Tell HN: Winners of Apply HN for YC Fellowship 3

Seconding this. I voted for Pinboard because A) I use and genuinely love the service, and I was excited to see what Maciej could do with the money and B) because Maciej's statement of semi-purpose:

> I am hoping to attract a certain protest vote of the silent majority who enjoy this community, but are uneasy about the values of its founders and more broadly, Silicon Valley.

accurately reflects my feelings towards HN/SV, and I think having a dose of skepticism in the fold would be good for YC.

Pinboard & the community should just do it without YC/SV.

I anticipated this outcome by becoming profitable eight years ago.

But I still want my $20K.

Try Kickstarter. Seriously.

I did. And now I have to write all this shit about Antarctica.

I'm trying to figure out a way to articulate why "I still want my $20K" seems to me.

The way this whole thing was handled stinks, and I'm sorry you got screwed by a poorly thought-out "contest." But it seems like the YCF deal isn't solely about the money -- they're trying to find companies to work with. Honestly, did you... want that? Or just the $20,000 that keeps getting mentioned?

So, on the bright side, you're getting some nice publicity right now. I did not quite know of Pinboard (it's like.. del.ico.us? but with attitude?), I knew about you only a little bit. Now I do sorta know Pinboard and a little more about you... and I've decided I'll pay for pinboard.

Thank you!

YC's values are so diametrically opposed to my own that I thought it would be interesting for everyone to have me go through the program.

As for my demands to get paid, I had a clever idea about how to use the money, and I'm miffed that I won't get a chance to do it.

If you're willing to raise the $20K for 1.5% of Pinboard under the same terms YC offers (minus access to YC & its resources) - I'm willing to make that happen; no guarantees, but pretty sure it's possible.

If you're interested, let me know.

Thanks, but $20K is about three weeks of revenue for me. It's not as funny if I sell a piece of the company for peanuts to anyone else.

Can you explain a little bit about how your values don't align with YC's values? It would be interesting to hear your thoughts.

If you don't mind me asking, how would you have used the money, if you were accepted into the program?

You're saying (a) YC's values are diametrically opposed to yours, (b) your call with Kevin wasn't successful, and (c) YCF isn't designed for companies like yours—but adhering rigidly to the original guidelines you still ought to get your bag of cash.

Basically you tried gaming the system, with your fanbase who voted for you despite your comments like "I will go through YC like a bowling ball," and now you're protesting that YC won't let you. You don't even like YC. May I ask, out of curiosity, why you're doing this?

It's odd to criticize me for gaming the system given the name of this website.

No, that part's fine. But you're protesting that an organization you've more or less openly criticized won't let you game them.

I am disappointed you aren't going to be included in YC, but also ever so slightly relieved given my desire to see you avoid writing poetry in the future. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11443299

More specifically, an organization that's willing to burn a huge amount of credibility in order to avoid a tiny investment in an already-profitable (cf pg on ramen profitability) business whose proprietor doesn't fully conform with their arbitrary values. Given this, is the overall diversity of other YC founders any surprise?

This post is a good reason for why you shouldn't be picked.

Why do I have a suspicion that the planned use of the money is something KLF-esque? :)

It's almost like this is working!

He said he would go through YC "like a bowling ball through a python" ... sometimes you look at an organization that, overall, you like and appreciate, and yet still think it needs a massive dose of fiber.

I genuinely wanted to see what would happen with a YC/Maciej arrangement, and not just for entertainment purposes. I think they might have been good for eachother.

On the contrary, it means he was more in it to go through the process or have access to YC than the money. This is precisely why he should have been picked.

They're all presumably adults, I'm sure they could get through some differing opinions, no?

> They're all presumably adults, I'm sure they could get through some differing opinions, no?

I'm guessing you aren't from here/haven't been in Silicon Valley that long.

If you read the rest of his posts you will see he is very eager for the money (he even feels entitled to them, somehow), and don't want anything to do with YC.

Serious: With the number of votes you had, you could probably get those voters to give you $10-20k through gofundme et al ;)

Re. the former, I would start by reading e.g. http://idlewords.com/2015/11/the_advertising_bubble.htm and http://idlewords.com/talks/internet_with_a_human_face.htm

The attitude (or opinions) comes from the creator/operator. The service itself appeals to me due to it's utter lack of attitude. What? A vanilla service that people pay for?

If the primary criteria is "quality of founder(s)" I have no idea why they passed. Except maybe seeing someone everyday who's been successful with antithetical values might have been too much to bear.

If you read Maciej's comments and interpret them as "entitled to what's mine" you are obviously unfamiliar with the general vein of his work. In support of my opinion I expect the man himself to reply refuting this completely, stating no, it is in fact about the money.

If anything I'd expect that he (and a lot of other people) are disappointed with not seeing what he was going to do with the cash, not the loss of the money itself.

If funding is rocket fuel, I was excited to see what could be done with it in the hands of a proven SV-venture arsonist.

Who could have foreseen, and profited from, such an outcome?

Tell me about a time you hacked a system.

I think you should realize that pinboard's very nature and existence is a wonderful hack of the SV and "web 2.0" mindset and ecosystem.

bro, I'd advise you to not take everything at face value.

The Alameda-Weehawken Burrito Tunnel?

You'd be surprised to learn than hackers are more than computer guys (even in the original e.g. MIT sense), and systems are far more than computer systems.

What would possibly be funny and/or interesting would be you taking this opportunity to disrupt the whole funding business, not just in a kickstarter vein, but by some means that does help to reinforce your own values. Of course, pinboard's business model already does this, to some extent, but I'm sure you could do something innovative by exploring the next level of investment.