I don't know to what extent this is a joke but I am not laughing. Yc is a school where they pay you, Paul Graham et al did not take over Airbnb or Dropbox... the people who founded those companies run them.
The idea that a life is worthless or wasted if you make less money is beyond flawed. It is the most american/capitalist/rewarding thing to make a go of building something of your own.
Being a wall street banker has virtually no social utility. Airbnb and Dropbox improve the collective productivity of society and make real markets in the case of Airbnb. If it takes hundreds of people and millions of dollars failing in an effort to make a few big winners so be it, and when Yc makes money in the process they deserve it. They are taking REAL risk, and it seems the people who emerge from their program are better for it even if their dreams don't all come true.
Finally, the girl next to him is an important part of this little story. Women love men who are passionate, who are alive and who take risks. If all of society fell apart I'd much rather be with a bunch of hackers than bankers, the hackers are creative, passionate, loving and ruthless when necessary. Women understand this and they they love it... because they know they are always safe with a man who can build something. They'd rather eat Mac & Cheese with a man who puts up a good fight before kneeling down THE MAN... or maybe never has to kneel at all.
The idea that a life is worthless or wasted if you make less money is beyond flawed. It is the most american/capitalist/rewarding thing to make a go of building something of your own.
Being a wall street banker has virtually no social utility. Airbnb and Dropbox improve the collective productivity of society and make real markets in the case of Airbnb. If it takes hundreds of people and millions of dollars failing in an effort to make a few big winners so be it, and when Yc makes money in the process they deserve it. They are taking REAL risk, and it seems the people who emerge from their program are better for it even if their dreams don't all come true.
Finally, the girl next to him is an important part of this little story. Women love men who are passionate, who are alive and who take risks. If all of society fell apart I'd much rather be with a bunch of hackers than bankers, the hackers are creative, passionate, loving and ruthless when necessary. Women understand this and they they love it... because they know they are always safe with a man who can build something. They'd rather eat Mac & Cheese with a man who puts up a good fight before kneeling down THE MAN... or maybe never has to kneel at all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuDRGuOVjvU