I thought it pretty funny telling pg about his program. Of course I understand there are many more readers of the comment, but it still seems directed at him.
Honestly I cannot see casca's comment as trying to tell pg something about YC, more that casca is emphasising that YC is not exploiting its brand value; so a direct comparison (15% for 150K vs 22% for ~800K) could be seen either as pg does - "hey we are waaaaay better value", or as casca says "hey you are toooo cheap"
Anecdotally Henry Ford was told that the drive shafts in Model T's were outlasting the chassis, so should they improve the chassis to match? Hell no, drop the quality of the drive shaft and save some money.
I think pg would have made a bad Henry Ford.
Edit: there is however a clear need for fast, time boxed, fund raising. Kima is part of the YC-inspired move in that direction, and there is far far more talent and money out there than YC can handle, so there is scope for them. They are just pricing in the middle market, away from the luxury brands :-)
Henry Ford was cost conscious but not for the reasons one might think. Ford was once sued by his Shareholders because he was purposely selling his cars at a loss to the company. The Michigan Supreme Court held that Henry Ford owed a duty to the shareholders of the Ford Motor Company to operate his business to profit his shareholders, rather than the community as a whole or employees.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_v._Ford_Motor_Company
While shareholders were worried about maximizing profits and dividends, Ford was thinking of bettering the World with $60M in capital surplus. Ford envisioned a World where every family could afford and benefit from a vehicle - he just intended to see to it they owned a Ford which simultaneously would have allowed him to employ more workers.
I think aggressively pursuing market share through subsidised products hardly counts as Nobel Peace Prize material. Bill Gates would not have needed to do all that exhausting philanthropy now...
I would love to see a Nairobi business woman become the next African billionaire selling water filters, mosquito nets and led lights to the whole continent, making a fortune and saving lives.
but I won't call her a philanthropist when she is picking out her next yacht. I will be pleased she lived however.
I thought it pretty funny telling pg about his program. Of course I understand there are many more readers of the comment, but it still seems directed at him.