Most great startups would not exist if not for the work of some critical helper in a position to help.
Apple had Mike Markkula, Facebook had Sean Parker, Airbnb had Michael Siebel, and Viaweb had Julian Weber. The list endless.
The ingredients are: great founders + great products + great helpers.
It's easy to say that great founders with great products will attract great helpers, but that ignores how few great helpers there are and how inefficient the "market" is.
YC is the greatest helper of startups in the history of startups, and expanding that help to a wider group is a great thing for the world.
And I would add, many of the best founders (tech startup or otherwise) are those willing to ask for help and listen to advice. Those founders who fear revealing their flaws and so avoid talking to mentors and colleagues are always woefully underprepared to go to market (where, you know, you not only reveal your flaws but do it in the context of asking for currency).
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Most great startups would not exist if not for the work of some critical helper in a position to help.
Apple had Mike Markkula, Facebook had Sean Parker, Airbnb had Michael Siebel, and Viaweb had Julian Weber. The list endless.
The ingredients are: great founders + great products + great helpers.
It's easy to say that great founders with great products will attract great helpers, but that ignores how few great helpers there are and how inefficient the "market" is.
YC is the greatest helper of startups in the history of startups, and expanding that help to a wider group is a great thing for the world.
And I would add, many of the best founders (tech startup or otherwise) are those willing to ask for help and listen to advice. Those founders who fear revealing their flaws and so avoid talking to mentors and colleagues are always woefully underprepared to go to market (where, you know, you not only reveal your flaws but do it in the context of asking for currency).
Sounds like someone should make more "mentorship" startups.