I went to start up school last weekend and I learns a few things:
1. How old I am? I am only 31, but I really felt like the one of the old guys in the crowd. (this doesn’t include the unix-beard types, who are really old). It was even brought up a couple of times how the average founder age that YCombinator funds is 25 years old. I suppose that they throw that around so young people with great ideas don’t get discouraged, but it just made me feel old.
2. That there are still good people doing good things. Paul Graham, who I have known of gave a great talk on the basis for starting a good company. The premise was that if you act like a non-profit, in that you genuinely try to solve peoples problems, you are well on the way to success. I like this kinda of propaganda, and against the contrast of the other VCs and talk of millions of dollars it was refreshing.
3. What a good speaker Jeff Bezos, CEO of amazon is. He was articulate, direct and polished and never once used a “marketing approved” company line. He was patient with hard questions and in two instances quick to say, “I don’t know.” The more time I spend in business, the more I realize that saying “I don’t know” gets harder and harder, the higher up the corporate ladder you are.
Looking forward to next year.
Videos of the conference here:
http://omnisio.com/startupschool08
I like like the unix-beard types comment.
I didn’t make it because I was denied, but I did watch the videos… Jeff Bezos did give a great presentation.
Paul Hepworth
April 28th, 2008