There are actually two venues here and could be quite confusing to some.

YC (http://ycombinator.com/) is an incubator and I have nothing to do with that. Although I write about it, I do so from a distance.

YCN (http://news.ycombinator.com) is DIGG-like news aggregation site which is open to everyone. I enjoyed being part of this community and I have been for sometimes.

http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=dennykmiu

So it is incorrect to say that I am a “YC devotee”. I am a “YC groupie” or I am a “YCN enthusiast”.

Sorry (again) for the confusion.

(1) It is not over — we have interviews at the end of the month

(2) We should never take the weekend off

bloggersmosaic.com

I like how you describe the divide between the Industrial Age models and those that geared for business in the Networked World, specifically the YC. While the concept is very new to me personally, YCs seem to epitomize the kinds of models that I feel will be potent in the new economic realities. Specific outcomes are not as relevant as the very fact of their ‘new-ness’ — their appetite for experimentation and evolution.

I feel that there’s going to be a fresh philosophy accompanying these new plays. Namely that it’s okay to be inchoate at the outset as long as the network you’re building has some oomph to it — intellect, culture, artistry, branding, technology, political conscience, distribution channels, cultural relevance, and spiritually — behind it. Oh, and money, of course. And funny! YCs should insist on their own kind of fun. Entertainment, as you say, will be one natural product of these new networks. In some, the entertainment will be revenue-generating. In others, it will serve as marketing. In other as an engine of production (“business as theater”) For still others, entertainment will simply be the glue, the shared world view or sense of humor, that holds them together.

The most important behaviors as we ride the networking wave, are those that explore the edge, which is why YCs are, I think, important. The edge is where the innovation happens. Where new wealth will be generated. Where the fun is.

It’s often said that luck happens when preparation meets opportunity. Your mentor found his luck with three or four big plays in his career. Opportunities that, when they came his way, he was prepared, and made the necessary moves to capitalize on them.

In the Networked World, the opportunities will be different (more numerous, more fleeting, more global, more nuanced, etc . etc.) , and so the preparation has to be different, too. If nothing else, the YCs are a different kind of preparation and should be lauded for that.

Good luck!

best,

Carleen