The Cult of Conformity in Silicon Valley - Y Combinator  ## Metadata - Author: **Y Combinator** - Full Title: The Cult of Conformity in Silicon Valley - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/2f3be8b6-0ec4-44af-8062-a93eb844a3dd ## Highlights - The Uncoolness of the Early 2000s Key takeaways: • In the early and mid 2000s, technology was not as popular as it is now. • This was due to the dot com crash, which made it difficult for startups to succeed. Transcript: Speaker 1 So let's go back to the Dark Ages. You and I went to school in the early and mid 2000s. And when we were in school, what's so funny is that like it's probably hard for us to explain to a current college kid how uncool tech was. And then like think of however uncool tech was, startups were 10x less cool than even that. But maybe the way that I would explain it with a number, you know, I was a Yale 05 graduate and in my graduating year Yale graduated 10 CS majors in a class of 1200 kids. So like just to give you some perspective at that time, what was your experience like a Stanford during these times? Speaker 2 There were startups around, but this was just after the dot com boom and crash. This was like an 02 and 03. And so you'd have to be a real idiot to intentionally get into the wreckage of the dot com crash. Like it was pretty much people that just liked computers would be my assessment. Had nothing to do with financial seeking financial gains. ([Time 0:01:30](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ec851a01-1a9c-4edc-80d6-8fb047d4ad45)) - The Rise and Fall of the Tech Bubble Key takeaways: • There was a lot of recruiters on campus back in the day, and people would brag about the offers they received. • The tech industry was different back then, as it was more of a bubble that burst. This led to a different type of person being interested in tech, as nonconformists were more likely to be interested in it. Transcript: Speaker 2 Yeah. There was a lot of recruiters. There was stuff on campus. And also you could brag to people that you what offers you got, right? Like a lot of these, you would interview at all the management consulting places and then talk to you brag to people about all the, you know, who you got offers from what your signing bonus Speaker 1 Was. Yeah. What's funny is all this stuff's going to sound very familiar to anyone who's been college recently. Yeah. It wasn't that way back then for tech. But what was also interesting is people who did get into startups because I might argue that back then just the people who were interested in tech at all back then were much more likely To be nonconformists, right? You made the point we just went through the bubble bursting. And so it was interesting. Like I think a lot of our frameworks for who would be interested in tech just come from when we were in school, right? And it was to your point, it was like weird nonconforming darts. Like it was people who absolutely hated the idea of having a boss ever. I think there was also a bit of like the folks in this world weren't lazy. I actually think the other kind of aspect here that was interesting was that it was a lot of people who didn't want to wait in line. Like they didn't want to be told like, Oh, no, no, no, like you still have 10, 15, 20 years to go to school or to work your way up through the system before you get to do stuff. ([Time 0:03:28](https://share.snipd.com/snip/83da35dd-2cc8-4b6f-8017-47b3f91277ba)) - The Conformist vs. the Nonconformist in the Tech Industry Key takeaways: • The bubble bursting that happened in the early 2000s caused a shift in who was interested in tech startups. • Now, tech startups are more likely to attract conformists, people who want to wait in line and who are not lazy. Transcript: Speaker 1 Yeah. What's funny is all this stuff's going to sound very familiar to anyone who's been college recently. Yeah. It wasn't that way back then for tech. But what was also interesting is people who did get into startups because I might argue that back then just the people who were interested in tech at all back then were much more likely To be nonconformists, right? You made the point we just went through the bubble bursting. And so it was interesting. Like I think a lot of our frameworks for who would be interested in tech just come from when we were in school, right? And it was to your point, it was like weird nonconforming darts. Like it was people who absolutely hated the idea of having a boss ever. I think there was also a bit of like the folks in this world weren't lazy. I actually think the other kind of aspect here that was interesting was that it was a lot of people who didn't want to wait in line. Like they didn't want to be told like, Oh, no, no, no, like you still have 10, 15, 20 years to go to school or to work your way up through the system before you get to do stuff. You know, they were like, I want to do stuff now. And what was funny was that, you know, tech was the place back then where you could do stuff now. Like there would be no waiting. And certainly tech startups back then. But now things have changed, you know, fast forward a little less than 20 years. And tech is now attracting conformists. And I think that, you know, you and I have talked about this a lot, but I think at first that was a confusing concept to us, you know, just just because of our different lived experience When we were in school. ([Time 0:03:43](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f2041bfa-fe01-4860-8484-f00ffbf6ff02)) - The Rise of the Professional Startup Key takeaways: • Hiring is important, and it can be tricky to find the right people for a startup. • San Francisco was a good place to be because it was full of weirdos who were interested in starting companies. Transcript: Speaker 2 Also in hiring, I mean, we'll probably talk about this minute, but like the people who we were able to hire at our startups, like who would want to be an early employee at I mean, and Justin TV, non conformists, non normal, like they would never be, you know, a conformance would not be caught dead working at an early stage startup. Speaker 1 Well, you know, and to extend that point, what was so cool about San Francisco was it was the first place I went that just felt like I could be in a room full of weirdos. I could meet weirdos on the street like, you know, weirdos were all around, you know, it was the first place. Oh, wow. There are all these people who think they can make companies and they're just kind of all around doing it. That's different. Like, that's the opposite of where I came from. But you know, today, I might argue that big tech has become what itself solidly in that list, right? It is amongst the finance and consulting and legal and medicine. You know, college kids today obsessed with getting jobs at Facebook and Google, they study how they interview just as much as people study how to interview how to get into Goldman Sachs, Right? Yeah. Speaker 2 And they, you know, brag everyone. I got this off where I get this bonus. I got this level like it's a whole like, I've seen some of these Reddit threads, man, this does wild. Speaker 1 And they want the structure, they want the leveling, they want the status, they want the money. They used to be associated with these finance or professional jobs. ([Time 0:05:28](https://share.snipd.com/snip/5d28b378-5f1c-4fe6-a531-8c230ee48109)) - The Deceiving Numbers of CS Majors Key takeaways: • The number of CS majors in school is not representative of the number of people who are interested in building tech startups. • The explosion of CS majors in school is deceiving, as the majority of students who study CS would not want to be writing code as part of their job. Transcript: Speaker 2 And they, you know, brag everyone. I got this off where I get this bonus. I got this level like it's a whole like, I've seen some of these Reddit threads, man, this does wild. Speaker 1 And they want the structure, they want the leveling, they want the status, they want the money. They used to be associated with these finance or professional jobs. Bam, they're all now associated with big tech. And so, what's interesting is that at first, you see the explosion of CS majors in school. And I think you would think to yourself, oh, man, that means that there are a lot more people who are interested in building. But that's not actually the case. Like, it's, it's, it's, it's deceiving. The numbers are deceiving. I remember going to a class and talking to a bunch of kids who were kind of interested in tech and startups and so forth. And I remember saying to them, hey, like, how many of y'all are studying CS and write code? And 90% of the people raised their hands. And then I remember asking, oh, that's amazing. Like, what percentage of you would want to be writing code as part of your job and to start up or at a company? ([Time 0:06:39](https://share.snipd.com/snip/daa8204a-0f7c-4320-8cd0-721298e0ebe2)) - The Different Types of Founders Key takeaways: (* There are different types of entrepreneurs, some who enjoy the freedom and lack of structure that starting a business without a boss provides, while others appreciate the sense of accomplishment and level of responsibility that comes with being a founder., * Those who are highself-esteem and conformist tend to be the ones who are the most unhappy with their businesses, as they feel like they are constantly trying to outdo their peers.) Transcript: Speaker 2 And you're, it's different because you don't get to level up and get a gold star. And oh, good job. You're, you're now founder, we're up, we're getting a promotion. You are now founder of 13, you know, congratulations. You know, like when people are cool with it, it's not that way. Because I think sometimes people really want it to be that way and they're really freaked out that it's not. Some people love it. They're like, yeah, this is great. Like, there's no structure. Like the only way that you can keep score is like revenue for my startup. And I think it gets big. There's no other way to keep score than that. Some people love that. Speaker 1 And then you should set up this last one because I always love this one. Speaker 2 Like, I think a good way to say it is folks that have a very high opinion of themselves. And when they see peers, they they're like, yeah, I'm like going to try way harder and like be way smarter and learn way faster than them. Like basically, the nonconformists are willing to kind of like they want to be above the peer group, not in the peer group versus if you're a conformist, you don't want to you kind of want to be in the pack with everybody. 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