "investors want b's, baby." Ok, I may have added the "baby" part of the quote, but more importantly, you mentored us to think bigger, and you were (alongside the Justin.tv guys) an inspiration for us to join Y Combinator. Since then, you have been super helpful with showing us how to hire and scale a company. Congrats on this next part of your journey. Many startups will be better off because of you.
So, what about you jl? You'll still have your hands on deck?
Not to be so intrusive, but I recall pg talking about the son -- was that a factor in pg making this decision? To dedicate more time to parenting or something like that?
This is really cool ... while all the YC partners are amazingly talented and giving, you were always the person to go to in the trenches ... wise beyond your years and extremely tactical in how you communicate.
Thanks for everything you've contributed to all of us.
Every startup has a moment where the founder has to ask, "Do I become a professional administrator, or do I hand the professional management to someone else so that we can scale while I keep spending my time on what I want to."
It's good to see that YC has done this prior to a crisis, rather than in reaction to one. It doesn't seem like there's a better use of PG's time than office hours and writing. If this allows him to do more of both, everyone benefits.
Congratulations Sam! It won't come as a surprise to anyone close to YC, maybe just that it happened today. I am sure you are going to have a PG sized legacy when it is your turn to hand over the reins and I can't wait to watch it unfold.
I have always found this to be HN's "Badge of Irony": Funds some of the best, highest velocity startups in tech; Can't get their shit together around UX/Mobile.
I wonder why I've not seen this expressed before, I've thought it every time I see these complaints regarding the HN mobile experience.
Maybe it isn't desirable to have people writing comments on their phone. The comment quality is likely greatly reduced by people writing pithy one-liners on their phones.
The best content on this site are the long expert comments, and those will never be typed on a mobile device.
All that being said, maybe its by design that the UX isn't great on mobile devices... or you know maybe the people that could make the changes just have bigger fish to fry.
Congrats Sam. I hope other founders have taken notice recently that Sam's posts - especially about raising money - are some of the best playbooks you can get your eyes on in terms of starting and fundraising successfully as a startup today. Well done.
Congrats Sam! I've come to anticipate your essays as a way to inform my own thinking. I'm certain this is excellent for YC and the entire startup ecosystem.
Congrats Sam! You've recently shown your ability to be a thought leader with your writing, and I couldn't be more excited for this opportunity to show your mettle as an executer as well. Here's to a bright future for YC!
Happy to add my congratulations to the wave of orange users already doing so... it's clearly reflective of the impact you've had on so many YC startups. Thanks Sam and can't wait to see where you take YC next!
I was thinking this morning about what it was like to start a startup in early 2005 and how much it’s changed now. PG has done a remarkable amount to improve the startup ecosystem for founders—in fact, it’s hard to think of anyone who has done more.
(Also, maybe someday soon we’ll make Hacker News work well on mobile :) )