Advice from the Y Combinator Library
Y Combinator is an innovative venture fund run by a successful hacker (the good kind) - the multimillionaire Paul Graham and his associates. My last post was a speech by Charlie Munger featured on the Y Combinator site. The site also has a library of advice from successful people and some book recommendations:
http://ycombinator.com/lib.html
One great selection is An Engineer’s Guide to Venture Capitalists, written by an author who spent time as an engineer, founder, executive and served in more roles with other startups:
* VCs don’t sign nondisclosure agreements.
* VCs are sheep.
* VCs aren’t technical.
* Experts aren’t very good.
* VCs don’t take risks.
* Venture funds are big.
* VCs collude.
* VCs don’t say no.
* VCs have pets.
* Your idea, your work, their company.
New incubators like Y Combinator are changing the status quo and refuting many of these points, but the advice may still be true in some sectors.