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YC: Requests for Startups

(www.ycombinator.com)
514 points sarimkx | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.454s | source
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shmageggy ◴[] No.39376286[source]
> We have a fair chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change if startups offer commercial solutions to decarbonize society or remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Either this is sloppily phrased, or the SV techno-optimist kool-aid is way stronger than I would have thought plausible. Does anyone seriously believe that a reasonable solution to climate change has exactly one thing on the list and it's "more climate tech start-ups"? Of course climate tech has to play a role (we need everything we can throw at the problem), and start-ups will certainly provide a subset of that tech, but claiming that this alone provides "a fair chance" is extremely revealing of certain bias (and ignorance)

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1. spike-s ◴[] No.39376661[source]
While I agree the phrasing could be better from YC, there is also truth to that statement. A lot of solutions to decarbonize have fallen flat on their faces to become a commercially viable solution. Ideas and new technology are needed as companies everywhere have shown they will not take the necessary action if it impacts the bottom line.
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2. catlifeonmars ◴[] No.39378662[source]
Doesn’t that just mean that maybe we should drop the requirement for commercial viability? Everything looks like a nail and all that.