Seed investing is the status symbol of Silicon Valley. Most people don't want Ferraris, they want a winning seed investment.
All throughout my life I have been deeply immersed in startups, either because I was running one or investing in them or helping them.
I don't invest in companies where my mental model is that they need to get themselves acquired in the next few years - or ever.
A lot of people don't love their bank.
Sometimes people think Y Combinator has big ideas about themes. But really, we just fund the best startups.
The crowd's a really powerful force on the Internet, and people finally understand how to harness that.
You really want a company full of missionaries, not mercenaries.
Do I think every culture will embrace location technology? Yes.
People hate searching.
Tech companies tend to do tech best.
Virgin America flyers tend to be more likely to be using a mobile device and tapping social networks - even at 35,000 feet.
With Loopt Star, consumers get to tap interactive rewards wherever they may be.
The Loopt mobile app is all about giving you the latest local deals and insider tips.
I believe in the future, and to be a good investor, you have to believe in the future.
That culture of frugality and discipline is really important for the Y Combinator mindset.
The way to really scale a venture firm is with software.
Intelligence is usually easy to tell in a 10-minute conversation. Determination is harder.
All companies that grow really big do so in only one way people recommend the product or service to other people.
You shouldn't try to manufacture progress.
The correlation of quality of life and cost of energy is huge.
Very ambitious startups often take a long time to work - or sometimes they take a very long time to look ambitious.
For most of the early hires you make in a startup, experience doesn't matter very much, and you should go for aptitude.
The biggest part of Loopt is about discovering the world around you, never replacing a social experience - only adding to it.
If you have a startup that's keeping it up at night because you think it's so great, then you should do that.
Facebook and Instagram are spiritual brothers.
Many founders hire just because it seems like a cool thing to do, and people always ask how many employees you have.
The thing about Y Combinator that's cool is that most companies won't happen if we don't fund them.
Whoever Boost works with, Sprint will work with. And whoever Sprint works with, Verizon and AT&T will as well.
Anonymity breeds meanness.
Everyone is looking for the hack, the secret to success without hard work.
