Sam Altman (2014)

Whaddup Sam! They let the Dogg n the building. Now do I get an official title??

Be honest: What'd you think when me and /u/spez first launched reddit back during Y Combinator?

By way of a quick thank you to this community, because I had fun doing my own AMA recently, let me say congratulations to reddit and to Sam on this round. Looking forward to seeing reddit get even cooler.

Follow-up question: there'd be no reddit if Steve & I hadn't gotten into Y Combinator (thanks, Jessica!) but that was 9 years ago -- why should a couple of founders working on the next big thing apply to Y Combinator today when capital, knowledge, etc is so much more accessible for founders?

(Disclosure: I'm also a partner at YC)

Another question: every once in a while, Reddit gets some very bad publicity (the Fappening leaps to mind). How would investors, particularly institutional investors, react to reddit being widely attacked and/or moving to censor some subreddits? (There are some truly vile subreddits, in my opinion.)

How are you going to get a return on Reddit? As I understand it, it has impressive penetration but few sources of revenue and is (I assume) cash negative despite its size.

Hi Sam, (full disclosure: I work for VentureBeat) My question:

What will the community be able to do with its share in reddit? I'm having a hard time understanding if this is anything more than a symbolic gesture. And if it is mostly symbolic right now, do you believe that could change over time if the plan works? How much of a community stake are we even talking about here? One percent?

Hi Sam! Two-part question:

1. To what extent do you think the recent backlash against SV startup culture (e.g. the "Silicon Valley" sitcom and the use of derogatory terms such as "brogrammer") is part of its growing pains, as opposed to actual systemic flaws?

2. With all the hype around SV startups, it's rare to hear from other parts of the world. What do you think about the startup ecosystems in Europe, and outside the US in general? Do they represent undervalued opportunities for American investors?

Thanks for the AMA!

What's the earliest stage of a startup you've ever personally invested in? Did anyone sell you with just a story?

What site changes would you like to see Reddit make?

When do you think it's appropriate for a start-up culture to transition into a corporate one? Have you seen some of Y Cominator's start-ups make good compromises between 'high personal investment/flexible schedule/high reward' employment models and 'average personal investment/rigid schedule/low-medium reward' models?

I ask because I find the initial energy of a start-up culture very appealing, but I've also observed young company cultures where workers were expected to invest as much time and effort as the original founders, with little autonomy. Do you instruct your students on how to find a good balance that results in both happiness and productivity?

Thanks for answering questions! Hope you are well.

But as a user as well as an investor, isn't there any feature that you wish the site had?

~~Isn't Reddit a somewhat unprofitable investment?~~ Nevermind, you answered this.

Do you ever check out /r/startups ?

What do you wish people would ask you?

Hi Sam--will the expansion to 'community ownership' be the beginning of an inevitable push towards an IPO? Do you plan to expand ownership of reddit without eventually going public? If so, how?

I'm an investor in the previous round of Reddit. Hi Sam?

What motivated you to add Programming Tools to the list of Requests for Startups? Was there a YCombinator company in particular that opened your eyes up to the opportunity in that market?

I ask because I develop programming tools and other accelerators and incubators don't believe a large enough market exists for these tools.

First off, thanks! Whether Reddit would one day be taken over by a large corporation due to their lack of income has always scared me, and your investment will definitely delay that possibility for a long time.

My question today is, what will you, as an investor, contribute to Reddit now that you have a relatively large stake in it, aside from money? Will you mostly sit back, or are there improvements you see to Reddit that you want to push for now?

Hi Sam, any tips on making a YC application stand out? i.e. are there certain items reviewers look for?

Could you EIL5 and how are you and the other investors giving the shares back to the reddit community? Like, will I be able to get a actual stock certificate or stock pool we can make purchases through (and potentially have to pay for it)? Or will there be some sort of meta ownership, where we just get voting power?

It sounds like in the blog post there are some ideas for the above, but the investors have yet to agree. So, what are your thoughts on it (and potentially how you personally would want to do so, if you can comment to such)?

Hi Sam,

Reddit has a massive, passionate, and amazing userbase, but nothing resembling a ProductHunt and/or Show HN type show-and-tell for new businesses.

As a result, companies either post in much smaller subreddits (/r/shamelessplug , /r/entrepreneur, /r/startups, or their niche's community), which really limits the exposure. Additionally, each community's moderators have their own set of rules and expectations as it comes to "advertising."

Obviously, Reddit has a service ad platform, but it's inherently limited and constrained to budget. As a result, there are continually semi-subversive (/r/HailCorporate) attempts at companies infiltrating their brand into top comments, post replies, and even submissions. I think that Yishan's recent tweetstorm evidences that this type of behavior will continue (and probably annoy users) as long as it's justifiable in terms of ROI.

As such, I think that there's a massive opportunity for something like /r/ProductLaunch, where people can post their projects and/or businesses to receive exposure and feedback. Obviously, there are fantastic monetization avenues available in an effort like this.

Do you think that Reddit ever will (or should) play a similar role to Show HN and ProductHunt?

Why,in your opinion, is it important for sites heavily reliant on user generated content to be owned by users? Do you believe that more sites could benefit from this?

Well, I'm excited about all this, but I'm not sure why. Why should I be excited?

What changed at YC after you took over?

Sam was in the original YC batch, and was a partner for years before becoming president.

Is there an LLC-like structure that would allow you to hire YC applicants so that they didn’t have to form their own LLCs, payroll, costco cards etc… but still allowed you to compartmentalize their budgets and liability exposure?

I've always wondered how does YC work for folks who are on an H1-B, F1 or any other visa?

I've never seen documentation talking about it and it seems to be a big big deterrent/worry for friends on visas who have great ideas and prototypes.

Hey Sam. Do you have any tips on how I can make the most out of Startup School next weekend? I'll be attending the reception as well.

Has anyone ever walked in to an interview, and within 30 seconds of talking, you knew he/she would be accepted?

I’ve seen many companies (including YC-funded ones) more likely through negligence rather than deceit, mess up a lot of the boring accounting/hiring issues, so that is why bother — to have someone competent (such as YC) handling that end so that they can focus on the challenging stuff (which they often do while neglecting the basic administration overhead).

What did you start out in and how did you get to be the level of an investor?

How is this not a follow on round by a YC partner? Are you worried about signaling?

Hi Sam - how do you think about a community like Reddit and its role in helping reflect / shape your online identity? What online profile do you think is best representative of what you are thinking about on a day-to-day basis (i.e., Twitter? HN? Reddit)?

Hi Sam! Has there ever been a start up that you've fallen in love with but just not been able to invest in due to one reason or another? how often does this happen?

Also, how difficult was it to remember the password for this account after 8 years?

Hey Sam,

In your blog say "Series B Investors are giving 10% of our shares in this round to the people in the reddit community".

What exactly does this entail for the average user?

Hi Sam. I am curious as to your motivation to give "the company" a proxy. Who will be exercising that vote and why did you decide that is something you thought best? And how/when is it revokable?

Hey Sam,
You wrote a blog a while back about employee equity. I'm wondering if you've seen any of this get put into practice or if you're advising companies on this?

Could you take on a tiger with a cricket bat in an office environment?

Hey Sam it is great to have you on r/AMA. Since you have seen Reddit through the early stages with YC, what do you think the best move Reddit has made to get to the user base it is at now?

Hey, some students at my University started a project where we follow, watch and discuss your "How To Start a Startup"-Course that you started at Standford.

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience and wisdom with us!

Would you like to give a short shoutout to the the RWTH Aachen University in Germany?

You rock!

As any organisation moves towards better funding, it inevitably changes away from what originally made it great. What are your thoughts on this for Reddit?

Could you take Peter Thiel in a fistfight?

Hi Sam, as a solo applicant to yc's next round, what can I do to increase my chances to get in?

Hi Sam, what do you see as the future of YC several years or decades down the road? Do you and the other managers have plans besides YC?

Hi Sam - considering that the legal costs of a a startup can often be significant, such as forming the operating agreement or getting the legal framework in place when laws haven't accounted for a new model yet, what does YC do to help out on that end? Do you partner with firms to offer up pro bono work? Have you seen startups give up equity in exchange for bringing an attorney on board?

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Were you able to sit in on the Dropbox deal?

I did a case study on the company and I believe some of their initial capital came from ycombinator.

We all know reddit is mostly non-profit, but investors such as yourself keep it afloat. You're willing to be patient and wait until it's ROI. How do you find the financial value in communities like reddit?

Could you be able to share percentage of successful applications to YC from outside US. Is there anything like an implicit preference towards US applicants or it's just that the absolute number of applications you receive from outside is too low.

What makes Y Combinator's program so successful? Is it the people coming through it (e.g., they would have possibly made anyways because they're that good) or is there something about the program itself?

I think Paul Graham is speaking tonight at your Stanford course, are you excited? I'm excited!

Edit: yep he is, http://startupclass.samaltman.com/courses/lec03/

Hey Sam, I've been a follower for a while and really appreciate the insight you provide here and on your blog. I've had a relatively successful career since college, but have always been much more passionate about startups and creating something. I'm sure you meet people in similar situations through YC all the time, so do you have any advice for someone looking to potentially make the leap and switch careers?

How do you feel about Reddit being financially transparent including around shareholders, percentage of equity owned, terms of financing, revenues, cashflow, etc.? Is this in the cards? Seems like it would be appropriate for a company like Reddit to seek out utmost transparency in this regard.