Joey DeBruin

With an intake process that emphasizes past accomplishments and interviews rather than bureaucratic credentials, and with an ethos of taking chances on those who show promise rather than weeding out those who might fail, YC has been able to select charismatic and energetic candidates for its program. The three-month program serves as the foundation... See more

Entrepreneurs often describe building a company as a harrowing experience and doing this alongside a peer group serves as an emotionally powerful initiation for many founders, similar in some ways to the initiation and bonding rituals for groups ranging from college fraternities to military recruits. Graham has said that bringing cohorts of... See more

That right there is the recipe for genuine innovation:

• Embrace uncertainty and the fact one doesn’t know the future.


• Understand that people are inventing things — and not just technologies, but also use cases — constantly.


• Remember that the art comes in editing after the invention, not before.

A capital allocator would need to have two things happening simultaneously.

1. Limited fund size: The fund would need to be $150M or less, or otherwise, you’ll be back to being wholly subject to the power law.


2. Equity optionality: Investors in a startup utilizing this product need to be able to get returns even if the outcome is smaller. That would

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