I was my son's primary caregiver for several months while my wife recovered from surgery (for 1 month she was unable to provide any care, even 'babysitting'). He was around 9-12 months. It was far more exhausting than anything else I've ever done. I went to the grocery store while he slept, laundry in the mornings. I wrote code at night or nap time, or sometimes during the day when he was content to play with toys.<p>You very quickly learn to drop the stuff that doesn't matter; I'm a more productive developer today because of it. I was forced to develop a critical eye and abandon designs that didn't work immediately. I also lost my taste for TV shows, movies, and most podcasts; now I'd rather build something than consume content.<p>Good for Julia; I have a lot of sympathy. Frankly I have a lot of sympathy for single parents as well... I used to have harsh uninformed opinions on the subject (that I see often repeated around HN and tech in general, especially by privileged young guys like myself). Then I had to live it for reasons entirely outside my control.
Startups are challenging, but that's definitely an added challenge Julia. I wish I had known about the housing challenges during yc, maybe we could have helped somehow :(<p>Not to distract from this story, I've been impressed with my experience donating on Zidisha -- repayment has been incredibly quick, and it's rewarding to reinvest funds.
"I did the right thing, she thought. But I’ll never do it again."<p>Somebody should change that for incubators and YC, being the most forward thinking and advanced one, should be the first to try:<p>IDEABOLT: Apply to next HN with non-profit startup to care for kids (preschool 2-5) of HN batchmates onsite at YC (with its blessing, taking over a large room or some converted space nearby). Not only this would increase the pool of applicants greatly (really?) it boosts the coolness of HN close to \infty.<p>The service will be free (9-5) so how to make money? Investigate innovative preschool learning methods using the kids (of course, with parents permission). This target group is perhaps the least served child demographic (no good solutions for something as mundane as poop/feed tracking, <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10075191" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10075191</a>), except mundane stuff like diapers and bottles).<p>"He even struck up a bond with Paul Graham. Most people either talk down to two-year-olds or ignore them. But Graham took the time to figure out that Adam was fascinated with trains, says Kurnia, and the two of them spent 10 minutes drawing trains on a white board. Graham treated Adam like a little founder, interested in his interests."<p>I would have expected this! OK, Add to the idea to mine kids for ideas, <i>Big</i> fashion.
<i>"The first time Kurnia showed up with Adam, it may have raised a few eyebrows. While other founders with children have occasionally managed YC by having their spouse join them in an apartment in the area, no one had ever attempted to care for a toddler, alone, through the program."</i><p>Whenever you hear male founders/tech workers bitch & complain about women and tech and the level playing field, remember this example.
> the landlord [...] threatened to throw Kurnia and Adam out unless she agreed to clean the bathrooms<p>Pardon my french, but how the fuck is that legal? That's seriously messed up at a fundamental level.
"Moving quickly, she found she could cut the round-trip hike to about an hour. The only problem was when it rained, which happened several times. In those cases, she’d pass an umbrella up to Adam. He’d stay mostly dry, but Kurnia would be fairly wet by the time they arrived."<p>Wait, so none of her batchmates noticed this and offered her a ride for subsequent trips?
A lot of this discussion has centered on YC's support for parents / female founders. Since that wasn't the focus of the Fast Company article, I've shared my experience and thoughts on that subject more extensively here: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-kurnia/a-female-founder-at-y-com_b_8010110.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-kurnia/a-female-founder-...</a>
Perhaps I'm naive, but I would've expected the folks at Y Combinator to go a little above and beyond so a parent with a young child wouldn't have to stay in a 'flophouse'.
Impressive that Julia hustled so hard just to be there at YC, but disappointing that she had to. Why doesn't YC provide some basic support for its founders to attend the program? At a minimum, room, board and transport for founders and their families for the duration.<p>Not doing so will strongly select for people who already have the means to support themselves in Silicon Valley for 3 months, which is like saying "rich kids only".