Paul GrahamVerified account

If you were a 22 year old that just graduated college today, what would you do with your life? @GwynneShotwell @naval @RampCapitalLLC @eriktorenberg @AdamDraper @FutureJurvetson @smc90 @elonmusk @rrhoover @mattocko @jposhaughnessy @APompliano @paulg @bhorowitz @asteroid_saku

One thing I know for sure I would not do is go work for a big company, even a prestigious one like Google. I'd probably either go to grad school (like I did) or start a startup.

and apply to @ycombinator ?

If I were a 22 year starting a startup I would certainly apply to YC. Which is not that surprising, since it was designed to be what I wish I'd had when I did start one. But (assuming I got in) I would not get sucked into raising a huge amount on Demo Day.

I would raise maybe $500k, keep the company small for the first year, work closely with users to make something amazing, and otherwise stay off SV's radar. In other words, be the opposite of a scenester.

Ideally I'd get to profitability on that initial $500k. Later I could raise more, if I felt like it. Or not. But it would be on my terms.