Y Combinator Is Boot Camp for Startups

Steven Levy put a ridiculous amount of time and effort into researching this article, and I think it shows. He <i>really</i> immersed himself into the whole experience--for months! In some ways, it felt like he was a part of the class, working alongside us as we worked to build our companies.<p>This kind of real journalism is something that I didn't think existed any more, at least not in the tech world. But after watching him work, and seeing his process, I think it's just a damn shame how rare his kind of journalism is.<p>Didn't mean for this to turn into a puff comment, but I have to admit the whole production was quite impressive.

Makes me wish someone was doing a YC documentary.

As a YC hopeful, this article really helped me to understand what really goes on during the three months. It's inspiring to hear stories about companies who pivot right before Demo Day and actually receive help with their ideas from PG. I'm just starting to learn about the difficulties of running a startup. We're really lucky to have guys like PG out their who are truly interested in innovation and not just the money. This article proves his dedication to the industry and to all of the people who are working so hard to get to the top. My day = motivated.

I know it's cliche, but what I got most from this article is that traction matters most.<p>Growth is the lifeblood of the industry.<p>To get that, you have to make something people want.<p>Everything else is pretty insignificant.<p>Simple, but not easy.

Heh, I'm the "Greece" in that article.

For a relatively brief piece on YC I think it was very accurate, capturing the significance of YC, the experience of the founders, and the general excited feeling all around that imbues YC. Obviously it's for a more general audience so probably contains nothing much new content-wise for HN readers but is interesting to see it all put together.<p>This is something I'll email my dad, who when I mentioned I mentioned I applied for an incubator asked "What do you need office space for?"

<i>The Viral Me</i> is another long article profiling Y Combinator from December 2010.<p><a href="http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/201012/viral-me-silicon-valley-social-networking-devin-friedman?printable=true" rel="nofollow">http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-issues/201012/viral-me-s...</a>

Ummm needs to be corrected: LikeALittle: A slick iPad-based app for doctors that collects all of a patient’s chart info in one place. The application has gotten raves from the physicians who have tried it so far.

I'm all for promoting entrepreneurship but it'd be nice to highlight those who actually make money and care about building businesses too, rather than celebrating simply taking investor's money and spending it.

I guess we will all agree that there is an outrageous error in the article. It should not be 'Terminator itself', but 'Terminator himself' rather, shouldn't it?

Some part of me really thought that a "Y Combinator is so great" article can't be more interesting to HN people then understanding Fourier Transformation or discussing the development of ML research.<p>Maybe I'm just too naive. Thanks for that lesson.

Please. Someone who has actually been to boot camp debunk this ridiculous metaphor.