Comments on: Investing in undervalued human capital: the Y Combinator model

By: Michael Nielsen

Michael Nielsen — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:27:06 +0000

Ilya: yeah, I’ve not heard much about them, either. I don’t know enough about them to know why that is.

By: Ilya Grigorik

Ilya Grigorik — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:21:58 +0000

There’s been a lot of talk and ever-present rumors about starting up a ‘YC-like’ clone in the Waterloo region. Only time will tell if it will ever come true..

On that note, Michael one thing you did not consider is the concept of ‘incubators’ vs YC. There are at least 3-4 early stage incubators in the Waterloo-Toronto region, but you barely hear about them, nor have I seen or heard of any spectacular successes coming out of them. The question begs itself: what’s different, and why aren’t they jumping at the opportunity?

By: Vaidya

Vaidya — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:16:14 +0000

I’m delighted with this article … from last couple of years i’m suggesting YC model for India and Canada mainly because I’m an Indo-Canadain so I have first hand experience regarding huge talent pool in these two countries. It is just the matter of time but its sad that YC model is not yet in available in these countries. If i get little bit of support (mainly from VCs) then I would start on my own to tap these talents.

Any takers?

By: Robin Blume-Kohout

Robin Blume-Kohout — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 02:16:28 +0000

Isabel,

Your conclusion — “The market is efficient… if and only if people believe it isn’t” is a trenchant and pithy summary of a curious situation! Another phrasing makes it look a bit less paradoxical, though: The market is efficient only because it rewards people who fix its inefficiencies.

So, from this perspective, YC is an integral part of a market investment system — because the ability of the whole great beast to find optimal (efficient) configurations depends on the fact that when there’s a flaw, somebody smart like Paul Graham will come along and fix it. While making a bunch of dough in the process.

By: Michael Nielsen

Michael Nielsen — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:20:13 +0000

And then there’s the old story about the economist who would’t lean down to pick up the twenty dollar note somebody had dropped on the ground – if it was really there, somebody would have picked it up already.

By: Isabel Lugo

Isabel Lugo — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:15:35 +0000

“An uncritical advocate of the free market might counter that such people shouldn’t exist – surely investors would have already tracked them down, and offered to invest.”

This raises an interesting paradox, which I really hope the economists have already thought of. Namely, suppose investors believe that the market works in this way. Then they won’t bother tracking down people like those that YC invests in, because surely somebody has found them already! So they don’t… which leaves YC to come in and actually find those people. The market is efficient, it appears, if and only if people believe it isn’t.